Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20151229

More than a year later, a grand jury has decided there will be no indictments. Tamir rices family and protesters say they wont give up the fight for justice. Im sad and disheartened at the same time. I just wanted to see some justice done for the family sake. For the cityss sake, so we can get some healing in a committee. Now it is going to be discord, a separation again. Was chicago enough thing going on with Police Shootings, nothing is going to come together. No justice. Amy as yet another Police Killing of an unarmed africanamerican goes unpunished and unprosecuted, well hear from tamir rices cousin, a rice family attorney who accuses prosecutors of misconduct, and a member of black lives matter cleveland. Then we look at the unfolding drama playing out after billionaire Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson secretly bought the Las Vegas Reviewjournal. The papers top editor has resigned. But what happens in vegas doesnt stay in vegas. We will speak to a reporter who resigned from another paper tied to adelson, the Bristol Press in connecticut. We will find out why. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. An ohio grand jury has decided there will be no charges in the Fatal Shooting of 12yearold africanamerican boy tamir rice. 22, 2014, more than year ago, tamir was playing with a toy pellet gun in a cleveland park. A 911 caller reported seeing him with a weapon, but noted it was probably fake in the individual was probably a juvenile. That information was not relayed to the responding officers. After the Police Cruiser pulled up in front of tamir, officer Timothy Loehmann shot him within two seconds. Either loehmann or his partner admitted administered any first aid. They tackled his 14 year old sister to the ground and handcuffed her as she ran to her brothers side. They put her in their cruiser as the boy lay dying on the ground. Tamir died of his injuries the following day. After more than a yearlong investigation, the grand jury returned a decision monday not to indict. The prosecutor recommended the outcome citing a perfect storm of human error and miscommunication. The Police Officers and the Police Department must live with the awful knowledge that their mistakes, however unintentional, led to the death of a 12yearold boy. So will be police radio personnel whose errors were substantial, can shooting factors to the tragic contribute in factors to the tragic outcome. They passed along detailed information about the guy includinge center, the color of his clothing and his camouflage hat, but not the allimportant facts that the 9 11 caller said the gunmen was probably a juvenile and the gun may not be real. Have the officers been aware of these qualifiers, the Training Officer who was driving may have approached the scene with less urgency. Amy cleveland protesters reacted to the decision with a somber gathering at the park where tamir rice was killed. The protesters have raised questions about the histories of the two officers involved in rices death. Officer loehmann had been deemed unfit for Police Service in 2012 when he worked in the suburb of independence. Officer garmback was the subject of a lawsuit with the city of cleveland paid 100,000 to settle reports of Excessive Force. We will have more on the tamir rice case after the headlines. Chicago mayor rahm emanuel has cut short his vacation to cuba amid renewed calls for his resignation over Police Shootings of african americans. Over the weekend, Chicago Police killed a College Student and a grandmother while responding to a call the student, quintonio legrier, was behaving oddly and carrying a metal bat. Police say they shot 55yearold bettie jones by mistake. The shooting came as mayor emanuel already faced pressure to resign over the more than yearold Police Killing of 17yearold Laquan Mcdonald amid allegations of a police coverup. The officer who killed mcdonald is to be arraigned in court today on firstdegree murder charges. A spokesperson for mayor emanuel said he was returning home to continue the ongoing work of restoring accountability and trust in the chicago Police Department. Extreme weather fueled by Climate Change is continuing to ravage parts of the United States. Severe flooding across the south caused two barges to sink in mississippi while a road , collapsed in south carolina. In wichita, kansas, powerful winds forced a passenger jet carrying 160 people off the runway. Meanwhile, officials in missouri say four International Soldiers who were in the state for training are among the victims of flooding. Her car swept away while they drove. In nigeria, at least 80 people have reportedly been killed in attacks by the militant group boko haram. The militants attacked maiduguri and madagali in northeastern nigeria with rocketpropelled grenades and suicide bomb attacks. The attacks came just days after nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari said nigeria has technically won the war against boko haram. Iran has taken a major step toward implementation of its nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers. On monday, a russian ship departed iran carrying nearly all of irans supply of lowenriched uranium. State Department Spokesperson mark toner hailed the step. One of the most important steps occurred earlier today when a shot to parted and ran caring over iran 20,000 pounds of low enriched uranium materials. This shukman alone more than triples the previous our previous two to three month estimated breakout time for a rent to acquire enough weapon grade uranium for one weapon. This is important peace of the technical equation as it ensures individual breakout time of at least one nearby implementation day. Amy hundreds of wounded syrian fighters and their families from opposing sides of the war in syria have been evacuated from besieged areas as part of u. N. Brokered deal. Shiites trapped in progovernment towns in northwestern syrian were evacuated to beirut, while sunni rebel fighters trapped near the lebanese border were flown to southern turkey. The deal comes ahead of peace talks planned for next month. A syrian journalist and documentary filmmaker who worked to expose atrocities by the selfproclaimed Islamic State has been killed in turkey. Naji jerf worked with the citizen Journalist Group raqa is being slaughtered silently. In a statement, the group said jerf was assassinated with a silencerequipped pistol in the turkish town of gaziantep near the syrian border. He was due to fly with his family the next day to seek asylum in france. Relatives of alan kurdi, the threeyearold syrian boy whose image was shown around the world after his body washed up on the turkish coast, have arrived in canada as refugees. Alan kurdi drowned with his mother and brother while the family was attempting to reach greece. His uncle, aunt, and five children have arrived in canada, among the tens of thousands of people canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to accept. Alan kurdis father, the only Family Member who survived the attempted crossing that killed his son, is now in iraq and plans to remain. In a christmas message, Abdullah Kurdi appealed for the world to accept refugees. My message is, i would like the whole world to open its stores to syrians its doors to syrians. If a person shuts a door in someones face, this is very difficult. When a door is opened, they no longer feel humiliated. At this time of year, i would like to ask you all to think about the pain of fathers, mothers, and children who are seeking peace and security. We ask just for a little bit of sympathy from you. Amy to see our special on refugees with the worst crisis of refugees since role or two, the number has hit or than one million trying to enter europe, watch democracy now on new years day, friday, january 1. Central american countries have agreed on a plan to deal with some of the 8000 u. S. Bound Cuban Migrants who have been stranded in costa rica. The migrants are trying to reach the United States amid fears song relations between the u. S. And cuba could end u. S. Asylum rights for cubans. Nicaragua closed its border to the cubans in midnovember. The new plan will see some number of the refugees flown to el salvador then put on buses to travel toward the United States. A new report reveals how the pentagon has been thwarting the obama administrations efforts to close guantanamo by imposing bureaucratic hurdles to delay or derail the release of prisoners. According to reuters, a former official compared negotiating prisoner releases with the pentagon to punching a pillow, and pentagon delays forced four afghan prisoners to spend an additional four years in guantanamo after they were approved for transfer because of pentagon delays. The pentagon has refused to provide photographs and basic documentation to foreign governments willing to take prisoners and barred those delegations from spending the night at guantanamo, making it much harder for them to interview prisoners as part of the transfer process. In one case, the pentagon refused to release medical records for a hungerstriking yemeni prisoner to a delegation from a country that was considering taking him in. To this day, the prisoner, ba odah, remains at guantanamo, five years after he was cleared for release. The pentagon still refuses to provide his complete medical file, even though his Attorney Says he has given his full consent. On the campaign trial, republican president ial frontrunner donald trump has changed his stance on u. S. Wages, a day after democratic candidate and vermont senator Bernie Sanders said he thought he could win over trumps supporters. Trump had previously said u. S. Wages were too high, but trump tweeted on monday wages in country are too low. Trump visited the key primary state of New Hampshire monday, after the publisher of the states largest newspaper wrote an editorial entitled Trump Campaign insults nh voters intelligence and the publisher compared trump to the grownup bully biff in the back to the future movie series. Speaking at a rally, trump called mcquaid a lowlife and sleazebag. Meanwhile, former ku klux klan leader david duke has spoken out about trump saying he is more radical than he is. Duke made the remarks in an interview posted online. As far as what i see according to the candidates that are out there now, republican and democrats, i think he is head and shoulders right now above the rest. I dont agree with everything he says. He speaks a little more actually, he speaks a lot more radically than i thought, and i think that is a positive and negative. Amy vermont senator Bernie Sanders took aim at donald trump during a Campaign Rally in nevada monday. Speaking before thousands, sanders called trump a demagogue. There are people out there, donald trump and others who are attempting to do what demagogues have always done, and that is instead of bringing people together to address and solve the real problems that we face, what they try to do is cap the anger and the frustration that people are feeling and then divide us up. Trumphave a message to and all of the others out there who want to divide us up, no, were not going to hate latinos, were not going to hate muslims. Amy a federal judge has blocked the state of missouri from revoking planned parenthoods license to perform abortions at a clinic in columbia, saying the state took unprecedented hasty actions against the clinic as a result of pressure from antichoice lawmakers. But the clinic still cannot perform abortions until its finds a provider who can comply with a state law requiring them to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The clinics physician had admitting privileges, but in september, under pressure from antichoice lawmakers, a panel at the university of Missouri Health care system voted to discontinue them. For now, missouri, with a population of more than 6 million people, has only one clinic currently able to provide abortions. And ethan couch, the white texas teenager spared jail time after he killed four people in a drunk driving crash, has been detained with his mother by authorities in mexico. Ethan couch killed a motorist and three Good Samaritans who had stopped to help her, and left one of his friends with brain damage. But he was sentenced to no jail time after a psychologist testified he had affluenza, meaning his wealthy upbringing left him unable to tell right from wrong. Couch disappeared with his mother after video appeared to show him at a party, a possible violation of his probation. He and his mother were detained near the mexican beach resort of puerto vallarta. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. An ohio grand jury has decided there will no charges for the Fatal Shooting of tamir rice, the youngest victim in a spate of wellknown Police Killings of unarmed africanamericans. On november 22, 2014, tamir rice was playing with a toy pellet gun in a cleveland park. A 911 caller reported seeing him with a weapon but noted it was probably fake, information that was not relayed to the responding officers. But Family Members and their supporters say that miscommunication did not justify what followed. After their Police Cruiser pulled up in front of tamir, officer Timothy Loehmann shot him within two seconds. Neither loehmann nor his partner, Frank Garmback, administered any first aid to try to save tamirs life. They then tackled tamirs 14yearold sister to the ground as she ran to her brothers side, handcuffed her, and put her in their cruiser as the boy lay dying on the ground. Tamir died of his injuries the following day. After a more than yearlong investigation, the grand jury returned a decision monday not to indict. The county prosecutor, timothy mcginty, said he had recommended that outcome, citing a perfect storm of human error and miscommunication. Thismply put, given perfect storm of human errors, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate. Riminal conduct our police the Police Officers and the Police Department must live with the awful knowledge that their mistakes, however unintentional, led to the death of a 12yearold boy. So will the police radio personnel, whose errors were substantial, contribute in factors to the tragic outcome. If they had pass along detailed effort they passed along detailed information about the guy, including the color of his clothings, his camouflage hat, but not the allimportant facts that the 911 caller said the gunmen was probably probably a juvenile was quote in the gun may not be real. Had the officer been aware of these qualifiers, the Training Officer who was driving might have approached the scene with less urgency. Amy cleveland protesters reacted to the decision with a somber gathering at the park where tamir rice was killed. In a statement, tamir rices mother, samaria rice, said in a time in which a nonindictment for two Police Officers who have killed an unarmed black child is business as usual, we mourn for tamir, and for all of the black people who have been killed by the police without justice. In our view, this process demonstrates that race is still an extremely troubling and serious problem in our country and the criminalJustice System. I dont want my child to have died for nothing and i refuse to let his legacy or his name be ignored. We will continue to fight for justice for him, and for all families who must live with the pain that we live with. Samaria rice also questioned the prosecutors motives, saying mcginty deliberately sabotaged the case, never advocating for my son, and acting instead like the Police Officers defense attorney. Attorneys for the rice family have asked the Justice Department to intervene over what they called extreme bias and a charade process aimed at exonerating the officers. The prosecution faced criticism for an unusual grand jury the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division also continues its own probe. The prosecution faced criticism for an unusual grand jury process that dragged on for more than a year, saw the officers testify without crossexamination, and called socalled independent experts who the rice family says were cherrypicked to encourage a nonindictment. Other experts did find probable cause, including a Municipal Court judge who recommended officer loehmann be charged with murder, manslaughter and , reckless homicide. Questions have also been raised about his past. Loehmann had been deemed unfit for Police Service in 2012 when he worked in the suburb of independence. A letter from a superior specifically criticizes his performance in firearms training, saying he could not follow simple directions, could not communicate clear thoughts, nor recollections, and his handgun performance was dismal, said his superior. Meanwhile, officer Frank Garmback, the officer who was striving the Police Cruiser, also has a troubled history. Cleveland reportedly played paid out 100,000 in 2014 to a cleveland resident to settle an Excessive Force lawsuit brought against garmback. The settlement stemmed from a 2010 confrontation in which she said he rushed her, placed her in a chokehold, tackled her to the ground, twisted her wrist, and began hitting her body. At mondays news conference, assistant prosecutor matthew mayor explained the nonindictment by stressing that the toy gun tamir rice was holding looked real. Tamir had gotten a gun from a friend who told investigators he of removed the orange tip, the safety tip, that the gun had come with. And we have the model that had been purchased at a local walmart. And you will see that, as pistoled, this airsoft should have had the orange safety tip to hopefully alert officers that this in fact was a toy. At the pistol that tamir had that day had no such tip. Amy prosecutors also emphasized that the officers thought tamir rice looked older than his age, and responded in line with the rules on active shooter situations. But as has been asked so often in a series of killings of unarmed africanamericans by police, the question remains, would tamir rice be alive today if his skin was a different was white . For more, we are joined by three guests. In cleveland, Latonya Goldsby is tamir rices cousin. Also elle hearns, an organizer , with black lives matter cleveland. And joining us by video stream billy joe mills is one of the , attorneys representing the tamir rice family. Latonya, first of all, our condolences, although, this death took place over a year ago. I know you are reliving this today. Can you respond to the grand jurys nonindictment of the officers . Yes, thank you for your condolences will stop it is truly appreciated. We are in shock. We are totally in shock. We cant believe this decision came down the way it did. Although we of seen other cases around the country where it has been a nonindictment, we still had hoped that there would be some type of resolution or an indictment or an arrest of these officers for the actions that were taken that day when they killed tamir. Amy what are you calling for now . Now, our call is for the officers to be arrested. Or to be fired. Were still looking for Loretta Lynch to intervene and to see if there is some type of resolution that can be made. As far as these officers actually facing charges. Amy latonya, can you go back to that day . You were not at the park, but at this point, what you understood took place . Yes. I got the call about what happened, and it was actually a couple of hours after tamir had already been rushed to the emergency room. When we found out this was actually a 12yearold cousin that have been shot by the police. That day was very chaotic. There was no answers, no questions as to what had happened that day. We still dont know what happened. Waswe know is that tamir playing in the park and he was shot by the police. Later in the video that was released, we seen what had taken place. He never even stood a chance. In less than one second, he was approached and he was shot within that one second. So there was never any chance for survival or for him to be actually questioned about what he was doing at the park or anything. Amy in january, tamir plus 14yearold sister spoke on today about how after the , buting, she ran to tamir the police tackled her to the ground and handcuffed her and feetd her in the cruiser, from her dying brother. This is what she said. Gazebo and ie could not get there all the way to him because the officer attacked me, threw me on the ground, tackled me on the ground and put me in handcuffs and put me in the back of the police car. Amy how is she today, latonya . She is doing as well as can be expected. She lost her 12yearold brother. We just went through christmas. His moms birthday, thanksgiving without him. It is very hard. It is difficult to actually have to watch his murder play out over tv every day, the video just replayed constantly. You see his last few moments of life in the video. It has been very hard. But she is dealing. , youre oneoe mills of the attorneys for the family. The Prosecutor Says that when you look carefully at the video that tamir rice was actually reaching to get the gun. He said, maybe he was axa going to give it to the Police Officers, but that is not what the Police Officers thought. Your response to the grand jury decision and the prosecutor being very clear in recommending nonindictment, saying was a perfect storm . , theseasize that i think families attorneys think he is part of that perfect storm of human air. He is contributing to the injustice by creating a 400day investigation and essentially coverup that allowed him time to find experts that would say this shooting was justified, to d grand jury members essentially, what they do is they control the entire process, the way the information is presented. What is interesting, mcginty talked about the way that tamir was pulling on the gun or touching the gun as the officers arrived. But the experts that mcginty hired himself said and admit in the report that that is unclear, and then we presented evidence [indiscernible] , we arely joe mills going to reconnect with you to get a better quality sound. Were going to go to break and then come back, billy joe mills is one of the attorneys for the tamir rice family. We are also joined by tamirs cousin Latonya Goldsby and elle hearns will speak with us, one of the organizers of black lives matter cleveland. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Are in cleveland and on the road to new york from cleveland, billy joe mills, one of the attorneys for the rice family. Latonya goldsby is tamirs cousin, and elle hearns is with black lives matter cleveland. What are the options now. Lynch, aention loretta civil rights investigation. The family has a lawsuit. What are you demanding and black lives matter . Yeah, that is a wonderful question. Were definitely demanding what the family is asking for support with, which is definitely demand doing for the doj to support an happeningson of the here in cleveland. Were also demanding for the immediate firing of the officers. It is really an insult the officers are responsible for the murder of a child still are actively employed and that the city is providing them space to continuously be employed and also supported by city funds. So, you know, a lot of what we are demanding is really reflective of the family and the support they are asking for directly from officials elected officials, and also the local community in cleveland and what they have been rallying around for the last year, and also around the murders of other black people in the city of cleveland at the hands of the police. Amy i want to turn back to billy joe mills. , hisamily of tamir rice mother, has said the prosecutor sabotaged the case. Are there other avenues to pursue this outside of the civil rights investigation by the u. S. Attorney Generals Office . Let me put that question to elle hearns as we get billy joe mills on the line. Yeah, so other avenues that i think from a legal space thats not necessarily my expertise, but what i will say is that any time there is no justice provided to the life of someone that is taken, it will always provide space for movement to exist. When the life of a child is taken, when the life of tamir is not honored in the judicial process, that will always provide space for organizers, activists, Community Members to be involved and really exercising their First Amendment rights and also advocating for what they feel best is the need directly in their commuted the. And that is to make sure that the community is safe and not just say from intercommunity violence, but also the violence at the hands of the police, and we assume come does consistently in the city of cleveland that the police are the biggest culprits of a lot of the violence in the over policing within the community. So the other avenues are definitely for the community to have investments so they can actually dictate what is happening in their community and who actually is in power for so that another senseless murder of someones child doesnt happen again. Amy i want to ask about the earlier reports that emerged that the officer responsible for tamir rices death, Timothy Loehmann, was deemed unfit for Police Service over two years ago when he worked in the suburb of independence. A letter from a superior specifically criticizes loehmans performance in firearms training, saying he could not follow simple directions, could not communicate clear thoughts nor recollections, and his handgun performance was dismal. Meanwhile, officer Frank Garmback the officer who was driving the Police Cruiser when tamir rice was killed also has a troubled history. Cleveland reportedly paid out 100,000 to a cleveland Resident Named tamela eaton to settle an Excessive Force lawsuit brought against garmback. The settlement stemmed from a 2010 confrontation in which eaton said garmback rushed and placed her in a chokehold, tackled her to the ground, twisted her wrist and began hitting her body. Billy joe mills, does this have any bearing on tamir rices case. Start with loehmann, the man who shot tamir rice. He is forced out of the department because he had low impulse control, and because his handling of handguns was appalling. Thats right. He was forced out of the department that also was a suburban Police Department, Police Department in which would not expect there to be as many impulse tense, high situations in woodland. Yet, the city completely neglected to look into his employment record and they have now gone back and looked at the hiring process and discipline, i believe the two hiring officers that were responsible for bringing officer loehmann on board. Officer loehmann completely unfit to handle a weapon, completely unfit to be in that situation to begin with, then officer garmback, who was the driver of that vehicle, he was Training Officer loehmann at that time. Lets not forget, officer garmback, the driver, created the danger by driving right up to tamir. He is the one who had more experience, he drove right up to tamir and created the danger that they then thought fit to shoot their way out of. Amy and the issue of this unusual grand jury process am a billy joe mills. Can you explain why it is unusual . Toif youve got another hour give me, amy, i can go over everything with you. I will give you the highlights. First of all, the officers have criminal defense attorneys. They ignored their attorneys advice to remain silent in the grand jury process. So what they did is, they wrote prepared eight minutes. They took the oath in front of the grand jury, and then read those statements to the grand jury. What is extremely unusual here is any other situation if these were not Police Officers, the prosecutor would be salivating at the opportunity to then waveexamine the people to their for the minute right. That is what they did. They waved their fifth amendment right to remain silent. So that is one big thing. The second big thing, the prosecutor mcginty hired three experts, all of whom concluded that this was a justified shooting. Those experts would be normally selected by the defense attorneys. The attorneys representing the Police Officers, there is not any randomness when an attorney hires an expert, there is no randomness in it. Any attorney in this country that is worth, you know, a kind of beer an hour, knows exactly what theyre experts are going to say before they are hired. Amy and the story of the municipal judge who recommended officer loehmann be charged with murder, manslaughter, and reckless homicide last year, can you explain what his standing was . Sure. Well, he found probable cause to say that the officers committed a crime which again, that is what the grand jury was looking at, was there probable cause to say a crime was committed here . It is a pretty low standard to meet. And the video in itself in this is what judge adrian, the judge are referring to, what he essentially said the video itself is sufficient evidence to say there is probable cause that a crime has been committed here. What he unfortunately chose not to do was take the next step, which was to say, i find theres probable cause and i am also going to issue arrest warrants for these officers. Unfortunately, he did not take that step. Amy and the experts that you have described that the prosecutor called, who were they . And if you are the prosecutor in this case, how would you see there being a different outcome . He said if you look carefully at the video and they slowed it up and enhanced it, that, you know, tamir was showing was pointing the gun at them, though he did say maybe it was because he wanted to give it to them . Right. So that portion is very strange, and perhaps to me the strangest t of his press conference the Prosecutors Press conference yesterday. Because again, none of his experts and the reports said with any definitive certainty that tamir was pulling the gun or trying to, you know, threaten the officers with it. They said, essentially, it was uncertain. Step to took the next say, well, in that moment, in that one to two seconds of time and one of the experts we hired said it is really just one second of time in that one second of time, the officers were reasonable in feeling threatened by tamir. So the big from a legal perspective, the big argument in this case is, what is the zoom . What is the focus level that you look at this situation from . Do you look at the total circumstances and realize and appreciate that the officers fabricated and created a danger that did not exist at all . A perceived danger . Or do you just zoom way in and look at the one to two seconds in which officer loehmann is within 4. 5 to nine feet of tamir rice and say that he is justified in that moment . That isis the big the big legal dispute here, and there are six circuit law kirby canus dubai that says you consider the Police Officers tactics and you can consider the totality of facts when analyzing whether an officer is reasonable. Amy so there is a lawsuit now that they family has. Where does that go, billy joe mills . Well, that is currently pending in the Northern District of ohio, and were going to come as we put everything we have into the criminal side of the case, were point of put everything we have into the civil rights case and were also said, as latonya and elle were going to do everything we can to continue to try to get some measure of criminal accountability through the department of justice, perhaps, because amy and have you been speaking to the criminal Justice Department . We put together an extensive letter to the department of justice. It attached all of our complaints showing all of the irregularities and unprecedented , andior of the prosecutor they are currently reviewing our request. We dont have any further information at this time, unfortunately. Amy could another grand jury be convened . Yes. Not under prosecutor mcginty, but, yes, that is possible. Amy and who would be the prosecutor in that case and is are precedent for this . Well, again, this entire thing has been incredibly unusual and unprecedented, to have prosecutor acting as defense attorney and doing everything that he has done, insulting the family, talking about the family having financial incentives for seeking criminal accountability. You know, it could come from a future prosecutor. It could come from a special prosecutor being appointed, there being some kind of intervention perhaps intervention from, you know, the state attorney general mike dewine. There are a couple of possibilities. Theres think particularly high hope for any of those possibilities at this time, but we are definitely going to be exploring every single possible avenue that is available. ,my lemmy ask elle hearns after the grand jury decision not to charge the officers in the tamir rice shooting, the department of justice issued a statement saying the statement went on to say that the doj will continue its reforms of the cleveland Police Department following the finding of a pattern or practice of excessive use of force. Does that satisfy you in the black lives Matter Movement . No, absolutely not. I think because we are aware of the insidious history that policing has had in the genocide against black bodies in this country that is not satisfactory. I think there needs to be a inplete recall of policing the distribution of resources that provide police the opportunity to continue to re in the lives of black individuals specifically. I think we have seen the department of justice across this country open investigations and not actually develop anything that was truly reformionary toward the that Community Members, activist organizers are demanding through the uprisings that we have seen. So it is not satisfactory. It is just another attempt by government officials to posture as if they are working on fixing a continuous, consistent issue that we continue to see every single day, every 28 hours a black person is murdered by the police. Weve seen recently in chicago, murders of individuals just in the past week, and so this cannot consistently be where we are week after week, month after month. With ability from these officers, no accountability by the city officials, no accountability by the federal government. So it is not satisfactory until we continue to see officers removed, until we see pensions removed from their future and also until we see a complete recalling of the way that policing is orchestrated. And if the people are not in control of the pulleys, if people dont have any say so in what the police are doing and their communities, it will never be satisfactory to me, and im sure it will be satisfactory to anyone involved in the black lives that are movement or the networks that have consistently influence the movement. Amy connecticut, a cisco sixyearold white woman was arrested after she brandished a fake handgun. Police said she pointed the gun at civilians, ask if they were police, yelled about hating cops, shouted what you going to do, shoot me . She reportedly raise the gun and shouted yelling boom it did not appear to have an orange tag. She was arrested without incident after throwing down the gun. Activists have compare this to what happened to tamir rice. Elle hearns, your comment . I think is exactly what White Privilege looks like. And i think america has a way of denying that privilege in this country exists. And going even outside of the murder of tamir, that we also have to look at the murders of to Misha Anderson who was also brutally murdered by the police in a response to a Mental Health episode that they obviously were not able to respond effectively to because of their lack of training toward black individuals to suffer from mentalhealth issues. So the fact this 66 euros woman who made public threats for the Police Outside of a Police Department was able to walk away and i dont even know she was arrested, but the fact was able to walk away with her life still intact speaks to the deeper systemic structural, racism that exists and also what it looks like to be white in america and a privilege that black individuals do not have. Unfortunately, tamir do not have that opportunity. Within one second, his life was taken. So it is an insult for there to be accountability laid on the life of a child for the reason why he was murdered and a 66yearold responsible elder walks away with life. It is an insult. Amy latonya, you have a son in the age range of tamir, your cousin . My daughter, yes. Amy how do you expln to her what happened . It is very difficult. They are old enough to understand that they are black children in america and they already have a strike against them. So teaching them that, you know, you have to comply with what Police Officers say whether they are, you know, giving you structures to come here or thatver, this scenario black children or black man or black people are a threat, and that is just totally untrue. So in order to prepare my son, my daughter for encounters with police, just do what they say because there is no guarantee that theyre having a good day. We all know what that encounter may until come as you see with tamir rice. My 12yearold cousin who is simply playing in the park where kids play. Location. Was in a he visited that Recreation Center daily. So people were very familiar with him in that area. Amy latonya, you tweeted on day, can you say whether lebron james responded and why you see this link to the missouri Football Players . No, he hasnt responded. Idolized lebron. That was his favorite basketball player, as most children do. He was his hero. I felt like reaching out to him in a response that maybe could have generated some type of response from the basketball team, the way the Missouri Football Team stood up for their rights hoping he would do the same thing. Amy elle, are there more protests planned . I can tell you of the Justice System is not interested in holding those accountable who are responsible for the murder of children, that the people will hold those folks accountable. And so there will continuously be accountability and pressure for those are responsible for the murder of tamir rice. And as long as this family has to suffer with no justice, then the people will continue to support in any way that we can to make sure that those who are responsible are held a countable. Amy a want to thank you all for being with us, elle hearns with lack lives matter cleveland, Latonya Goldsby whose cousin is tamir rice, and billy joe mills, one of the attorneys for the rice family. When we come back, we go to connecticut. Stay with us. [music break] amy is it because im black, by syl johnson. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A connecticut newspaper reporter has resigned after alleging gross misconduct by ownership on behalf of billionaire republican donor Sheldon Adelson. Steve collins has worked at Bristol Press for more than two decades but im Christmas Eve he announced he is stepping down after was revealed the papers owner, Michael Schroeder, ran a plagiarized article under a fake name to criticized a nevada judge who had challenged adelsons business dealings. Schroeder is the manager of news and Media Capital group llc, a shell, do that recently bought a different paper, the Las Vegas Review journal. E collins said collins is the second journalist to resign over adelsons media dealings in recent weeks. The top editor of Las Vegas Review journal step down days after the paper published an article in turkey critical of its new owners. For more were joined by steve collins, the no former reporter for Bristol Press and the cofounder of youth journalism international. They teach journalism the students around the world. He is just been awarded 5,000 whistleblowere award. Welcome to democracy now it is great to have you with us, steve. This is a very confusing story. Explain how your paper, Bristol Press is connected to what has just taken place in nevada well, thats the collocated thing that is a complicated thing to do because we dont know exactly what happened other than a story appeared under a byline in our weer a few weeks ago and just discovered all about that. Amy what you mean . Well, a piece that ran in the paper attacking judges in nevada had nothing to do it connecticut, nothing to do with the reason we cover. It ran under a name from someone we did not know. It was full of plagiarized material. You know, i saw that after all this had come out and it was, like, it felt like my boss was pimping out our paper to serve the interest of the billionaire out in las vegas. Amy but expand the connection between Michael Schroeder, your publisher of Bristol Press, and what is happening now in las vegas. Mr. Schroeder was with the paper was purchased out in las vegas, he showed up in the newsroom in las vegas to announce it to the staff there. He would not say who had purchased it. And he basically told him to forget about it and do their jobs. When i first saw Michael Schroeder had been in the newsroom, you really didnt even occur to me that it was our Michael Schroeder. I saw a picture on twitter of him and it just blew me away. I couldnt believe he had anything to do with it. Amy and explain who Michael Schroeder is, your publisher, and who edward clark and is. They may be one of the same, were still try to figure that out. Edward clarkin is the name on the piece that ran. That piece was put into the paper by mr. Schroeder. Edward clarkin also showed up on some old restaurant views that ran in the early days after mr. Schroeder had purchased our paper. It sounds an awful lot like him, but we dont know. It is a fake name. All we know is he is responsible for. Amy so you have never met this Edward Clarkin in your newsroom . He doesnt exist. Amy and what makes you think he is Michael Schroeder . Well, because the name showed up on restaurant reviews, and i know that Michael Schroeder used to go to restaurants to review them. Was atwhen mr. Schroeder boston now before he came to my paper, the resort so a review with the name Edward Clarkin on it. It all seems to go incidental. Amy edward is Michael Schroeders middle name and clarkin is his moms maiden name . Executive. Amy if you could explain the connection you have a local press, Bristol Press was grunting about a nevada judge going after a judge in nevada . Yeah, pretty much. It was a little broader than that but it was a piece that had nothing to do with our coverage of a to do with our newspaper. Was a truly bizarre thing to be published in our paper. And i dont know why it was there. I cant answer that. Other than go ahead. Amy what are you planning to do . You worked at this paper for 20 years. You have now quit the paper. How will you get by and what made you finally decide to do this . Well, it was a very hard decision. I love the Bristol Press. I think local news is a very important thing. It is hard to give that up, and i dont really know what im going to do. Runcharity my wife and i surly could use some more of my attention. It is a big part of why i quit because i cant go out and teach all those kids about journalistic ethics and the values of our profession and then take money from a man who clearly doesnt care one wit about what we do or why. Amy we reached your publisher Michael Schroeder, democracy now did, but he just repeatedly said no comment. What has he responded to your questions . You work for him. He is never explain anything to anybody. I think he doesnt think he has to. I suppose youre in the pocket of someone like mr. Adelson, you dont need to. Amy finally, your response to michael hengel, the editor of Las Vegas Review journal stepping down after the paper was purchased by shoveling adelson, although, for a while, it was cloaked in mystery right before the republican debate. The reporters did not know who had not been. Right. Yelms workrformed for our entire profession. And nothing but the greatest respect for all of those people out there who have been working the story, knowing their jobs are in grave danger. To my way of thinking, theyre on the frontlines lines of a battle for the soul of our profession. We all have a responsibility to do everything we can to fight this trend and to try to make a free and independent press survives in this country. Amy steve collins, thank you for being with us, joining us from hartford, connecticut. Congratulations on your i. F. Stone award. That does it for our broadcast. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. 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