06/19/12 06/19/12 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is "democracy now!" >> it feels like we're not safe

anywhere. if you are not safe in your own home, where are you save? this is becoming so widespread with police -- you know, you can stop a person outside. ok, fine, it is not right. but when you run inside someone's house and violate someone's house like that, how are you supposed to trust people? >> killed at home. and york police officer is indicted on manslaughter charges for shooting dead ramarley graham. the unarmed teenager was 18 years old and killed in his own bathroom in the bronx after police raided his family's home. today, a rare interview with ramarley's mother constance malcolm, the family attorney, and a retired new york police detective. >> we need to treat cops that kill people and justifiably the same as cop killers. killer cops need to be treated

as cop killers. >> then voices from sunday's father's day march against the new york police practice stop & frisk. we will speak with comedian dick gregory, the actor j.d. williams from "the wire" and victims of stop and frisk. >> it is humiliating. wondering, why did you stop me for no apparent reason? >> all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. violence is raging across syria as government forces attack rebel strongholds. syrian activists say at least 94 people were killed in nationwide violence on monday, including 64 civilians. a spokesperson for the u.n. mission in syria warned that civilians in homs are trumped by

the gunfire. >> this is a humanitarian crisis. we need to make sure the civilians are protected. that there's respect and protection for the lives of the people. we need to release the civilians that are released --try to the line of fire. >> the u.n. monitoring mission in syria remains on the sidelines after suspending its mission over unsafe conditions. in geneva, the u.n.'s top human- rights official said syrian forces may be committing war crimes critics all these violations at the hands of all parties to the conflict must and. the government of syria should cease using the heavy shelling of populated areas as such actions amount to crimes

against humanity and possible war crimes. >> as the crisis continues in syria, president obama met with russian president vladimir putin at the g-20 summit in mexico on monday. it was their first meeting since the pri to return to the presidency last month. they have remained at odds over syria, with the u.s. criticizing russian support for bashar al- assad and russia calling on the u.s. to include iran in regional talks for an end to the violence. obama acknowledged he and putin had broken no new ground. >> we discussed syria, where we agreed we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war and a kind of horrific deaths we have seemed in the last several weeks -- we have seen in the last several weeks.

and we will work with the united nations, kofi annan, and all the interested parties in trying to find a resolution to this problem. >> obama's visit to mexico for the g-20 comes days after announced an executive order stopping the deportation of many undocumented youth. at a separate meeting with the mexican president calderón, calderón praised obama's move. >> i would like to think personally on behalf of the mexican nation, president barack obama for his valuable decision. we believe this is very just, a humanitarian action, and an unprecedented action. >> protests continuing as the g- 20 summit gets under way in the mexican resort area of los cabos. on monday, activists unfurled a giant one trillion dollar bill representing the money given in fossil fuel subsidies each year. one group says it has collected more than 750,000 signatures for

a petition calling for a shift to renewable energy. egypt's muslim brotherhood is calling for protests against the ruling military council in the aftermath of weekend elections and new edicts shoring up the council's control. the brotherhood claims it won the race, but the apparent victory was overshadowed by aegis military rulers granted themselves new authority to limit the incoming president's role. i'm ted shafiq, who served as the last prime minister under hosni mubarak and squared off against muslim brotherhood candidate mohamed morsi, is still refusing to concede the race. on monday, the council pledged to hand over power the end of the month as scheduled, but said it will continue to control the budget and other key matters until a new parliament is elected. a palestinian soccer player from gaza has agreed to end a three- month partial hunger strike in return for hospital care and an early release.

he has been held in israeli prison without trial for nearly three years. he was one of more than 1600 palestinian prisoners to recently take part in a coordinated hunger strike to protest israel's policy on -- of administrative detention. an israeli soldier imprisoned for refusing to serve in the occupied palestinian territories has gone on a hunger strike of his own in solidarity with those palestinians jailed without charge or trial. the soldier was sentenced to 20 days a military prison last week for defying service and what he calls israel's occupation army. greece appears close to seeing a new coalition government days after parliamentary elections ended in a close finish. leaders from the center-right new democracy party say they have reached a preliminary deal with socialist pasok leaders for a coalition that would likely also include a smaller leftist party. the new democracy party won by

far less than three percentage points over the second place syriza party, which has rejected joining any coalition that agrees to the harsh austerity measures required for an international bailout. violence continues in iraq amidst a wave of bombings across the country. at least 15 people were killed, dozens were wounded when a bomber struck a funeral in baqouba earlier today. president obama as pick for ambassador to iraq has withdrawn his nomination following republican opposition and claims of inappropriate contact with the journalist. brett mcgurk had come under fire from senate republicans over revelations of a racy email exchange with the wall street journal reporter while he served in iraq in 2008. mcgurk and the reporter later married. she resigned from the wall street journal last week. in a major victory for native americans, the supreme court has ruled the government must

reimburse tribes for the cost of running federal programs after apparently shortchanging them for years. the navajo and other native american tribes have filed a class-action lawsuit claiming the government withheld millions of dollars by imposing a cap on payments for police, education, and other programs. the court ruled 5 to 4 along unconventional lines with conservative justices siding with the tribes. republican presidential candidate mitt romney visited wisconsin monday as part of a six-day bus tour. his campaign has used the jaunt to assess a number of prospective vice-presidential nominees, including wisconsin congressmember paul ryan. on monday, romney appeared with ryan as well as wisconsin and a governor scott walker on the heels of walker's recall victory two weeks ago. speaking to supporters, romney predicted he will carry wisconsin on election day. >> i will tell you, i think president obama put this in his column.

he assumed from the beginning that wisconsin was going to be his. but you know what? we're going to win wisconsin. a >> of total investigation has revealed what critics say are major design flaws at california's san onofre nuclear power plant, which has been shut down since a radioactive leak in january. monitors say the design flaws caused excessive wear in tubing that carries radioactive water. the plant's operator had been planning on seeking approval to restart the reactors, but critics say the findings show san onofre should remain idle. in a statement, friends of the earth said the crisis is the result of a perfect storm of error, saying -- on the other hand, the nrc a federal judge has dismissed a $40 million lawsuit against new

york's suffolk county and its police department in connection with the november 2008 hate crime that killed a man. the zero was taunted and stabbed to death by a group of white teenagers who had been looking for a hispanic person to assault. his family had brought a suit accusing local and police officials of responsibility for the murder because of a "indifferent and unconstitutional failure to provide equal protection clause >> firm immigrants. but in a newly unsealed ruling, u.s. district judge leonard wexler invalidated the suit on the grounds the accused officials were not adequately served with court papers. his brother said -- a u.s. army deserter who went awol in 1984 has come for in sweden where he says he has been living ever since. he said he dropped out of the military after becoming a

pacifist and growing disillusioned with then- president ronald reagan's policies. >> discovered the world of solving problems by peaceful peacefulike gandhi's fight against the british, which my school forgot to tell me about, and then asked for a discharge. on the grounds of my affiliation with peace charge. that is a legal channel of getting a discharge in the military. after one year, i understood they just ignored my request complete and they gave the orders to transfer to another base. at that time, i felt hopeless. >> he also contacted his family incoming ford, who had no idea he was still alive. eight occupy wall street protesters have been found guilty of trespassing, stemming from their arrest at new york's trinity church in december. they had scaled a fence onto church owned property after

trinity refused to give them sanctuary following their eviction from zuccotti park at the time. the trout pitted occupies supporters against the church, which cooperated with prosecutors in targeting the activists. mark adams was sentenced to talk -- to 45 days on additional charges. those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we're here in the bronx and east to 29th street at the home of ramarley graham. today, as every thursday, people are gathering to remember him and protest police violence. there is a t-shirt hanging right here on the gate this as, "rest in peace" with the picture of ramarley gone. today, "democracy now!" special on the life and death of

ramarley graham, a teenager who was shot dead by new york police officer inside his own bathroom in the bronx. his death occurred february 2, three weeks before trayvon martin was shot dead in florida by george zimmerman. trayvon was 17 years old. ramarley was 18. while martin's death and international attention, the ramarley graham killing received far less attention. police initially said he ran into his building fleeing from officers, but surveillance footage shows this to be untrue. new york police commissioner ray kelly initially said gramm "appeared to be armed," but no weapon was ever recovered. ramarley's grandmother and 6- year-old brother were inside the apartment the time police killed him last week, a new york police officer was indicted on manslaughter charges for the fatal shooting. the officer, richard tased, pleaded not guilty to charges of first and second-degree manslaughter in the bronx courtroom. he was released on $50,000 bail.

last thursday, "democracy now!" covered a vigil held by the family. i spoke to his older sister and began by asking her to describe her brother ramarley. >> ramarley was very different from the other brothers. he was in to slow jam. he knew how to cook. he taught me some things about cooking. he even showed me how to make milkshakes, just like, little weird things that people would not really do at home. when we were younger, we were always doing something. whether it was me bothering him, provoking him to do certain things. we would get in trouble by our mother. we would always laughed after, always joke. we played a lot of video games together coming up. our favorite was "halo" with the x-box.

we did a lot of sister and brother activities. wherever my mom went, we are right there with her tagging along. even when i went to the court, he wanted to be with me. even though he did not know how to play basketball. it is really hard. we lived in the same house. it is weird at times not to see the person you lived with at the house with you. it gets lonely. he was like my protector at arm's length. i have other brothers, but he was my protector. he was always checking on me. >> he is your little brother, four years younger. >> but it times he seemed like my older brother, even though he was my younger brother. he was very mature for his age. a lot of people realized that the more they were around him.

he really amazed me how observant he was. i secretly idolized him. i never told him when he was alive, and i wish i had told him. things happen. >> can you tell me about the picture in the pin you are wearing? >> this is "i am ramarley. you see my hands, no guns. why did you shoot?" every thursday, we hold a vigil for ramarley. we do it on a thursday because he was killed on a thursday. 18 thursday's for 18 years of his life. , and support the cause. even though he is gone, it could happen to someone else. we're trying to prevent that from happening. we want to shed light on this because it happens every day. we're not going to let that happen in our situation. they want us to forget, but we're not going to forget.

>> ramarley graham's older sister, leona virgo. in the evening, his father, frank graham, addressed the crowd had gathered for the weekly vigil in memory of his son. >> ramarley, look at this. people love you and they want to see justice for you. we want to see justice for all the other kids, men, women, that have been killed and go unnoticed. the clergy, the community, the activists -- i think this will happen. [applause] this one is different. they messed with the wrong set of people. we're not going to stop. no justice -- >> no peace! >> father of ramarley graham

shot dead inside his apartment by the new york police. when we come back, i speak with ramarley graham's mother and a retired new york police officer as well as her lawyer. stay with us. ♪ [music break] ♪ [music break]

>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue our coverage on the death of ramarley graham, the 18-year-old shot dead by new york police officer in his own home and february 2. yesterday, "democracy now!" juan gonzalez and i sat down with constance not come, ramarley's mother, and also the lawyer for the grant family, royce russell, and carlton berkley, known as chucky, a close friend of the family, a former new york police detective on the force for 20 years. i began by asking constance malcolm what happened to her son on the day he was shot dead. >> i was not there. i was on my way home from work.

i got a phone call and the person said -- as if i was home. i said, no, on my way from work. he said, there is a whole bunch of cops in the backyard. i said, i am on my way. a couple of minutes i'm calling back and not getting the same person who called me. after i finally got him, he said, hurry. i am like, ok. at this time, my son was dead but he did not want to tell me. so when i got there, the block was cordoned off. i said, i live here and gave them my id. it was like about five different cops they came up, wait, wait, wait. one said i had to go to the precinct with them. i said, fine grit i did not know what was going on. i got to the precinct and they took me upstairs where they do

their investigations. someone was in the hallway and said, sit right here and wait, while he proceeded to go over to a counter to speak to someone behind it. then he when in to the police officer behind the counter and said -- i cannot remember his name. he said, i am for the homicide. that is how i found out my son was dead. >> did he tell you? >> no, he was talking to another police officer. he told me to sit and wait. >> did they tell you anything about what had happened? >> no, they were so busy telling me to sit in the hallway. finally, here came my mom. they assured her in. she said, little mess, they killed ramarley.

at that time, it was like i froze. i did not know what happened after that. >> how did the incident between him and the police began? from what you can tell. >> it is my understanding, because from early is not here and cannot tell us exactly -- ramarley is not hearing cannot tell us exactly what happened, so we have to read between the lines. one story went out immediately that ramarley was running and there were chasing after him. then we see surveillance were he was not running. >> what do you mean? >> it just so happen it is a two-family home that constance lives and the owner of the home as security cameras outside of her place of residence. there were security cameras showing ramarley was walking to his door, walking to the apartment, oblivious of anything else going on.

casually taking out his skis and opening the door, and casually walking in. as many times before history has shown us, as soon as there is a police shooting where there is probably misconduct on the police part, there is what i call character assassination of the victim. you hear about the person's background they may have a dysfunctional family. you hear an array of things that really try to diminish the character of the deceased. in this case, you heard about ramarley's background -- which really wasn't any -- but you heard he was running and find out later on he was not running, and i have still not seen a full retraction of that by the commissioner or anyone else to say, you know what? we got the facts wrong. we will investigate. what we heard was a bubbling over, a stomping through what they said to move on to the next issue. >> as you understand it, he uses the key to go in the first floor of the house.

he lives on the second floor. he walks up the stairs and what happens? >> from what you can see on the video, minutes go by. i'm not an expert in police protocol, but we have one here. he will tell you what should have been done. i will surmise that when you have minutes go by, you call for emergency service unit so they can come in back up, right? they can assess the situation. the video shows and everybody has seen how this police officer is trying to bring down his door, unsuccessfully, kicking and stomping. finally, they succeed in getting the door open. landra standing, from around the back. they entered the apartment with guns blazing, startling that family -- >> guns drawn. >> they startle the family. they did not realize it was a two-family home.

they were questioning those people. then they find out there was another apartment, still time to wait and assess what they're doing, maybe have back up. even the take their theory that ramarley had a gun -- which we know is not true. there was never a gun and never will be a gun. but if you take that thinking is step further, why would you charge upstairs and tried to kick down the door with some new has a gun? >> kicking down a door with no indication there is any crime in progress or anything of that nature? we're talking basically without warrant, just kicking down a door? >> it is clearly a violation. >> and what happens when they go upstairs? >> they kicked down that corporate >> where the 6-year- old son was and the grandmother and ramarley who is 18? >> and they shot ramarley fatally one time.

>> in the bathroom? >> right. >> carlton berkley, how did you come on the scene? >> i entered the house and interviewed witnesses myself. i ascertain the same thing he was saying. the first door that ramarley had entered into the residence, a sergeant came running and tried to kick the door in. that is the first door. officer hayes went around the back and was checking out the back. minutes went by, six or seven minutes. being an experienced detective, you know right then and there that you're not one to: because you cannot. there was no hot pursuit. hot pursuits stops when the doors closed. if the door was open, you can pursue that is what they taught as an with the law says.

but once the door closes, you back up and now you ascertain the facts, decide if you're going to get a search warrant or let the situation go away. >> police claim they shoot ramarley as he is flushing of bakiyev marijuana down the toilet? >> ok, being a retired detective, who is to say that is what ramarley was doing? i believe there was not any marijuana. you have to remember, this is a narcotics unitsniu. sometimes we would have narcotics on as, which we take off of suspects. who is to say someone did not have a bag of week and through that down to try to justify the breaking in order, victimize

the victim again with this is what he was doing? what's even by the police version, as i understand it, after shooting ramarley graham, haste yes "gun." he yells after he shot him? >> from what i heard, some people said he did not or they never heard a gun. police are told when you mess up something, you got to cover it up. so now we have some time to think about it, you're going to pick your story to gather, which coincides with what you're taught in the academy. there is always, "yes, the first thing i said was, police, put your hands up." from what we understand, haste said, "show me your hands."

in the academy, you're taught to say, "put your hands up." i don't know where he got his training. it turns out, he did not have any training for narcotics. the only way he got in that unit was either through a favor from somebody or he knew somebody. >> constance gramm, officer haste was charge with first and second-degree manslaughter. what is your reaction? what i thought he should have been charged with murder. that is how i see fit for him because manslaughter? i think it was murder. you cannot just taken someone's door and go in and murder someone and get charged with manslaughter. there were so many other charges they could have charged him with, but they decided not to.

>> chuck berkeley, you have arrested a lot of people over 20-year history as a new york narcotics detective. there were a number of police officers involved with this. what happens when you would go after a group of people? >> usually, the whole unit -- and this particular case, i was expecting the whole unit would have been taken off the streets. >> those who were at the house what time was it? >> it was in the evening. i think it was around 3:30. usually when something goes wrong with the module from the highest-ranking officer to the officers, everyone is taken off the street immediately. in this case, that did not happen. people were still allowed to go on with their routine activities. that kind of surprised me. we all know being in the police

department for over 20 years, we'll said at times that if we had a black unit or hispanic unit, had been something like this in a different neighborhood that happen, you can rest assured all of us would have been taken off the street right away let me say something else. the statute of burglary is you have the intent to break into someone's house. the statute states in the commission of a burglary, a felony, and the commission of a felony, you cause a death of someone, an innocent person, then yet to be charged with felony murder. have you ever heard of anyone killing a cop and getting charged with manslaughter? are we saying that cops are treated much differently from the average citizen?

something is wrong with that. >> you have coined a new term, just talking about a summit is a cop killer what would happen to them. >> we need to treat cops that kill people and justifiably the same as come killers. you know, killer cops need to be treated as a cop killers. >> constance malcolm, can you talk about who ramarley was, you're 18-year-old son? >> he was a fun-loving child. he loved his brother, his sister. i had his sister -- when they were alike, i used to dress them all like so people would think they were twins. him and her work clothes. they were close. you might not see them much outside, but when they were younger -- my daughter played basketball. ramarley did not like the

roughness. he would always on the sidelines they would tease and he did not want to play ball. he loved to listen to music. r &b. when alicia keys first came out, "falling" he is the first when you told me about it. he likes music. his brother and inwood to pushups to gather. -- and him would do pushups to gathepushups together. i talk all my kids to respect people in the way you want to be respected. he is a loving kid. >> in terms of this whole issue we have been discussing, the march on sunday, stop & frisk,

had yet problems in the past of being stopped by police as well as many teenagers another young folks around the city have had numerous situations where they're just not on the streets? >> lent me answer that question. as you see from commentary from those you asked, "have you ever been stopped and frisked before?" it is probably highly unusual you can grow up in new york city african-american or latino and walk the face of this earth to and from school in bronx county, kings county, queens, manhattan and not be a subject of a stop & frisk. which we all know, does not mean you're doing something wrong, it is subject to a stop and frisk rid i wish ramarley was here to maybe tell us the stories of when he was stopped and frisked, if he was, because we know oftentimes many kids do not even reveal that to their parents.

it has become such the norm, they do not even come home and tell their parents. it is a norm. part of what i'd do is seminars to tell kids that it is not the norm. this is not the way it is supposed to be proud that you walk a block and some asks to see your id will have done nothing. >> or walk down the corridor of your school. >> wherever it may be. we answer that question and it is a high probability. it happens to me. >> was he stopped earlier that day? >> no, he was not. >> what are you calling for now? are you asking for others to be charged as well? a quick comment, you talk about other high-profile cases. between the time ramarley was killed and officer haste was indicted, the trayvon martin case happened. >> and i think that shed a

national life and what i call the errors of law enforcement. i have said this before in the trayvon martin case, he had someone who idolized law enforcement or maybe wanted to be a law enforcement officer. when you make an analogy that children learn from their parents, from people of authority, learn what to do and not to do, how to conduct themselves when at dinner, use your library voice not your loud voice at the restaurant. when you look at cases like ramarley graham, sean bell, when some of idolizes to be law enforcement and they see how law enforcement treats people of color, how could do not have a case like trayvon martin? it seems like it is within the norm, right? someone is going to brutalize someone of color because they think they are in a position of authority or position of law enforcement.

i think that tragedy brought light to a situation nationally because it brought light to trayvon martin because you had the citizen had been police officers, i do not think it would have gotten such attention it did. it dealt with citizens. but, a citizen who wanted to be part of law enforcement. you see how groups in comes together when you look at ramarley graham. >> how is your little boy doing? but not good. he thinks all cops are bad. i have to tell him every day that not all cops are bad. >> a lot of young parents, african-american and latino parents, have to warn their kids about going outside. your child was killed inside in his own apartment. what message do you have today? >> it seems like we're not safe

anywhere. if you're not safe in your own home, where are you save? this is becoming so widespread with the police, you know, you can stop a person outside ok, fine. it is not right. but when you run in someone's house and violate someone like that, you're supposed to protect people. and you do this? it is hard. my son is very upset right now. i don't know how to fix that. >> constants to outcome, the mother of ramarley graham. he was killed by police on february 2, 2012 and his own apartment. in his family's apartment, in his own bathroom. we're speaking with the family lawyer royce russell and carlton berkley, chucky, a close friend of the grant family and a former

nypd detective. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, we go back to the father's day march of sunday, where thousands marched down fifth avenue to the home of nyc mayor michael bloomberg, protesting the police practice known as stop & frisk. stay with us. ♪ [music break] ♪ [music break]

>> a song by bruce springsteen, inspired by the new york police shooting death of a man killed for every 4, 1999, nearly 13 years to the day before ramarley graham was shot in his own home, also in the bronx. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a shout out to the roosevelt institute summer academy fellows who are visiting "democracy now!" studios today.

ramarley graham's parents joined thousands who took part in the protest on father's day on sunday, calling on police to stop the practice known as stop & frisk. last year, new york police officer stopped and interrogated nearly 700,000 residents, just wanted him arrested or ticketed. according to the new york civil liberties union, about 87% of those stopped were black or latino. the number of stops between black men of 14-24 exceeded the total population of men in that age range in the city. sunday's protest was organized by naacp and stretched down more than 20 blocks of fifth avenue, from harlem to mayor michael bloomberg's mansion. after the march, i spoke to some of the young people involved. what is your name? >> carmen pérez critics have you ever been stopped? >> plenty of times.

>> what do you mean? >> it is the cultural norm. i come from oxnard, california. when you play basketball or sports and use a certain color, you also meet the profile. it became the norm for me before i went to college and learned it was in justice. i learn to articulate being taken out of my environment, what was happening to us was not something that should be happening. i think it is the same here in new york city. especially with young people, we don't want it to become normal, right? it is kind of like the people are saying, i don't want to be a stop & frisk virgin. it is cool. >> how old were you the first time you were stopped? >> 11. >> 11 years old? >> my brother was taking me home from a basketball game with my friends. he met the profile.

they pulled us over. they had us at gunpoint. they put us on the floor and hogtied him. after being humiliated, and that was not the first nor was it the last. after that, you just learn to kind of assume the position. a >> explain what exactly they do. who is "they"? >> the police. initially, we have male police officers who put you over and after bringing women police officers to frisk you. you assume the position. >> spread your legs? >> spread your legs, but your arms behind your back, get felt up. depending on the situation, you get put on the floor for a couple of minutes or you have to sit down it is -- it is one of

the ugliest feelings ever. you are humiliated. >> when was the last time you were stopped? >> um -- >> before college? >> it was after college. there was an incident where if you're in the vicinity, you got stopped. not necessarily frisked. you know, the wrong place at the wrong time. >> what do you say to the police now? >> luckily, i am not in those situations. i do advocate for young people because i have been there. i think we need to have a conversation with police officers as committee members, activist, young people. we need to have that dialogue so they know what they're doing. even though they have to enforce the policy, it is not right. specifically, ramarley graham who was killed and did not have

anything on him. what he had seen with these policies, especially in brownsville, 9300 people are stopped and frisked? >> what is your name? >> antonio melendez. i have been stopped plenty of times. i live and morris park. >> in the bronx? >> yes, ma'am. >> near ramarley graham? >> yes, nw. >> how many times have you been stopped? >> plenty of times. >> have ever been arrested? >> no. >> what do they tell you? >> they stopped and frisked me, tell me to take everything out of my pockets. the fear of their control over me, over the united states that we can walk free and every time i am walking, i am scared.

i am scared what can happen if i question why they're stopping me. they do get offended. sometimes they get harsh. they say sometimes, you're in a neighborhood you should not be. i was 11 the first time they stopped me. i thought we were free. it is humiliating. i cried the first time of wondering why they stopped me for no apparent reason. >> they were stopped and frisked him many times i spoke to dick gregory. i asked him if he was ever stopped and frisked. >> many times. i was dealing in the civil- rights movement. that is a different type of stops. >> what do think of these young people who said their first thought was when they were 11 years old? what's it happens all the time, just the was never know

spotlight on it. that is what is so beautiful about this. the me tell you something interesting. thousands of black cops and america, you never turn on tv or pick up the newspaper and see where white families are complaining that some black cop shot their child or mother or father in the head 40 times. he asked the question, are black cops more spiritual than white cops? are black comes better trained? no, black cops know why folks will not tolerate that and that is why you do not see it. when we get to the point where we say we will not tolerated the list let, speed up black votes but it is no accident. there's something inside of me that will not tolerate it. do not mess with my car. you see that. this will help that change. this will help that to come out before there is an incident and

send a message. or if we were to gather enough, if we had [unintelligible] then the white folks not involved in it, disneyland, they would come out and stop it. this march, the of police departments all over america now sending people here to watch this. the other thing that is the solemn thing, they lose billions of dollars every year selling police brutality cases. taxpayers eventually will not tolerate it. this is what happens. all my life when i see a siren, i pray for them that where they're going, -- it is funny prang for cops you do not know. i did not know nothing about

police brutality as a kid. i hope you'll come the day that children will want to sponsor of a police car. >> dick gregory, what gives you hope? >> i do not believe and hope. -- in hope. outer space, there is no hope. we build rockets, no hope. the shine a light on it and say we got to do this. if of a brain tumor, i don't hope it gets out, i'm going to ask you the best brain surgeon is and go to have it set the mind of young folks that says, this don't have to happen. it is not all right. if they beat up you and your brother, you do not say, thank god they did not kill you >> i spoke to a marine veteran.

>> i and stopped several times in the bronx. >> your a vietnam veteran? >> yes, i am. >> how many times have you been stopped? >> over a dozen times. >> how many times have you been arrested? >> not for the stop and frisk. when they see i am a minister, they say, "sorry, made a mistake." >> your a lawyer, veteran, and the minister. does the lawyer weigh in? >> i think so. they think, we better not mess with him because he knows the law. i guess that is what they decide to do. a >> why do you think this is happening in this city question why you? >> i am black. that is simply what it is. people do not want to say it because it is racism. but it is racism. the crime rate is so high in the

minority neighborhoods, that is the excuse of that is why. that is why they put more emphasis on that. i think that is crazy. you need to get statistics right. if you have 750,000 stops a year quest right there something wrong with that. 87.5% is minority? that does not make any sense to me. >> the march started at 110th and we're walking through the wealthiest neighborhood of manhattan right now we're on the upper east side. >> and i was aware of that. i thought, i cannot say anything when i get there because it is a silent march for it i have a lot on my mind. i think when i get home i will send a couple of emails to

the mayor's critics wide to the police said there stopping you? >> the first excuses, "there was a crime in the area and we're looking for someone." that is the first thing. it the next thing is, we were looking for someone and you fit the profile. the description of the person. it is all garbage. >> you worked at the united nations? >> i am retired now. i am an old man. >> how old are you? >> well, we will keep that quiet. [laughter] >> must stop and frisks are of young african-american and latino men under 30. you haven't stopped over 30? >> yes. yes. i know older men that have been stopped. >> what is the feeling when they are risking you? >> invasion. they are invading the as if i

was invading the beach of normandy. i become a piece of property. they can do whatever they want because they are the police. you want to have respect for the police, but they do not have respect for us. that is key -- respect. >> john covington, jr., a vietnam veteran, marine, a lawyer and minister. during the silent march, i spoke to actor j.d. williams who put a drug dealer preston o de broadus on the hbo series, "the wire." >> i am here to support the stop and frisk. i was invited by the naacp. i am sad to to this policy also. >> have you ever been stopped and frisked? >> luckily, not in manhattan. i am from new jersey. we do not have the same policy, but to have a high racial profiling incident rate.

i have been stopped, but not in new york. that feeling is always there with black man. >> how do you feel when you get stopped? >> like anyone would feel when they are violated. robert, humiliated. a sense of selflessness. it turns to anger. anger turns into a rage when you are abused or misused so many times. even when it is not you directly, you feel angry for the people it happens to. it is an accumulative effect. short answer, you feel bad. >> how are you? >> 30 plus print a >> how many times have you been stopped? >> i probably could not count. on foot, maybe less than 10. but like i said, is a sad thing that it has become a natural the way young black man -- it becomes second nature where we expect to be stopped.

>> how are you involved with " the wire"? i played the character a low level dealer, moving up the ranks until the pressure of the life becomes too much for him and he has to make adjustments from baltimore, has a tragic ending. >> and president obama wrote to he liked the show or you just heard that? >> it was a word of mouth message that came to the cast. we put together a package of dvd's and autographed posters. >> what do you think the message of "the wire" that everyone should understand? >> i think the biggest thing throughout the series is that no one is basically good or bad. a >> actor j.d. williams. there were all generations on sunday's march. i spoke to a young activist and a great-grandmother critics i am in solidarity with all the young

people that are constantly stopped and frisked. i see it constantly in my community. unfortunately, i am also a victim of being stopped and frisked by new york city's police about six or eight bonds ago. i was stopped, physically manhandled with a police woman digging in my brawl. >> you are a great grandmother? >> i have great grandchildren. >> did they arrest you? >> no, they did not. i am trying to find out if there was a report. i wrote to the governor. i am smart enough to know you do not go into the police station to tell their friends about who stopped and frisked the. i'm not that stupid. i know bloomberg is not going to do anything. so to governor cuomo. but the ex attorney general,

whatever his name or title was, let him publish let it work its way down. that is the tactic i took. >> why did the police said they stopped you? >> because they could. i was in the bronx where i live. i had just left my apartment to go pay bills with bill money in my pocket when the police walk away from me, my bill money was gone. that is what i am upset about. if they're stealing from great- grandmother's, they're stealing from these young kids, also. >> i'm here today urbanizing in new york city for years whether the troy davis, trayvon martin, sean bell, but also the fact young people of color, young black and brown men and women throughout the city cannot walk down the street without being profiled, cannot go from point a to point b without someone, particularly a police officer or

security force, identifying and criminal activity. i'm here today because it is not just them stopping them asking them questions, but they're stopping them and communicating a very powerful message. which is, you are black, brown, a person of color and in a city where you live and there is something really wrong with you. and that hurts. >> forces at sunday's stop stop & frisk march. 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!]