>> that is it for this edition of al jazeera america news. we leave you with china's victory day parade. we had it there a moment ago, just begun in beijing. >> on "america tonight," the sins of a saints. >> what some will forget, father junjunipero serra. >> back baltimore.

>> demanding justice, demanding accountability. >> how freddy gray's death has exposed old wounds and bitter history across the nation. thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. one of the summer's flash points in the black lives matter movement is again the focus of protesters and police. back in baltimore a courtroom victory for prosecutors, in the case of freddy gray, the man who died apparently from injuries he suffered in custody. the case against six officers involved will move forward but the spotlight on baltimore has also brought attention to other cities and other individuals in conflict with police. adam may reports on the case in

conflict. >> reporter: protesters descend on a baltimore city courthouse as inside during a pretrial hearing attorneys for six officers accused in the death of freddy gray ask a judge to throw out the charges. gray died after a rough ride in the back of a police van last april. >> the same old things. >> at today's court hearing, lost another motion asking for the state's attorney to recuse herself so the trial will proceed. >> we're not asking anymore. we're demanding justice. demanding accountability. at the end of the day, nobody deserves to be brutally murdered. >> tawanda jones one of those leading the rally against

justice. >> my brother was screaming for help, even after they had him down, you got me help help why are you doing this? >> her brother tyrone west died during a traffic stop two years ago in baltimore. after he struggled with police officers and then stopped breathing. the official police investigation of the incident cleared the officers of using excessive force. but jones has never stopped suspecting foul play. citing a pattern of police abuse. >> are you going to keep fighting to change this? >> i will fight until i have no breath in my body. if i can reincarnate myself they're going to see me fighting then. we fight because i am my brother's keeper. my family love tyrone west, we are fighting out of love not hate. hate is what killed my brother. >> of the streets around the court extra police deployed to head off any violence. police say one protestor was

arrested after failing to get out of the street and kicking an officer who sustained minor injuries. nothing at all like the riots baltimore saw four months ago. or the violence plaguing baltimore this summer. with a record breaking number of homicides. putting 2015 on pace to be the deadliest year in decades. >> there is no other schizophrenia since the freddy gray -- >> jill carter is a mayoral candidate and daughter of a civil rights activist, often branded radical by mainstream maryland politician he. >> what is the root of the anger and distrust that so many in the city has are towards city hall? >> based on reality, based on being treated like they were inhuman. the poorest more vulnerable

people because they can't afford adequate housing and then you criminalize those same people. there's a boiling point that would have to necessarily just come and i think why have reached it. >> carter has argued that class has kept too many baltimoreians. >> downtown baltimore, they say whose city? our city, it's their city -- they're treated if it's the city for city hall and frankly tourism and middle class black and white people. that's the way they feel if you are poor and black in baltimore city you don't feel it's your city, you're the troublesome presence. >> keep them corralled for lack of a better word? >> out of sight out of mind. the only place they are welcomed

the their own homes and the baltimore city detention center, that's the truth. >> the lack of fair opportunities, one of the key complaints protesters want their political leaders to address in a city that remains on edge. as six officers prepare for trial and the rest of the police force walks a fine line. >> "america tonight's" adam may joins us tonight from baltimore. adam you mentioned the two decisions earlier that had a positive effect for prosecution but there was a late decision that seems to favor the defense. >> right, the charges will not be thrown out and the state's attorney does not have to recuse herself. but later this afternoon the judge ruled in another pretrial motion that these six defendants will get separate trials, while prosecutors want them grouped

together. the prosecution will have to present this case six separate times. on top of this we have another pretrial hearing, change of venue, defense attorneys are arguing there is no way that the officers can get a fair trial in baltimore, because every single person was affected, whether directly or indirectly because there was a citywide curfew for every single resident. most people here are very familiar with the freddy gray case. >> you talk adam about the effect for everyone in baltimore. there is a sense of concern because police went into the all hands on deck mode. >> it was an all hands on deck mode, there was a visible presence of the police officers, across town and in the

neighborhoods as well. police were nervous that perhaps protesters would get out of hand and perhaps these protests could turn to riots once contend and spread to other parts of the city. there is a collective sigh of relief that these protests were uneventful. >> you've been doing a deep dive over the course of these events, and you'll come up with a special on friday that takes a look at what makes a difference there. >> you have to look deeper past the freddy gray incident and look at what are the root causes about the anger and mistrust of what's fueling some of these protests. it seems to boil down to a couple of key factors. generational poverty, joblessness and a city that's struggling with massive drug addiction. we found some very inspiration at stories and innovative

programs that are being tested here in baltimore and we'll look closer at those, that's a special report acknowledge saving baltimore. on friday. >> that's "america tonight's" adam may in baltimore. later hess set to be made the next saint. why he should be remembered for his sin. and fire and ice, what's threatening alaska's forest and what that means for the lower 48. at aljazeera.com/americatonight. going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target

>> my name is imran garda. the show is called "third rail". when you watch the show, you're gonna find us being unafraid. the topics will fascinate you... intrigue you. >> they take this seriously. >> let me quote you. >> there's a double standard. >> you can't be a hypocrite. >> you're gonna also get a show that's really fair, bold, never predictable. >> they should be worried about heart disease not terrorism. >> no, i wouldn't say that at all. >> you'll see a show that has an impact on the conventional wisdom, that goes where nobody else goes. my name is imran garda, i'm the host of "third rail" - and you can find it on al jazeera america.

>> looking to the world now shocking images of a syrian family, including a toddler washed ashore in turkey. sharp new fear on europe's refugee crisis and the apparent inability for nations to cope with it. the steady flow of refugees onto european shores, "america tonight's" sheila macvicar found that so far, little has worked. >> i remember the first time i got an sos at sea. >> in sicily and een a even at , migrants know the name of noelle

sufi's name. >> translator: last august there were 17 boats at sea and eight were calling my mobile. eight boats and each were calling 20 or 30 times until they were all rescued. >> reporter: an arabic speaking italian, twirk-year-old noelleed the caitnoelle dedicato those seeking asylum in europe. >> it's not easy. many times i don't sleep for days but my life compared to the lives of thousands of people is simply nothing. it is something i have to be doing. i cannot stop. >> reporter: she is there to greet them when they arrive at the local train station, intercepting refugees before they are preyed upon again by human traffickers.

>> reporter: each one of these refugees have paid thousands of dollars just to make it this far. the going rate is about $2,000 a head, regardless of age. and there are smugglers lurking here now. looking for more refugee money. the syrians including so many small children noelle has gathered at the catania train station were rescued the same day as the deadliest shipwreck to date in the mediterranean. hundreds of migrants drowned.

>> translator: what we are trying to do is give the help that public institutions are not providing. all you need are your hands your feet and a big heart. >> reporter: but what noelle is doing is pushing the boundaries of the law. she has been investigated by the police accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigration. charges later dismissed. >> translator: they understood i'm a human rights activist not a human trafficker. >> reporter: for would be asylum seekers the mediterranean crossing is just one stage of their journey. for those that make the journey there's no question that crossing the mediterranean is the most perilous part of their trip but by no means is that the ending of the voyage. for many of those especially the syrians what they want is to get out of italy and get to northern europe where they have family and friends. in order to do that they have to

leave italy undocumented without having their fingerprints taken. and that set off a game of cat and mouse. >> the dublin convention says wherever a refugee is first identified and fingerprinted on foreign soil that's the country they must apply for asylum. italy no more wants the tens of thousands that arrive on their shores than most of them want to stay here. ahmed halil be and his family were lucky. rescued by the coast guard, processed by the italian police. they like most of the syrians passing through managed to leave sicily without being fingerprinted. >> translator: i don't have the financial ability to sustain my family in italy. tuition is expensive. and so is the cost of living.

>> reporter: originally from a damascus bush, ahmed his wife and three children fled syria two years ago. after one of the worst massacres of the civil war. an attack carried out busy regime loyalists. his youngest son mohammed was then six years old. >> we saw scenes of slaughter and killings that had been undertaken by the regime forces and the militias. that's when i decided we had to flee syria as soon as we can by any means necessary. i would rather die trying to leave than die staying. >> reporter: he fled with his family first to lebanon then to egypt. like tens of thousands before him he paid thousands of dollars

passage on a modern safe ship. instead. >> the last boat had a huge number of people on it, about 500. i will never forget how people were stacked on top of each other. there was no food or water. on the fifth day of the journey. there were high waves and people were examining to die at any moment. >> but just as the boat started taking on water a military ship appeared. >> i will never ever forget the italian red cross. they reminded me of a verse from the koran. whosoever saves one soul saves all of mankind. they are saving all of mankind. my daughter just saw the sea. the sea is now a nightmare for the children. they will be afraid of the sea

for a long time. >> halil with his family is among the lucky ones. >> next, a case of bad faith? the priest revered for the creation of california, why he is also condemned for it.

>> it is a story taught in every california school: the first step if the state's history. a story that is supposed to unify every student's understanding of the california founding father. a priest who is due to the canonized during pope francis's

visit this month. it will be an exciting moment for hispanic catholics but a policing that will be given that sanctions a shameful time in america's golden state. "america tonight" achts michael okw"america tonight's" michael . >> the story of good and evil in the name of god and gold. while the american revolution was underway in 1776, spanish priest junipero serra was busy completing his seventh mission along the california coast five years after he had been sent to convert the new world. >> to californians he's kind of the founder of our state and he found the first nine missions of 21 missions. >> historian and author greg ofalia spent years publishing his recent book about fare

serra. >> he was a great legislator, people say he wrote the first laws that government california in 17 74. >> he arrived in what was called alta california. conquest serra eventually began to oppose. says oxfalia. >> serra was not for taking the land. he grew apart from the spanish authorities. maybe they were together but as the years went by he began to realize they're not doing the right thing, they're molesting the indian women and he began to question the rapaciousness of the spanish soldiers and the conquest itself. >> by the time the string of missions was completed and the spanish left in 1834, many

native americans had been baptized but it's estimated more were buried, wiped out, killed mostly by disease. for many native americans rapes, beatings and floggings were part of mission life. so you might understand why some native american groups are angry over plans to make father serra a saint. >> why junipero serra? >> a member of the sumash tribe, a professor of indian studies. for her, serra was not a saint. >> father junipero serra was the architect of the mission system that was so deaf stating to the native americans. >> the indians suffered. >> they suffered greatly. >> how so? >> you could be flogged ten times for a bad attitude.

a lot of people died. what kind of saint would allow that? >> serra actually wrote about his support of flogging native americans to keep order. it was a troubling find for ofalia. >> i think he was guilty maybe of some of the says excesses of the corporal punishment which was probably some source of guilt. >> but blaming serra for the spanish conquest was not fair. >> serra was paired in a broad brush stroke with the sins of colonialism. >> like it or not european powers came to the places like the new world, and to africa and other parts of asia and they tried to conquer them and they tried to colonize them. does he not get a pass because this was the context of the

time? >> no. do you know why? because we are still suffering. we have lost land. we have suffered greatly. we have so many ills in our communities, i don't even want to name them all. >> reporter: this stretch of malibu is the last parcel of sumash land according to elders. the sumash once occupied most of the california coast. we met redstar. >> what is your view about this in a nutshell? >> about serra or -- >> about serra. >> i wasn't there, i don't know. but there was a lot of wrongdoing that he could have prevented. >> he will have a chance to tell pope francis in person what they think. >> you are one of only nine native americans who is going to have an audience with the pope. it's an amazing privilege. what are you going to say to him?

>> we see the sainthood being given to father serra and california indians have an issue with that. >> you're going to let the pope know? >> absolutely. >> in 1987, then pope john paul ii expressed regret to native americans and just last spring, pope francis apologized for the actions of colonial america. >> he says don't take the camera off his flaws but look at his goodness. >> they see some of the things in himself in father serra. >> what did he do when he got to be pope? he washes their feet. that's exactly what father serra did, washed the elderly people's

feet to pay reverence to them. >> there are some that said father serra was a brave man and had compassion in him. is there truth in that? >> there may be truth in that. i'm sure he believed he was doing the best for god. they don't even realize that as they are walking past the rose gardens that they are walking over the graves of our dead. >> we wanted to talk to you near one of these missions. why didn't you want to do that? >> my great grandmother is buried under a parking lot there. i did not feel good being there. >> so this whole issue is personal for you? >> very. >> this sumash village was the only place she considered talking to us. this is where she feel closest to god. this is her house of worship now.

michael okwu, al jazeera, malibu. >> an act of faith. that's "america tonight." tell us what you think at aljazeera.com/americatonight. talk to us on twitter or facebook and please come back. we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. >> in the wake of the baltimore riots. everyday citizens are fighting to take their neighborhoods back. >> it's a movement to make a difference. >> educating. >> i feel safer in here. >> the library means something to the people here. >> healing. >> we really have to talk about how can we save lives. >> restoring. >> we given' a family a chance because some of the houses are bein' rebuilt. >> can they rescue their city?

today after two years of negotiations the united states >> today, after two years of negotiations, the united states has achieved something that decades of animosity has not. a comprehensive long term deal with iran that will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. >> america and iran two old enemies in the middle east have shaken hands. in the next 30 minutes i'm going to take you iran, i'll meet iranians of all