students. >> that was pretty interesting. looks i was so happy when i saw you guys together. you will be together for the rest of your lives. >> as over 5,000 people attend the funeral of the three muslim students murdered in chapel hill, we will hear one of the victims, yusor abu-salha, in her own words. last year, she went into a storycorps booth to record an interview with her third grade teacher. then to the case of jessica hernandez, the 16-year-old girl shot dead by denver police last month. >> five teenagers, no reason for you to open fire on any teenager a matter what. i understand if someone pulled a gun or something, but there was no incident whatsoever. he got hit by a car. my cousin got shot dead. >> we will also go into a denver church where a mexican undocumented immigrant has sought sanctuary in an attempt to stay in the united states with his nine-year-old and 15-year-old daughters and wife. and we will speak to david sirota on the plot against pensions. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. thousands gathered in north carolina on thursday for the funerals of three muslim students shot dead by a gunman who had posted anti-religious messages online. razan mohammad abu-salha and her sister, yusor abu-salha, and yusor's husband, deah barakat were killed execution-style in what family members call a hate crime. suspected gunman craig stephen hicks has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. hicks had frequently posted anti-religious comments on his facebook page. police say an early probe suggests the killings resulted from a parking dispute, a claim the victims family and friends reject. the fbi is also investigating. a crowd of over 5,000 packed a soccer field at north carolina state for thursday's service. they paid tribute to the victims and amending justice for their murders. in international news, eight ukrainian soldiers have been killed and several dozen wounded in continued fighting in eastern ukraine. the violence comes just after ukraine and russia agreed to a new ceasefire at a summit in belarus, but the truce won't take effect till sunday. new shelling has been reported today in the rebel strongholds of luhansk and donetsk. in washington, state department spokesperson jen psaki said that despite the ceasefire, the u.s. has not ruled out new sanctions on russia or sending military aid to ukraine. >> an agreement is a piece of paper unless it is implemented. so what we have seen to date is that russia and russian backed separatist have not taken the steps to implement. we will see what they do from here. we have had long ongoing conversations with our european partners about additional steps that could be taken. and if it is not incremented or there is additional aggression that is something we will continue to discuss. >> the european union has also threatened new sanctions on russia if the deal is broken. the united nations has warned yemen is on the brink of civil war and risks complete political collapse. yemen has been in limbo since houthi rebels forced the resignation of the yemeni cabinet and then seized power. addressing the security council, secretary general ban ki moon said yemen faces a host of additional issues, including an al qaeda insurgency and a major humanitarian crisis. >> let me be clear. yemen is collapsing before our eyes. we cannot stand by and watch. the country is facing multiple challenges, a dangerous political crisis continues in sanaa, and widespread attacks by al qaeda in the arab peninsula. with increasing facilities -- hostilities in very his provinces south of sanaa. these are increasing cessation tendencies in the south. >> the u.s., britain and france have closed their embassies in the capital sanaa over security concerns. on thursday, al-qaeda-linked fighters seized an army base in southern yemen and held soldiers captive. at least 19 people have been killed and more than 60 wounded in an attack on a shia mosque in the northwestern pakistani city of peshawar. at least four suicide bombers wearing the uniforms of state forces reportedly hit the mosque during prayers. a federal judge has ordered the enforcement of her earlier decision striking down alabama's ban on same-sex marriage. the ruling went into effect this week but the state's supreme , court justice, roy moore sowed confusion after ordering judges and officials to ignore it. the new ruling by u.s. district court judge callie granade was directed to just one judge in mobile county, but is seen as a signal to judiciaries across the state. judges in just one-third of alabama's 67 counties have issued marriage licenses to lgbt couples so far. with the new federal ruling, mobile county resident marc stewart said he intends to marry his partner. >> we go to church every sunday. we work like regular folks. we pay our taxes, watch tv like everybody else. this is just our town. we want to be recognized in this town as being us. i have been with him for 18 years. he is going to be stuck with me now. >> kansas republican governor sam brownback has repealed a measure that protects state employees from workplace discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. brownback's executive order undoes a move by his predecessor that widened safeguards for lgbt public employees. the pentagon has approved hormone therapy treatment for the gender transition of u.s. army whistleblower chelsea manning, previously known as bradley. manning announced she identified as a woman and planned to seek hormone replacement treatment after her 2013 conviction for passing cables to wikileaks. she sued the pentagon last year for denying gender-transition medical care and failing to follow other protocols for treating gender dysphoria. in a memo this month, a military official confirmed hormone therapy will be added to chelsea manning's treatment plan. the senate has confirmed ashton carter as the new secretary of defense. president obama tapped carter after forcing the ouster of chuck hagel late last year. carter has a long history at the pentagon, where he once served as the chief arms buyer. in 2006, he backed a pre-emptive strike against north korea if the country continued with a planned missile test. carter has recently voiced support for arming ukraine and opposing the transfer of prisoners from guantanamo bay. the senate approved his bid with an overwhelming 93 to 5 vote. students at harvard university are staging a sit-in to demand their school join the growing list of institutions divesting from fossil fuels. the campus-led divestment movement calls for purging investment portfolios of assets tied to companies that drive and profit from global warming. harvard's endowment is the largest of any school in the world, at $36.4 billion. the students launched their sit-in inside a building housing the offices of school administrators, including president drew fast. hundreds of actions are expected around the world today and saturday as part of global divestment day. fbi director james comey has called on police nationwide to confront what he said is unconscious racial bias in the wake of a spate of killings of unarmed african-americans. in an unprecedented speech for an fbi chief, comey said the nation's "endemic" racism must be addressed. >> much research points to the widespread existence of unconscious bias. many people in our white majority culture of unconscious racial biases in reactively to a white faced than a black phase. police officers on patrol in our nation cities often work in environments where hugely disproportionate amount of street crime is committed by young men of color. something happens to people of goodwill working in that environment. after years of police work, officers often cannot help but be influenced by the cynicism they feel. a mental shortcut becomes almost a resistible and maybe even rational by some lights. we need to come to grips with the fact that this behavior, locates the relationship between the police and the communities they serve. >> fbi director comey is known to keep a copy of the fbi's wiretap order targeting dr. martin luther king as a reminder of the agency's past misdeeds. and "the new york times" media columnist david carr has died. carr collapsed at the "times'" offices thursday night and was pronounced dead shortly after. hours before, he had moderated a panel discussion on the documentary "citizenfour" along with director laura poitras and the film's lead subjects, edward snowden and glenn greenwald. carr overcame a major addition to crack cocaine in the late 1980's and went on to become a celebrated writer on media and culture. he was 58 years old. and those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from denver, colorado, from denver open media. the fbi has opened an inquiry into this week's killings of three muslim students in chapel hill north carolina. in a statement, the agency said it had launched "a parallel preliminary inquiry to determine whether or not any federal laws were violated related." on thursday, over 5,000 people gathered for the funerals of 23-year-old deah barakat, his wife 21-year-old yusor mohammad abu-salha and her sister 19-year-old razan mohammad abu-salha. the suspected gunman craig stephen hicks, who has described himself as a "gun-toting atheist," has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. chapel hill police say the shooting stemmed from a dispute over a parking space but relatives of the victims say it was a hate crime. yusor and razan's father mohammed abu-salha spoke at the funeral. >> there is no doubt [indiscernible] giving us this honor of raising three children. this has hate crime ridden all over it! and i'm not going to sit down and bend over that. we need to know things the way they are. we have peace inside. we are not seeking any revenge. our children are much more valuable than any revenge. >> mohammed abu-salha speaking at thursday's funeral for his two daughters and son-in-law. azhar aziz of the islamic society of north america also spoke at the funeral. >> we're concerned the rising anti-muslim rhetoric in our society may have encouraged some to commit violence against american muslims, so we urge the law enforcement to investigate this case as a possible hate crime. >> on thursday's democracy now! we spoke to amira ata, childhood friend of yusor abu-salha. well, today, we are going to hear yusor in her own words. last may, she did an interview with her 3rd grade teacher mussarut jabeen as part of the storycorps. all three of the victims attended jabeen's school. this week, storycorps produced a short piece base on that interview. >> i'm one of the producers here at storycorps. today we will hear the voice of one of the students killed in chapel hill, north carolina. >> my name is yusor. i'm 20 years old. today, i will be interviewing my former teacher and principal. >> that teacher is mussarut jabeen, who taught yusor in the third grade. in fact, she knew all of the victims. yusor, deah barakat, and razan since they were kids. you're going to hear part of the conversation from last may and a follow-up interview recorded just yesterday with jabeen. >> she was the first one to come to my mind. she was one student i would like everybody to know about. >> growing up in america has been such a blessing. although, in some ways, i do stand out with the head covering, there are still so many ways that i feel so embedded in the fabric that is our culture. here, we are all one. >> i remember yusor is a little girl which he was in third grade. she had this sense of giving that really makes her different from other children. >> i still remember in third grade when we asked for something, used to say, don't put your hand like this. you would have your hand facing downward as if you're taking something from someone. >> oh, my god, you still remember? >> you would flip your hand over and open it as if giving gesture, be giving, open compassionate. >> deah, yusor and razan, they would just bring light to the room. they treat me like their mother. >> i see you nowadays, how are you? where are you in life? now i met nc state university with black and got married to one of my other students. >> that was pretty interesting. >> i was so happy when i saw you guys together and you will be together for the rest of your lives. i remember deah growing up. he was getting taller. because i'm a short person, he would stand behind me and put his hand over my head. i just told him, deah, you can never outgrow my heart. >> before our time is up, i want to thank you. it is been an honor. >> i want to thank you, yusor and the honor is mine. thank you so much. >> of course. >> i would like people to remember and know her as a practicing muslim, daughter, and above all, a good human being. when we write our comments on report cards, we say, they exceeded our expectations. she exceeded our expectations. >> that is mussarut jabeen teacher and principal at al-iman school in raleigh, north carolina, where all three victims in tuesday's shooting had been students. yusor first came to storycorps in may with her teacher. this interview was recorded in partnership with wunc and will be archived at the library of congress. special thanks to dave isay and storycorps. this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, we turn to a police shooting in denver, colorado. the victim? a 17-year-old teenage girl. stay with us. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are on the road in denver, colorado, broadcasting from denver open media. we turn now to a police shooting of an unarmed teenager in denver that has drawn protests amidst a nationwide push for more police accountability. it was the morning of january 27 -- generally 26 when denver police shot and killed 17-year-old jessica hernandez. they say she and several teenage friends were driving a stolen car that struck and injured an officer. police chief robert white says his officers repeatedly told her to get out of the car before they opened fire. but a passenger in the car who spoke to kusa in denver says hernandez lost control of the car only after she was shot and became unconscious. >> they were on the side of her and they shot the window, and they shot her. that is when she wrecked. that is when the cop got hit. >> denver police do not use in-car dashboard cameras. we invited someone from the police department to join us on the show but they declined, , saying it would be inappropriate for them to comment while the case is under investigation. the shooting of jessica hernandez marks at least the fourth time in seven months denver police have fired at a moving vehicle, despite a policy urging officers to try to move out of the way, instead of shooting. two of those shootings resulted in the drivers' deaths. in a statement, hernández's parents said -- "we are dismayed that the [denver police department] has already defended the actions of the officers and blamed our daughter for her own death, even while admitting they have very little information. this unjustified shooting of our daughter is only the latest sign of an issue that requires federal oversight." in an interview, hernandez's mother also raised concerns about how her daughter was treated by police after the shooting. this is rosales hernandez. >> was expecting the paramedics to take my daughter's body out with caution but, no, they sent her body to the floor and director like herbage. >> witnesses say hernandez was dragged from the car, apparently unconscious. a video captured by a neighbor shows police handcuffed and appeared to search her after she was shot, rolling her on her back and stomach as she lay limp and motionless. the two officers involved in the shooting have been put on administrative leave while the incident is investigated. last thursday, activists at the national conference on lgbt equality that took place here in denver protested hernandez killing by forcing mayor michael hancock to cancel his speech there. and on saturday, hundreds gathered for jessica hernandez's funeral -- or jessie, as she was known by her friends. well, for more, we are joined by two guests. mimi madrid puga is a community organizer and board member of the colorado anti-violence program. and qusair mohamedbhai, civil rights lawyer and attorney for the family of jessica hernandez. we welcome you both to democracy now! qusair mohamedbhai explain what you understand has happened -- what happened on that morning of january 26? >> we are still calling together the facts, but we do know is that jessica and four other teenagers that when the ages of 15 and 17 were in a vehicle and law enforcement descended on them on report of suspicious activity. the vehicle was not moving at the time. what we do know it is jessica was killed by three or four bullets that were shot through the driver side window with the car either stationary or barely moving forward. the witnesses that we have interviewed have all disputed the police version of the events that said she was either driving at somebody or that there was even an officer that was struck at the scene. fox explain the scene. this was an alley? >> yes, the car was parked in an alley to the right side. they were teenagers acting like teenagers. police came from the front and the rear and vehicles, reported they have may -- may have been unmarked. >> what time was it? >> 6:30 in the morning. it was reported they may have been unmarked vehicles. as jesse reportedly put the car in reverse, i must at that exact moment, she was shot and killed. three times, from bullets all traveling from left to right. >> how do you know where these bullets came from? >> the family -- fortunately the denver's corner office has reached out to the family and have informed us of some preliminary forensic pathology results. >> did you do a second autopsy? >> there was a second autopsy done. >> you're saying she would shot from the left side. she was the driver. a police officer was standing outside her door? >> that is correct. >> to the side of her? >> correct. >> and they shot her into her side? >> correct. the bullet that was likely fatal almost horizontal pierced her left lung, went through her heart to her left ventricle, exited the right atrium. went through her right long and ultimately, was lodged [indiscernible] >> what happened next according to what you understand? >> the pathology and forensics will show there was a fairly substantial abrasion to her nose. the eyewitness reports say there was a substantial -- her body was mishandled. she was violently for about 10 or was likely a blood force trauma to her face as she was taken down to the ground and handcuffed. >> she was shot, unconscious and she was handcuffed? >> she was shot -- she was most likely killed, and then handcuffed. rather violently. >> want to turn to an interview that denver police chief robert white did with "the denver post." he offered his version of how jessie hernandez was fatally shot by police. >> shortly after arriving on the scene, and they received a call for suspicious auto. the first officer ran the tags and it was stolen. the second officer arrived. the exited the car in an attempt several times to ask the individuals to come out of the car. obviously, that did not occur. as some point, the original officer that responded to the scene, the vehicle started driving towards him, which pretty much had him between the car and i think a brick wall. out of fear for his safety, he fired several shots and the other officer also fired several shots, striking the driver of the car, which was a 17-year-old juvenile. she was pronounced at the hospital. the original officer received a fracture, fracture to his leg as a result of the incident. >> that is denver police chief robert white. so he is saying there is an officer in front of the car and i guess an officer to the side, that the officer to the front of the car was issued in at her. -- was shooting at her. >> this is wishful thinking by the denver police department. they have already changed and reformulated the public messaging. first, they said an officer's leg was broken at the scene. then they have come out and said the officer's leg was fractured. and now they're not even confirming that an officer was struck, only that an officer was injured. this is a largely cut and paste public narrative that the denver police is had to do four times the last seven months to justify the killing minorities -- unarmed minorities in the community. >> mimi madrid puga, your organizer with the colorado anti-violence program. how did you get involved? >> mostly not just from community, but understanding jessie could easily be one of the young people we work with and could easily be myself and could easily be our community. we definitely feel survivor support is crucial and necessary to any kind of organizing that we do in the community. we understand that jessie's murder leaves many survivors -- her family her siblings -- she was the eldest of five that we know. she was also a pillar in her community. her own community of chosen family and services and all these places that we have seen an influx of young, queer, lesbian, gay bisexual young people who come to pay their respects and their support. we know we have to stand in solidarity between all these movements between identities of race sexuality, identities of young people, too. we see young, queer people of color are not valued in this institution. for example, the police. our lives are not valued. we understand our lives are sacred, they're worth keeping. jessie was brutally murdered. as a community, we stand with her and with her family and ensuring her story gets viewed in a real way, that she is not criminalized by the media, but people tell the real story of who jessie as an older sister, a friend, a lover, and as a young person who had so much life left in her. >> 800 people came to the funeral? >> yes. >> the funeral took place qusair mohamedbhai, at her church? >> yes, the church that her family and her head attended her whole lives, the church where she was baptized and where she was recently confirmed. >> the priest was very emotional and the service? >> at points, breaking down and crying over the loss of jessie. >> mimi, have you spoken with jessie's family? >> yes, we have. a lot of us come from that mexican family. a lot of us are first-generation people who are born here. a lot of us sure the same identities and some of the same experiences as jessie. 10 years ago, i was going to the same rights of passage of thing on the streets and being a young person and taking cars and being with my friends. >> what do mean, taking cars? >> either taking cars or being in situations that can be deemed as criminal, but i just rights of passages for lot of young people. that is one of the things we have been talking about, where is our culture? where is our art? where are these institutions protecting us to provide young people with opportunities and good rights of passages? >> i want to turn to jessie's cousin. her cousin protested outside the district attorney's office and confronted deputy district attorney doug jackson. >> i feel like there was a better solution to this. there are other tactics they can use. there are other weapons they could use. there is no reason to open fire on a new teenager no matter what. i could understand if somebody got out the car and pulled a gun, but there was no incident whatsoever. he got hit by a car. i cousin got shot dead. nobody is going to take that pain away. they can fix his legs. they can do whatever. but nobody is going to bring her back. >> that is jose castaneda. can you comment on this? >> young people across the nation are hurt, in pain, and need healing. this is a traumatizing event for all the young people that jessie showed her life with. her cousins her family, even her school. these are the very same people that we're supposed to be trusting and and who are supposed to protect us. when we see this happen, there's a level of pain and healing that needs to happen in the community. talks how do these protests that of an growing, i mean, 800 people at the funeral, they did not all know jesse. but they came out in solidarity. how does it fit into the black lives matter move meant? >> there is a sense of solidarity. an attack on community is an attack on me. i think a lot of people were able to see jessie's case or family with that empathy that the priest talked about it her service. empathy is what we need today. so moving forward, solidarity is the number one thing on the spot. we need solidarity between race, gender, orientation, ages and at an intergenerational movement. >> qusair mohamedbhai, can you talk about the police shooting at a moving vehicle here in denver, what the rules are? >> the policies are largely antiquated. on the east coast, it completely for bits shooting at moving vehicles because it is common sense that shooting at a vehicle is not going to stop it from moving. denver police has a largely cowboy, hollywood mentality where they think shooting at a carl suddenly cause it to blowup and stop. it is just not true. denver's policies and her inability to correct them, despite four deaths in the last seven months, has largely contributed to jessie's debt. >> how many times in the last few months? >> four deaths in the last seven months. >> what are you calling for now? >> we're calling for the denver district attorney's office to step aside voluntarily and allow an outside agency such as the fbi, to investigate these officers criminally. we're asking the denver police department to no longer investigate and police their own. these are broken systems. it also -- it is common sense that brothers who are going to be investigating brothers, the outcome is predictable. and we know based upon the denver district attorney's failure to prosecute any police officer for shootings since 1992, we know the results. we know the denver district attorney is going to exonerate these police officers. >> mimi, the issues of jessie's lgbt identity. it comes at a time of increased violence against dbt people. at least five transgender women of color have been murdered so far this year. >> it is the pattern that we are seeing -- again, i said queer, transgender folks see six times more violence than straight white people. so this is definitely a pattern that is happening across the nation and across the globe. queer folks are being attacked and murdered and killed and a lives are not being valued. >> how do you think police perceived jesse? >> i'm not entirely sure, but jessie was definitely masculine. she had short hair. i think whether we are queer whether we are passing as women or passing as men, it doesn't matter anymore. we are being shot regardless of what we look like him especially, if we look like men. men of color. even if we identify as women, we are being shot at at the rate of men. we're asking people to text to get more information with the petition, just as for jessie and the number is 22568. >> the police have been put on ministry to believe? >> yes. >> as a grand jury been impaneled? >> based on the history of the district attorney's office, it is unlikely. >> i want to thank you both for being with us. we will continue to follow this case. qusair mohamedbhai, civil rights lawyer and attorney for the family of jessica hernandez. and mimi madrid puga is a community organizer and board member of the colorado anti-violence program. we are broadcasting from denver, colorado, from denver open media. when i flew into denver yesterday on thursday, i went directly to the first unitarian society church to meet arturo hernandez garcia, an undocumented immigrant and father of two. since october, he has sought sanctuary at the church as he fights his deportation. i also met his 9-year old daughter andrea, who is a united states citizen. her status means he may be allowed to stay in the country under president obama's new deferred action program starting in may -- if he is not deported before then. andrea was with her father when i went to interview him last night. we just arrived at the unitarian church in denver and we are coming to see arturo garcia hernandez, who is taken refuge here. he is taken sanctuary here. the first one to do this in denver since the 1980's. hi, i'm amy goodman. can you tell me how you ended up living in this church? >> it is hard. i have wondered 15 days here are ready. >> why did you come here? >> the risk of deportation. october 21, i have my final order for deportation. the reason i'm coming here, i want to fight my case. >> can you tell me what happened? how did you end up going into deportation proceedings? you had a tile business? >> yes, i work in construction for like apartments, 100, 200 300 apartments. there are hundreds of people working there. i had a discussion with a person. they called the police and the police arrested me. after that come immigration -- immigration hall. >> what happened after that? >> i be in a detention center for immigration for 15 days. i am a good person, working hard for years and colorado. i had never been in trouble or arrested or stand double for -- stay in jail before here or in mexico. >> you had your two children here in the united states? >> i have one daughter that is 15 years old. she was born in mexico. she is in the deferred action for students. and i have andrea, nine years old, a citizen. >> what has it been like for you? you have been here for many months now, for november december -- four months. >> yes, two months and a half already. it is hard for me and for my family. i want to come back to a normal life, come back to work and come home with my daughters and my wife. >> we're here in the sanctuary with arturo garcia hernandez and his nine-year-old daughter andrea has just joined us. hello. >> high. >> did you come -- do you come here after school? >> yes. >> what greater u.n.? >> fourth. . >> how do you feel about your father living in the church? >> sad. i want him to go back home with us. >> what are you hoping for your father? >> for him to go home and to give him a stay. >> did you also go to washington, d.c. with your mother and sister? >> yeah. >> what did you do there? >> we were at -- with the i.c.e. officers and homeland security and we were telling we wanted our dad to go home with us. >> do you think it will happen? >> um, yeah. >> we standing in the sanctuary and behind you is a banner that says "all souls are sacred and worthy. there is unity that makes us one. we're standing in front of the oregon. >> we come to the united states to work and for the future of our family. it is not true with the government says on tv. i come here -- like i said, just to work in a better future for my kids. we work and pay taxes. everything i do, i do for my family. >> i want to thank you for taking this time to talk to us am a arturo and your daughter andrea. we're here at this church where he is taken saint shorey for 3.5 months. i believe this is the first time summit has taken sanctuary in a church in denver since the 1980's during the sanctuary movement to keep people cling clinical persecution and violence in latin america. thank you. >> thank you. thank you for coming and for your interest in my case. i appreciate it. >> can you tell me your name? >> my name is beth chrionister and i'm the assistant minister. >> what has been like to give sanctuary to arutturo? >> it has been an experience that has expanded the congregation. it has been an experience that is brought people together in a way to do justice. this congregation has a long history of being committed to justice, but i think and walking with aruturo and his family walking through this experience, it has been doing justice through companionship and away that we have learned so much. >> what was the decision he went through to do this? >> the process was about a six month long process. there was a instant agreement and the congregation, but it was a long process of dialogue, speaking from the pulpit, of doing small group work, and educating ourselves about immigration to figure out what was the way we felt as a community them could best affect the situation. which ended in a big conversational vote, which was overwhelmingly positive. >> how many? >> my goodness, i think was about 90% yes. >> how many people in the congregation? >> with a congregation of about 370. >> can't i.c.e. just walk in and arrest him? >> the history with sanctuary and respecting sanctuary in churches is that they don't, it would just look so bad that they probably wouldn't. i think there's the same sort of respect for schools and hospitals that they have for churches. >> and how long do you think this will go on? >> oh, my goodness. we are hoping that arturo and anna and his show and are able to get -- to all be able to reunite soon as possible. hopefully, in this next week. but we've been hoping for this next week for quite some time. we are in it as a community of commitment around him. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> that was beth chronister, assistant minister at the first unitarian society church in denver, where arturo garcia hernandez has taken sanctuary as he seeks to stay in the united states with his wife and two daughters. i was with him last night here in denver. special thanks to denis moynihan for his help filming our interview. well, for more, we're joined jennifer piper who helped arturo hernandez garcia enter sanctuary. she coordinates the metro denver sanctuary coalition, and is an interfaith organizer for american friends service committee. welcome to democracy now! very quickly, explain the circumstances under which arturo garcia hernandez ended up at this church. >> the circumstances are really common and represent a lot of people in the community because of the strong links between police and sheriffs and immigration in our country. he was laying tile at a job site -- >> he runs a company with his brother here in denver. >> yes, and they are employed six people. it was a huge job site. they were laying tile. a guy wanted to hang windows. the german -- gentleman did not like they refused him entry into the work area -- >> because they did not want him to walk on the tile that they just laid. >> yeah, it would ruin the tile and waste money and time. they had it roped off. the german was white. he started yelling racial slurs at arturo and his crew. they said, well, you need to talk to the supervisor. the supervisor says you can come in the area, we will let you. the supervisor said he couldn't. he said he wasn't going to take orders from any mexican. he went up to arturo's face and arturo jilly pushed them away because he thought he was going to hit arturo. the guy when off, left, called police, accused arturo of threatening him. everyone on the scene, including the supervisors, general contractors, testified in court that arturo did not instigate the argument or threaten this guy. arturo was found not guilty by jury of 12 people. despite that, immigration continued deportation proceedings against him. that was a must five years ago now. he has exhausted every legal avenue open to him in fighting his case, and been denied discretion over and over again. now things have changed a little bit in the legal arguments in this case because of the deferred action program that president obama announced in november. >> why would he become eligible under it? >> he has a u.s. citizen daughter. he has been here more than tenures -- well, more than the five years required by the program. he is no criminal record. he has paid taxes. he meets all the requirements. the only issue is the is a deportation order that was issued last year, and that means that we will have to ask you a citizenship and immigration services to grant him discretion and allow him to qualify. otherwise, he completely qualifies. >> quite something, this church has become a sanctuary church for a new wave of sanctuary from the 1980's. >> yes. >> can you talk about how this story of arturo fits into the national picture and what is happening around immigration? >> we see our immigrants organizing and finding ways to further resist a system that is widespread throughout our country. we spend $18 million a year on immigration enforcement, which is more than all the other federal on first and agencies combined. as long as we keep spinning that amount of money on immigration enforcement, we will see families like arturo's being separated, people like arturo being deported because we have this immense amount of resources we are putting into deportation and we have to ask, is that really the priority of our country? that is what the spending priority is right now. as long as we see that and see continued links between police and immigration, we will continue to seek key members of our communities supported. we also see our allied communities, we need them to know people are and document it or in deportation stepping up to a company and experience a little bit of the risk that people like arturo -- >> in this sanctuary movement, is a growing? >> the amount of churches who have committed to sanctuary is growing. the number of people actually taking sanctuary is in. some of that is because of the new program and opportunities for people that attend to stay in the country illegally. even if they implement that fully, will only cover 5 million of the 10 million or so people who are here. >> jennifer piper, we will continue to follow arturo's case. it is interesting, jessie hernandez and arturo garcia hernandez are not related but their stories have intersected with their daughters. >> arturo's oldest daughter went to school with jessie and his family has been very impacted by the violence of the denver police department and the way there is no account ability. i think the lack of accountability with the denver police department is the same lack of account ability we see and immigration enforcement. >> jennifer piper is an interfaith organizer for american friends service committee in denver, and coordinates the metro denver sanctuary coalition, where she helped arturo hernandez garcia enter sanctuary. when we come back, journalist david sirota. stay with us. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from denver, colorado, from our friends at denver open media. we turn now to a wall street scandal that has generated little attention, but impacts millions of american public workers. in recent years, cities and states have been increasingly investing worker pensions in risky hedge funds, private equity and other so-called "alternative investments." many of the investments are being done in secret while politically-connected wall streets firms, including blackstone, the carlyle group and elliot management, earn millions in investment fees from taxpayers. well the denver-based journalist , david sirota has been closely following the story for years. last year, he revealed chicago mayor rahm emmanual who once served as president obama's chief of staff received more than $600,000 in campaign contributions from executives at investment firms that manage chicago pension funds. david sirota also revealed the head of a new jersey board that determines how the state invests its $80 billion pension fund was in direct contact with top political and campaign fundraising aides for new jersey governor chris christie during his re-election bid. meanwhile, some states including illinois, kentucky and rhode island have faced criticism for blocking the release of information about how their pension funds are being handled. well, david sirota joins me here in denver. he is a senior writer at "the international business times." in 2013, he authored the report, "the plot against pensions," published by the institute for america's future. it is great to have you with us, david, for me to be in your town. explain what this is all about. >> basically, states and cities are putting more and more of their pension funds and high fee, high risk wall street investments will stop the question is, why? we're talking about one third of a $3 trillion pension fund being handed over effectively to wall street firms. high fee is the key point. these firms earn huge fees off these pension funds. why? one, public pension systems are trying to big that their way out of their shortfalls. politicians have not properly funded pension funds. they have not made their actuarially required payments each year. there are the shortfalls effectively, money owed to workers that hasn't been paid. rather than have a debate over raising taxes, a lot of politicians have said, it's give a lot of our money the high risk wall street firms under the premise that that will big bet their way out of the pension funds, out of the budget shortfalls. the problem is, the returns for the pension funds have been lower than the stock market, which cost basically nothing to invest in. the question is, why are you investing in-investments that aren't generating better than the market returns that we can get with no fees? i think one thing you can look at is, campaign contributions. you have wall street firms executives of wall street firms making coming contributions. one of the big goodies they can get back is pension investments which kind of go under the radar. nobody -- very few people watch for these investments are going. people who do watch are the wall street firms. >> what does governor chris christie have to do with this? >>'s pension system is one of the biggest in the world, $80 billion. that is a huge pot of money for wall street. chris christie's officials have moved enormous amount of money into hedge funds and private equity. new jersey is one of the biggest investors in hedge funds in the world. what has happened in new jersey, fees have troubled. new jersey is paying more than $400 million year in fees just to manage pension system. similarly, they have delivered below median returns. that is below median returns for similarly sized states. it is paying more in fees and getting less back than the typical pension fund, which is a double way me for taxpayers. >> when governor chris christie was asked about your ongoing investigation into the new jersey pension system, he lashed out at sirota. >> the article that spurred this conversation has been written by a guy who is completely discredited journalist, who is been fired for being inaccurate and inflammatory before. right now, anybody who can pop up on the website and calls himself a journalist david sirota is not a journalist, he is a hack. >> you are a hack. >> this is been the answer from the administration is simply lash out in a personal attack. this is not a personal issue. this is about pensions for hundreds of thousands -- >> in the head of the new jersey board that determines the states investments in the $80 billion pension fund? >> he ended up resigning. he ended up resigning. his name is bob grady. he resigned after the request and's about the proximity of campaign contributions going into the republican governors association, governor christie new jersey republican. >> there's a major against blackstone. >> they moved to billion dollars of pension money into blackstone. at the very same time that blackstone waved a number of rules to allow bob grady to allow his firm to invest in blackstone at the same time. >> what do you think needs to happen? >> clearly, that is to be more transparency. if you are a taxpayer and you call up your state and say, i want to see the terms of the deals about these pension investments that my taxpayer dollars are going to, your state will likely say, i'm sorry, we can't say with the terms are. what the fee structures are what the risks analysis is. there needs to be more transparency. there needs to be a healthy debate over whether this money is been properly invested whether this is a prudent investment in high fee wall street firms. >> can you say something quickly about chicago mayor rahm emanuel? >> in chicago, he is said the city doesn't have enough money to pay its pension obligations. meanwhile, more of that money has moved into so-called alternative investments paying higher fees. remember, there is an sec rule on the books that says you cannot accept camping contributions if you're running a pension system from the people are managing your pension system. chicago lawmakers have asked for an sec investigation. >> david sirota there are so much more to talk about and we will get you back on again. senior writer at "the international business times." we will link to his report, "the plot against pensions." i want to thank our crew here at denver open media. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] here, kitty, kitty! here, kitty, kitty, kitty! here, kitty, kty you'd think it would be ea to tell which kids had trouble with their eyesight. [ thud ] but that's not always the case. even though one in four children may have a vision problem, eye doctors tell us the symptoms aren't always so obvious. we do know that 80% of all childhood learning is visual. and without good vision, kids can have trouble learning to read. [ girls screaming ] ow! and may fall behind in school. for clues on how to spot the real-life signs of childhood vision problems and what parents can do, visit checkyearly.com. a public service message from the vision council of america and reading is fundamental. annenberg media ♪

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