♪ [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the republican nanational convention in cleveland, ohio, this is democracy now! mr. trump: together, we have received historic results with the largest vote totals in the

history of t the republin n par. this is a movement, but we have to go all the way. i am so proud to be your nominee for president of the united states. amy: it's official -- donald trump is the republican party presidential nominee. however, much of the convention has not focused on trump, but on his opponent, hilillary clinton. governor chris christie even staged a mock trial. gov. christie: putting herself ahead of america, guilty or not guilty -- >> guilty. delegates chanted "lock her up, lock her up, we will look at how governor christie is immersed in his own scandal.

one of his close allies has just pled guilty to federal library chargeges -- bribery charges. we will also speak to some of the street vendors sending trump-related items in cleveland. "make americaring great" hats. do you support donald trump? to get aust trying better understanding of where he is coming from. i see a lot of nice people around here. i will probably not vote for him. it is really business. why and we won't look at students at case western university are protesting the decision to have nearly 2000 and policeard officers in the campus dormitory during the rnc. up.of that and more, coming

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. -- we are breaking with convention -- war, peace, and the presidency. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from cleveland, ohio. it's official -- donald trump is the republican party presidential nominee. house speaker paul ryan announced his nomination, following a roll call vote on the floor of the republican -- rnc. speaker ryan: the chair announces that donald j. trump, having received the majority of the votes entitled to be cast at the convention, has been selected as the republican party nominee for president of the united states. [applause] amy: that's house speaker paul ryan, announcing trump's official party nomination. this comes only one day after delegates from the "never trump" movement briefly staged a revolt against trump's nomination on -- nomination. the rebellion threw the first day of the convention into

chaos, but the effort was quashed by party leadership. some dissenting g delegates bood during tuesday's roll call vote. the second day of the rnc was dubbed "make america work few address that issue. aboutre speakers spoke former secretary of state hillary clinton than discussions of creating jobs. retired brain surgeon and former presidential nominee ben carson used his medical expertise to criticize potential clinton voters, saying quote, "they're not using their god-given brain to think about what they are saying," unquote. new jersey governor chris christie also criticized clinton. gov. christie: answer me now, is she guilty or not guilty? >> guilty. amy: that's the audience, chanting "lock her up, lock her

up." but arizona senator jeff flake, who has chosen not to come to the rnc, tweeted, quote, "hillaryclinton now belongs in prison? c'mon. we can make the case that she shouldn't be elected without jumping the shark," he tweeted. to hear our conversation with "nation" magazine john nichols, go to democracynow.org. meanwhile, controverersy contins over melania trump's speech inin which she plagiarized severeral lines s from michelle e obama's speech in 2008. bararack and i were raised with h so many y of the e values, like you work hard for what you want in life. ms. trump: that you work hard for what you want t in life. mrs. obamama: that your wordrd s your bond, and youou do what you are gogoing to say you do. ms. trp:p: that yourur word is yoyour bond.

we want the children to know the only limits to the height of your achievement is the height of your dream and a willingness to work hard for them. ms. trump: because we want the chilildren in this nation to knw ththat the only limit of your achievement t is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. speechlania trump in her monday night at the rnc, and michelle obama in her speech at the dnc in 2008. trump campaign has denied allegations of plagiarism. ms. pierson: these are our values -- republican values of respect. that is melania trump. this conceptpt that michelle oba invented the english language is absurd. amy: that was trump spokeswoman

katrina pierson. rnc chief strategist sean spicer, meanwhile, said melania's speech used common phrases and compared lines from her speech to dialogue in the animated tv series "my little pony." mr. spicer: twilight sparkle said this is your dream -- anything you can do in your dream you can do now. amy: that was rnc chief strategist sean spicer speaking on cnn. but journalists and experienced speech writers widely agree melania trump did plagiarize parts of the speech. at least someone did -- the speech she read. according to the "new york times," months before the rnc, the trump campaign hired two speechwriters matthew scully and john mcconnell to draft melania trump's. -- text. but melania trump disregarded this draft a and instead asked r help from former ballet t dancer meredith mciver. she had helped trump w with his book "think like a billionaire." at a protest outside the rnc, activist jul johnsonon criticized melania trump for plagiarizing michelle obama. ms. johnson: stealing from a black woman -- it is ridiculous how much this country is based

off the exploitation of labor, people of color, oppressed people, poor people. i am sure she thought would that she would get away with it and nobody would care. amy: protests continued in cleveland outside of the rnc. flagpoleists scaled a near the rock 'n roll hall of fame and unveileled a massive fg calling republicans not to trump local l communities. stopso read "dan fracking, climate ininjustice, and tear dn the wall. in another protest, the antiwar group code p pink delivered 500 tennis balls to the front steps, protesting the fact that you can bring semi automatic rifles, but not tennis balls into the area around the republican national convention. democracynow was at the protest. to see our coverage, go to democracynow.org.

the band queen is criticizing donald trump for using the song "we are the champions," for his dramatic entrance. tweetedeeted -- queen -- and unauthorized use. the lead singer, freddie mercury, died of aids in 1981. roger ailes' lawyers have confirmed he's in negotiations to step down as fox news chairman -- chair amidst multiple accusations of sexual assault. former fox gretchen carlson has sued ailes. now, fox's megyn kelly has also accused him of harassment. others have come forward, including one who said she was to and when she refused perform oral sex, he chased around the on -- office before allowing her to leave the room. cnn is reporting a former marine

who killed three baton rouge police officers suffered from post-traumatic stress this order. gavin long was on her -- discharged in 2010. he had failed an anti-exec -- inled an anti-anxiety drug 2012. lebanon isation of about 6 million. half of the refugees are children. even though lebanon allows for the enrollment of syrians in its public schools, a shortage of seats and laws restricting refugees' movement prevent them from attending. iraq's southern wetlands, thought by some to be the biblical garden of eden, have been named a unesco world heritage site. saddam hussein dammed and drained the marshes in the 1990's to flush out rebels hiding in the reeds. after the u.s.-led invasion in 2003, locals destroyed dams to let water back in, restoring the marsh ecosystem within a few

years. many of the marshes' inhabitants are subsistence fishermen, and the area is an important stop for r migratory birds. the marshes are,e, however, once more threatened by new dams as well as by climate change. right now come in washington, livesmembers of black matter are content to shut down offices -- activists have locked themselves to the steps of the fraternal order of police with chains, while others have blocked intersections surrounding the headquarters. the activists are the manning police officers stopped paying dues to the private unions they accuse of defending police use of brutality. fraternalzer says the order of police acts like a college fraternity and is responsible for maintaining the harmful, we feel, and

unaccountable culture of where families are left to mourn with little if any semblance of justice." and those are some of the headlines. ththis is democracy now, democracynow.org, breaking with convention: war, peace and the presidency. i'm amy goodman. it is now official, dononald trp has become the official presidential nominee of the republican party. trump trump's son, donald junior, cast a vote for the new york delegation that put trump over the top of the needed 1237 dedelegates. junior: it is my honor to be able to throw donald trump over-the-top in the delegate count tonight with 89 delegates, and another 64 john kasich. congratulations, dad.

we love you. is expected tomp accept the nomination thursday night, but he briefly spoke to delegates from the trump tower. mr. trump: we are going to rebuild our jobs, rebuild our depleted military, and take care of our great veterans. we're going to have strong borders. we're going t to get ririd of i. we going to restore law and order we have to restore, and quickly. law and order. amy: one of the most animated moments came by a speech from chris christie who is a finalist -- was a finalist to be mr. trump's running mate. he staged a mock trial of hillary clinton. gov. christie: another question for you -- as to hillary clinton lying to the american people about her selfish, awful judgment in making our secrets and, what is your verdict, guilty or not guilty? >> guilty.

time, timeie: now after time after time, the facts lead you to the same verdicts, both around the world and here at home. in libya and nigeria -- guilty. in china and syria -- >> a guilty. gov. christie: in iran, russia, and cuba -- >> guilty. gov. christie: and here at home, for risking america's secretetso keep her own, and lying to cover it all up -- >> guilty. amy: during governor chrisisti's speech about clinton, republican delegagates repeatedly broke ino chants of the -- of "lock her up." to the charge of putting herself ahead of america, guilty or not guilty? >> guilty.

"lock her up." while delegates chanted, governor and former prosecutor chris christie is immersed in his own scandal. one of his close allies has pled guilty to federal bribery charges. after his speech, hillery clinton -- hillary clinton tweeted -- "if you think chris lecture to anyone on ethics, we have a bridge to sell you. robert hened by nelly. good to see. i saw you last night. mr. hennelly: you hadadot been arrested yet. amy: though had to deal with

police taking of protesters because they had tennis balls, tennis balls are not allowed in the area, but semi automatic rifles are. on the issue of what was come frominside, you new jersey to you have been governing -- covering governor christie and the scandal there. talk about the significance of what he did last night, staging a mock trial of hillary clinton. think first, i they said the agenda was make america work again, and that is something americans want to hear -- it has been very slow. these eight years have been slow for working people. when he went into that ad hominem attacks, it did take on the vibe -- it felt like a lynch mob, it felt t menacing people e of the things that is ironic is governor christie is at the center of this huge ridge it scandal, which we have covered. amy: explain briefly for a global audience. mr. hennelly: back on the eve of what look k like to be an easy reelection, some of his minions

decided they would punish h the mayorr of fort lee, a dedemocra, for not endorsing governor christie. so, on the actual anniversary of september 11, when tensions are pretty high, the george w -- the george washington bridge, which is considered a terrorist target, they closed the lanes four days. it was the first day of school for kids. it was dramatic. the governor said he did not know anything about it. it went on and on. eventually, his chief of staff fell on the sword, and it turned out there was enough information in e-mails the u.s. attorney was able to see that thisis was a conspiracy a among at least his close confidence, both inside the port authority and at the highest levels of the menstruation to do something very petty with an important asset on a very serious day. of that what has come --why did you end up writing the

piece "chris christie's week from hell," talking about this past week? year,nnelly: we had last the high-ranking authority in the port authority, a close confidant of governor christie was indicted. another close confidant within the port authority. he pled guilty. it's set into motion the idea that you have someone now making admissions to the government. last week, david sampson, a former attorney general, head of his transition team, one of the most powerful lawyers in new jersey, pled guilty for, of all things, taking a bribe in the form of 27 flights on an scheduled ford him once a week call the chairman's f flight, a and he wd control l the agenda a on behalf united. and justst for the cherry on the sunday, the transportation commissioner under chris

christie was also charged. needless to say, for a u.s. attorney, which chris christie is -- a former -- these werere strange development, plus he cannot find his cell phone and delete it texts in the process of it all this. amy: so, the significance of where he spent -- i want to see if we can go to a clip. governorhance to see christie the first night when he first came into the hall, embracing the delegates from the new jersey delegation, and i only had one quick second two ask him a question, so this is what i asked him. governor christie, do you feel betrayed by donald trump? gov. christie: not at all. i am the chairman of his transition. feelso, i asked him if he betrayed. rumor had it he was one of the finalists for vice president, vice presidential nominee, running mate of donald trump. he did not get it.

tonight, governor pence will be formally nominated. his answer was "no, i don't feel bebetrayeded, i am the head ofoe transisition team." what is the transition team at this p point? mr. hennelly: it is like a tatalent scoutut, and with donad trump, with chris christie making five picks that are in the attention of prosecutors --like -- prosecutors -- amy: you think he is vying for attorney general? mr. hennelly: the way he did that performance, it would seem so, and being chief of staff is nothing to sneeze at, but of course the prerequisite would be donald trump would have to win for it to have any meaning. amy: and the relationsnship they have, which h he emphahasized lt night. mr. hennelly: it isis funny. i didid have an opportunity to talk to donald trump. at one period i was trying to get a response about devastation

for atlantic city and small businesses. the way he casted in the elections, this is something from -- where banks took a haircut. he does not like that. i called ministers and said if you had congregants that were injured economically please have them call me. i heard from florists, had allrs, scholars who been ripped off by donald trump. i sent the comments to donald trump's lawyer. he called me back, and he said they make money with me on the way up, they got clilipped on te way down. about spoke with him christy, i did not g get a sense there was a tremendous admiration. remember, new jersey is a basket case economically. we h have the highest foreclosue rate. the state has not regained any of itsts jobs at a r rate of new york or anyone else around the state. it is still in freefall. course donaldld trump h has a close relationship with the

state of new jersey. it is where his four bankruptcies took place in atlantic city. and he wasy: right, identified with the up years when it came to casino gambling. amy: you have looked at cleveland -- what was the group -- the economic innovation group -- says cleveland is the most distressed big city in america. mr. hennelly: right. well, this is actually true of all of urban america. one of things you have to understand is corporate media denies us a sense of our circumstance of what is happening. is importrtant to knonow the national association of counties, not a marxist front group, says only 7% of the counties have expressed a recovery. that means this country is continuing to economically unravel. 2.5 million homes, 6000 of them here in cleveland, that are empty, abandoned, and continuing to lose value. people of color in cleveland have seen an 80% destruction in their household wewealth. thatat means under president oba

we have seen the largest level of african-american household wealth destruction in the history of the republic, and for whatever reason, the democrats don't want to mention it. bernie sanders did not want to mention it, but it is still out there is a reality. , there are some areas were 50% of the children live under the poverty line, and philadelphia is no picnic. amy: and lead poisoning -- we talk about it in flint, but in cleveland, this old city -- thehennelly: in n the 1960's, industrialization -- in cleveland you have gentntrification, efforts to tun it around. amy: we will hear from people in the streets who actually live here -- some of the vendors trying to make money while the public and national convention is here. bob hanley, thank you for henley -- bobbob

lly, thank you for joining us. this is democracy now, breaking with convention. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

"i want it all" by queen here on democracy now, democracynow.org, breaking with convention. make america work again -- that was the theme tuesday night here at the rnc in cleveland. will went outrla to the street to talk about some of the vendors selling everything from "make america cereal called a trump flakes.

♪ mr. solomon: my name is king solomon, and i am from cleveland, ohio, and i am actually vending. i'm a barber by trade. entrepreneur -- i am an owner and operator. nddo that full-time, and i ve around united states part-time. what is your political affiliation? mr. solomon: i don't have one. carla: do you welcome the republican national convention? mr. solomon: actually, 100%. it is an opportunity to take part in capital gain. problemou find no selling republican merchandise or merchandise that has donald trump's image on it? mr. solomon: not at all.

i think it is an opportunity for people like myself to take part in capitalism. it is free enterprise. i am all for the rnc 2016 in cleveland, ohio, just as much as i was for the cleveland cavaliers winning the national championship in cleveland, ohio. it is a capitalistic society. i am all for it. carla: you don't have any issues with donald trump? mr. solomon: no comment. no comment. you don't have anything good to say, they say don't say anything good at all. me and him might cross paths one day, so i don't want to be recorded on tape saying something against donald trump. it is what it is. anyone has their own thought process. i don't know. i'm a vendor. i feel great about trouble. he was not running, i would not be selling these rnc shirts, these pictures with his face on it. >> i am from california, riverside. , tell itn on trump is like it is, and tell the truth.

if you're going to bring jobs, bring jobs. if not, you're going to lose voters. bring jobs, do what you are -- saying you're going to do. carla: who are you supporting for president? mr. jackson: no comment. when you are selling merchandise for one person and one comment -- carla: what did you say? >> when you are selling merchandise for one candidate say who you are supporting -- >> we are trying to get new basketball jerseys and things like that. carla: how have people been responding to you so far? ok, but when it happens, it is a lot. they might give 20, but only one water. it is running slow, but when it happens, it happens big. i'm ok with that. carla: what are your thoughts

about donald trump? heath: he is an arrogant person. i don't think he needs to be in the position right now. i did nothing to him when he made he made fairly, and i do not think he deserves to be in the white house. are old enoughu to vote you would not be voting for him? mr. heath: no. carla: are you supporting hillary clinton? mr. heath: she is not much better, but i would vote for her over donald trump. carla: you have no problem being with all these are public and? mr. heath: the only time i have is how many people are rooting for donald trump -- he not see the poison they -- he is feeding to america. i want to get the money we need and get away from this area. with that many donald trump fans and things like that, it makes my stomach sick. >> i am from dallas, texas.

i am helping an old boss of mine for two hours, i'm never doing this again. i have never done this before. i consider myself a political satirist,/humorist. the fact that i am here selling bobbleheads is the height of irony. i do not know if i can take myself seriously. i am worried someone will see me who saw me doing satire and think i am a trump supporter. selling realre hope and change, obama, you are fired -- how does that align with your politics and how you feel when people say this is great. friendulkaltis: i/o my $20. that explains part of the story. i do not want to be of too much -- i will sell my soul for money -- it is two hours. it is not that big of a deal. it is funny.

i am sitting here, telling people love him or hate him, this is an interesting novel item. it almost trivializes him. i do not think even republicans can take this nominee seriously. even the ones that really do support him there are part of themselves that know this is so silly. -- look howfinally silly this -- we finally did it. there is something so goofy about it. the fact that it is a bobblehead, and not a pamphlet -- i do not feel like i am trying to encourage people to drink the kool-aid too much. daniel: i am out here selling shirts. i have been doing good. i like it. carla: what are your thoughts about being here the republican national convention? daniel: a lot of people i did not think were going to be so nice. carla: and you are wearing donald trump's "make america

great" again had. do you support donald trump? mr. lionel: it is more of an advertisement. i'm trying to get a better understanding of where he is coming from it i see nice people around here. i probably will not vote for him, but it is really busy. with the recent police killings of african-american men, what you think and donald trump presidency would mean for someone like yourself? lie, mynot going to homey got smoked by police, he didn't do anything, but i feel that maybe if he didn't do what he did, maybe that wouldn't happen. i wasn't there to tell what happened, but i have a lot of homey's that lost their life to police. i don't like them personally. you have to live and learn. life goes on.

>> born and raised in cleveland, ohio, and i have a store called the fun. carla: talk about some of the stuff you have in store here. >> it is the rnc -- i will have republican memorabilia, but some democratic. one of the best items of all time, the hillary clinton nutcracker, which back in the day, and i'm talking about eight years ago, one of the best-selling items. still a good selling item. you could sell this to a person that was very pro-democratic, and someone who was not a friend of hillary, and both parties would buy it. we like this dual-purpose item -- bipartisanship at its best. carla: and your thoughts about donald trump -- you have some donald trump memorabilia here. mr. presser: is this goioing too live after the convention -- so i can run out?? i have some serious issues of what he espouses. i am from the generation of

peace, love, and understanding, and i hahave diffificulty understanding how a politician is going to be running for the presidency of the united states and couldd speww such vitriol, such hate, could be so antagonistic, and cause people to really come out of their shells. carla: we met a lot of vendors whose politics may not necessarily align with donald trump, but they are selling donald trump memorabilia -- "vote trump" teachers, pro-truck memorabilia. t-shirts, pro-trump memorabilia. what you think about those that are selling not aligning with their own politics? just inser: it is and question. when push comes to shove, humans, like animals, like everybody else, has to be protective of their own family curse someone needs to pay the bills, make sure the gas and electric stay on.

i understand appeared political stuff, i have always found to be fun. ofave always been a big fun nixon -- not nixon per se, but collecting nixon, and for me, and hopefully he will not be elected, but i find trump is the new nixon. their physical features -- the orange -- the hair, the loudness -- the crazy stuff that comes out of the individual. he could be my new nixon. carla: can you tell us what you're holding? mr. presser: this is the donald trump talking pen. one of the items you have to hate and you have to love. mr. trump: i will be the greatest president god ever created. look, i am really rich. i will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and i will have mexico pay for that wall. i don't wear a to pay. it is my hair. i swear. i love china. i just sold an apartment for $15

million to somebody from china. mr. presser: there you go, and as my friend said, anytime you can make money off of a republican, it is a good sign. by democracyort now's carla wills. this is democracy now, democracynow.org -- breaking with convention, war, peace,e, d the presidency. we will be back in a a minute. ♪ [music break]

"many rivers to cross" by jimmy cliff. i'm amy goodman, as we turn now to this city of cleveland to

remember tamir rice, the 12 euros boy who was shot dead by police in november, 2014, while he was playing in a local park with a toy pellet gun. a 911 caller reported seeing rice with a weapopon, but notedt was probably fake. the informatation was s not reld to the officers. cleveland officials agreed to pay $6 millioion to settle a lawsuit by the family. at the beginning of this week when we firstst came to clevela, i spoke to former ohio state .enator nina turner i asked her to talk about what happened. turner: a gentleman made a phone call, sitting under this breezeway here, and he made a call because he saw tamir rice walking back and forth with what

appeared to be a gun, and he said to the dispatcher clearly that it might be a toy gun, and the person i am describing might be a child, but he is scaring the hell out of people was how he framed it on that day. the police officers came here, and it appears they slid up because of the ice and snow, they saw what they thought was a real gun, and they opened fire in less than 10 seconds of them getting on the scene. what makes it so gutwrenching despite the fact that tamir rice was 12 years old, if you look at the video footage, tamir rice never had a chance to respond to the police being there. there was no put up your hands, put the gun down. none of that -- he was shot instantaneously. i talked to a lot of cleveland police and other experts, and they really believe it has to do with how the police officers pulled up on the scene. amy: and explain how they pulled

up and what then happened with t said mr. cop -- sister, who was just 14 years old at the time. they pulled up on the scene in a way where it does not appears they used the tactics they were taught. you're supposed to take cover, i am told. i lived with two police officers . they put themselves in danger if that gun had been real, but what they did not allow is for tamir rice to recognize they were on the scene. the police officer on the passenger side shot tamir rice in less than two seconds from the car hitting the scene. tamir rice's sister came on the scene, they tackled her, and placed her in a car right next to her brother's body -- no sensitivity whatsoever. amy: as he lay dying. senator turner: no sensitivity.

they did not perform cpr. an fbi agent doing some work within the city of cleveland got the call over the radio, and he actually came here and started the cpr on tamir rice. again, no sense of we are going to try to save his life or to see what is going on with him. it was just come in my mind, a cavalier attitude police had at the time when they entered the scene. whyoes back to what do -- black lives -- the whole slogan, do black lives matter, and how do we respond as a nation and as a community when black folks lay dying. amy: it turns out the record of the officer that pulled the trigger was forced out. senator turner: and had cleveland police investigating his record earlier, one of his

commanding officer said he was nervous around guns. impulset he had low control. senator turner: in hindsight, he should never have been hired. everyone can go back and monday morning quarterback, but knowing what we know now, he should never have been hired. caseand the officer had a of excessive force against him that ended up in a six-figure settlement against the victim. senator turner: he did, and it is these kinds of patterns that cause the african-american community pause, that cause people that believe in justice and equality for all to step back and say wait a minute, justice and equality does not happen for african-american folks. i know you interviewed eddie gold. he talks about how we have a value gap -- the fact that african-american lives are not asas valued as the lives of whie sisters and brothers in this country and we need to come to grips with this pure what

happened to tamir rice is one example of that, notwithstanding -- i must say the gun looked real. i get that. the biggest problem is the way the police officers rolled up on the scene, they never give the little boy a chance to respond to their presence. police officers are not judge, jury, and executioner. you are supposed to bring the person in. had they not rolled up on the scene in this way, and if tamir rice would have been given the command drop your weapon, i think he would have done just that, and now it turns out a 12-year-old boy is dead because he did not get a chance, and that is at the crux of this. again, this was right before thanksgiving. my heart was heavy. i was sending my term in the senate, and i called -- governor kasich happened to call me the day before thanksgiving, and he wanted to know what is happening in cleveland, how are people feeling, and i was able to say to the governor, people are

feeling heavy, and i just wrote i am notter -- and writing a letter as a senator. i am writing a letter as an american -- as an african-american mother of an african-american son, who i have fear for his life every single day and his father and i taught him as a black man in america don't make sudden moves. listen to the police officers. a lot of other parents don't necessarily have to teach that lesson to their child, but every black mother has to teach that listen to their child because, again, they are seen as more criminal than anybody else. my heart aches. the governor said -- you know, -- i said i have some recommendations, and he said come and see me. that is how the task force was born. the governor cared about what happened here. about speaking to europe in son, who is an african-american police officer son,-- speaking to your

who with a napkin american police officer now. fortor turner: i understand those that fear for their children, and as my husband reminds me -- when i'm behind the wheel and i get stopped, it is me as a black male. to be the wife of an african-american, the wife of an african-american, i feel that pain every day, the burden, the fear that their loved one might not come home alive. they are african-american -- walking while black, talking while black, breathing while black, sandra bland smoking while black -- even though she it ist die in her car, where can you be, who you are in this country. on the other side of the equation, i do understand how the spouses, parents of law enforcement field. they want their spells it to come home every day, and that gives me a unique perspective. it is probably one of the

reasons why the governor made me cochair of his task force to bring that perspective to bear, to come into communities across the state and to allow citizens from all walks of life to talk about their experiences, both good and bad, when it comes to law enforcement. we have to have a day of reckoning, and that has to happen right now, because given what has happened in dallas, and today, baton rouge -- just as we got together, we hear three, maybe four police officer's gunned down in an ambush. senator turner: gunned down. here i am, with a heavy heart for those families, and immediately calling my son, saying are you ok, and he is performing his duties at the rnc, and even separate and apart from what happened in baton rouge, there will be people with different ideologies converging on cleveland. we're not sure if it will be peaceful or not. i hope it is peaceful because cleveland worked hard to earn the rnc.

these times call for an immediate response from all elected and civic leaders in this country and also people who are not elected -- for all of us to come together and say we're going to do our part, not tomorrow, not when a new president comes in, but right now. amy: that t was former ohio stae senator nina turner, who represented cleveland, speaking about the death of tamir rice, whose killing by police sparked protests around the country. he would have been 14 on june 25. this is democracy now, democracynow.org. right now in new york city and washington, d.c., activists are attempting to shut down the office of two major police unions. projecttivists with 100, and black lives matter have locked themselves to the stepsp. in new york city, activists have locked thehemselves to each h or

using pvc pipes at the entrance of the pba. the activists are demanding police officer stop paying dues to the private unions they accuse of defending officers accused of brutality. for more, we go directly to washington, d.c., to speak with samantha master, who is a member of the di p100. samantha, what is happening right now? samantha: we are standing outside at the fraternal office of police, demanding that the state give us freedom now, and that police officers stopped paying dues to the sop and police unions as they are pushing active legislation that told make -- that would lead further protest that are -- any folksolice who are targeted -- i'm so

sorry. what is happening right now is protesters are blocking the streets. samantha, can you tell l me where thesese actions arare takg place. you are in washington dc. there is a major protest right now in new york city. are there other places? ms. master: actually, all of the nation, young black people are rising up to say no more of the unethical, toxic culture of protects killer cops and those that name civilians without accountability. amy: will follow the protester. thank you, samantha mastech, from byp 100 dc, speaking to us from a major washington, d d.c. protest. this is democracy now pit we are broadcasting from cleveland, covering -- democracy now.

we are broadcasting from cleveland covering what is happening in her public and national convention, and what is happening in the streets. right now, students at case western reserve university are protesting the university's decision to house 1,900 armed police officers and national guardsmen in campus dormitories during the rnc. the security officers are part of an auxiliary force assisting the cleveland police department during the convention. students have expressed their concerns in a change.org petition "student safety during riot police occupation of case western reserve university."." last monday, the university announced a virtual shutdown of its operations during the convention, citing concerns that the recent shootings in dallas, louisiana, and minnesota, could provoke a "significant degree of conflict" in the city. case western reserve university is located nearly five miles from the arena hosting the republican national convention here in cleveland. we're joined now by taru taylor,

a case western reserve university law student who co-authored the petition objecting to the police presence on campus during the rnc. welcome to democracy now. talk about how many police we're talking about, how many state troopers, and what has happened at case. mr. taylor: initially we were informed by a whistleblower there would be 1500 police officers, and that prompted our petition peers subsequently we found out there would be 1700 police officers, and 200 members of the national guard that would be housed, essentially quartered at our university during the rnc. amy: what was your problem with that? mr. taylor: well, essentially, it is a third-amendment violation that these out-of-state police officers are coming into our university and, essentially, that there is no consent -- that president

decidedr unilaterally to house these police officers, and no one at the university know about this -- not no one, but students and many members of the faculty did not know about this, and so that is what prompted, again, our petition, just to bring awareness to the campus community, and also to voice some of our concern that these police officers coming into town would be under the auspices of the cleveland police department. and, so, some of our concerns had to do with the fact t that n december of 2014 the department of justice did i issue a report saying that there was a pattern or practice of unreasonable force and unconstitutional policing, especially with regard to the fourth amendment, and so -- this pattern of p practice is goingg on all over the united

states. so, those were some of our concererns. so, for example, we wanted police officers not to have their weapons on campus, so as to follow the policies and procedures of case western reserve. amy: well, i want to ask about case western reserve president snyder's explanation of her use of the term "profiling" in a message sent to the case western community. after she was criticized for suggesting that the university community was "profiling the police she clarified her use of writing "in that e-mail, i urged that members of our community not stereotype all police officers as violent or prejudiced. nevertheless, given the current national context i regret that i , described such behavior as "profiling," and that i was not more careful with my language." what is your response to that? mr. taylor: well, when she

basically accused us or suggested that we were reversed profiling, it was a way to marginalize our concern that, first of all, we were not saying that every single police officer is prone to violence. it only takes one police officer of 1500 police officers -- a -- and one is prone to violence, catastrophe. i would say these officers are not very happy -- there are officers from all over the country -- i am not sure if they were at case, but a group of them that have the badge from the louisville police department, we asked where they were saying, they said at university -- there is no air-conditioning, they were packed in there, they drove for manyny hours to get here, and ty were very frustrated.

that does not help. mr. taylor: right, and i want to add that there seems to be a general denial -- for example, what happened with tamir rice, melinda williams, and timothy russell, whose car had accidentally backfired, and there was a car chase, and they were chased around the streets of cleveland -- 100 police officers, one-third of police fired 130 shots into the car. the department of justice spoke of this as part of a pattern or practice, yet there is this want to make this as if this is an isolated incident, or as if these are isolated circumstances. again, this is a pattern. so, these were some of our concerns. amy: where are the officers from, and the state troopers -- well, that is one of the questions that we asked --

where these officers coming from. university was less than forthcoming when we did ask about -- we also asked about vetting -- have the police officers then that it into -- been vetted in terms of individual police officers having a history of unconstitutional policing and use of force, but there was not that that aim. etting.seen -- v i have seen from florida, tennessee -- texas -- amy: indiana,, louisisville, kentucky -- where are all the students now? were they tossed out of the university for police to be moved in? mr. taylor: well, students were offered an option to go home, essentially, or that the university would sponsor plane tickets for them to go elsewhere because of the overall shutdown

of the campus. , where isly, taru this discussion and dialogue going -- you live here in cleveland, off-campus, but has this sparked university-wife discussion about the role of police and the relationship with students like you? sure.ylor: one thing we wanted to emphasize as well is the univerersity is essentially aiding and abetting these police, who, at least since 1999 in seattle with the wto protests, have been suppressing people's first amendment right to peaceful assembly. we also saw it in 1968 in the democratic national convention, that since the militarization of police, especially with the advent of the war on drugs, there has been this sense in asch police have been acting military -- that the framers of

the constitution were concerned with the rise of a standing army, and their specific concern was with military enforcing domestic law, and they did put up barriers to prevent military what aboutololice, but police acting as military -- swat teams, the 1033 program, through which the government has been giving more and more military equipment. interestingly, i think cleveland got $15 million. $20 million will be in various kinds of agreement the police department will have even after the republican national convention. mr. taylor: right. amy: we will leave it there. taru taylor thank you, for joining us. that does it for our show. i will be doing a report back from the republican and democratic conventions friday

the 29th of july in provincetown, massachusetts, at a town hall, and also saturday, july 30 at martha's vineyard. check our website for details. follow our team for the latest updates from the rnc, and special thanks to dennis moynahan --

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