06/13/19 06/13/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the hong kong police fired tear gas for the crowd well know people are showing -- while no people are showing symptoms of attacking. so they are justst doing it. we think they're trying to a press our rights of expressing our opinion and actctually oppressing the freedom. amy: hong kong is witnessing historic protests against a proposed bill to allow

extradition of hong kong residents to mainland china. on wednesday, riot police deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray as demonstrators attempted to storm the legislative council building. we will get the latest. then to arizona where a hung jury has refused to convict humanitarian aid activist scott warren who faced up to 20 years in prison for providing water, food, clean clothes, and beds to undocumented migrants crossing the sonoran desert. >> the government's plan in the midst of this humanitarian crisis, policies to target undocumented people, refugees, and their families. prosecutions to criminanalize humanitarian aid, kindness, and solidarity. amy: and outrage is mounting over the death of layleen polanco, a transgender afro-latinx woman who was recently found dead in a cell at rikers island.

>> we're in a war. don't get it twisted. we have been in a war. black and brown trans-people have been in a war since we were born. in a world that continuously tells us we should not e exist until they actually make it so we don't exist. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democrcracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in the gulf of oman, the crews of two oil tankers evacuated their ships today after reporting explosions that prprompted fears of a conflict e twin u.s. and iran. an image shared by iranian state television showed a plume of smoke rising from one of the two vessels used of the strata form is. taiwan state oil refinery, which owns one of the tankers, said it suspected the ship had been hit by a torpedo. iran denied involvement etc.

state news agency am iran's navy had help to safely evacuate 44 sailors from the stricken vessel. u.s. national security advisor john bolton, who frequently has called for u.s. military action against iran, blamed iran for attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the u united arab emirates last month without providing evidence. the house oversight committee voted wednesday y to hold attory general william barr and commerce secretary wilbur ross in contempt of congress for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas. the vote came just hours after the justice department said president trump had declared executive privilege in a bid to keep the documents from the public record. democrats are seeking information on how trump administration officials sought to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. last month, "the new york times" reported that a senior republican strategist who specialized in gerrymandering was s secretly behind the effor, arguing privately that adddding

the question would benefit republicans and hurt democrats. this is new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez speaeaking at wednesday's house oversight hearing. >> i want to know why this question was magically added after we have seen a political torative new in an attempt -- for a partisan purpose, saying this will hurt democrats and help republicans. that is what it want to know. i want to know why wilbur ross, why secretary ross continued to meet with people of disturbing political affiliations after his own administration warned him to stop. he came right here and i asked him, did you continue speaking with them after this. he told me no. we had an emaiail and hehe did. amy: donald trump, jr. testify before the senate intelligence committee in a closed-door

session about and i know he received in the spring of 2016 from someone he believed to be russian government attorney promising dirt about hillary clinton. andccepted the invitation scheduled a meeting at trump totower with the o official in e 2016. meanwhile, president trump said that he would accept damagiging information on campaign rivals from foreign actors and might not even alert the fbi about efforts by a foreign adversary to intervene in the u.s. election. speaking with abc news anchor george stephanopoulos in the oval office, trump said his son was right not to inform the fbi. pres. trtrump: i've seen a a lof things.. i don't think in mymy whole life i've ever called the fbi. you don't call the fbi. you throw somebody out of your office. >> he called the fbi.. this is different.

this is someone who said we have information on your opponent. oh, let me call the fbi. give me a break. the fbi director is wrong. amy: president trump's hand-picked fbi director, christopher wray, told congress just last month that the bureau would want to know if a public official or a campaign was contacted by a foreign government seeking to interfere in an election. president trump dismissed the notion, saying he would consider accepting opposition research if a foreign figure approached him. meanwhile, president trump welcomed polish president andrzej duda to the white house wednesday, signing a military agreement to station an additional 1000 u.s. troops in poland. their announcement came as the u.s. marine corps executed a rare flyover of an f-35 stealth fighter jet over the white house as presidents trump and duda looked on from the south lawn. trump said poland had agreed in return to purchase at least 32 of the lockheed martin stealth fighter jets.

the f-35 program has been marked by multi-billion dollar cost overruns, with the pentagon's own estimates putting the cost of maintaining the jets at nearly $1.2 trillion in the coming decades. in the arabian peninsula, houthi rebels from yemen attacked an airport in southern saudi arabia on wednesday, injuring 26 civilians in the airport's arrival hall. a houthi spokesman called the missile attack retribution for the u.s.-backed, saudi-led coalition's continued aggression anand blockade againstst yemen. meanwhile, on capitol hill, house lawmakers grilled a senior state department officials wednesday over the trump administration's plans to circumvent congress to sell over $8 billion of precision-guided bombs and other weapons to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates without congressional approval. assistant u.s. secretary of state clarke cooper defended president trump's decision in may y to declare a a nationall emergegency in order to complete the arms sales, cititing a thret from saudi arabia's regiononal rivaval, iran. house foreign affairs committee

chair eliot engel called trump's declclaration phony and an abube of the law. this is clarke cooper being questioned by y rhode island democratic conongressmember davd cicilllline. >> the vast majoririty of the as the a a administraon w was to ts transaction a are offensive weapons, correct? >> it is not limited to that. >> i saiaid the vast majority ye offensive weapopons. >> there are offensive weapons, suststainment packages.. >> but thehe vast majority are offensive, correctct? >> a n number of them are offensivive. amy: t the u.s.-backed war i in yemen has killed thousands of civilians and sparked the world's worst humanitarian crisis, pushing half of yemen's 28 million people to the brink of famine. authorities in hong kong have shut down government offffices d poststponed debate in the legislative council one day after riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray at tens of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets to protest a bill that would allow the extradition of

hong kong residents to mainland china. this comes after as many as a million protesters marched against the extradition bill on sunday. the protests are some of the largest hong kong has seen since before britain's handover of hong kong in 1997. after headlines, we'll go to hohong kong for the latest. in mexico, crime reporter norma sarabia was shot and killed in the southern state of tabasco late tuesday, becoming the sixth journalist to be assassinated in mexico this year. police say two masked men on a motorbike shot sarabia repeatedly outside her home before fleeing the scene. in the neighboring state of veracruz, armed men raided the home of journalist marcos miranda cogco and kidnapped him. on wednesday, cogco's wife pleaded for his return, noting he has received death threats for years over his critical reporting on local government officials.

reporters without borders has called mexico the world's deadliest country for media workers outside of an active war zone. elsewhere in mexico, two immigration activists known for their work assisting centrtral american migrants who were arrested on june 5 were freed from jail wednesday ahead of their upcoming trials. the arrests of irineo and cristobal sanchez earlier this month came as president trump threatened to impose tariffs on mexican imports unless the mexican government agreed to crack down on asylum-seekers headed for the u.s.-mexico border. on wednesday, a judge ruled the pair should not be held in pre-trial custody as they await trial on human trafficking charges. mujica has worked closely with scott warren, a humanitarian aid volunteer with the group no more deaths in tucson, arizona. later in the broadcast, we'll go to tucson, arizona, where a federal judge has justst declard a mistrial in a criminal case against scott warren t that coud see him sentenced to up to 20

years in prison for providing water, clean clothes, and beds to two asylum seekers in the sonoran desert. in uganda, health officials say a five-year-old boy and his mother have died after falling ill with ebola, the first deaths among eight new suspected cases of the deadly virus reported in uganda. the deaths came as health workers in the neighboring democratic republic of congo warn a massive ebola outbreak has become the second-worst on record, with over 2000 new cases and nearly 1400 deaths since last august. medical workers are struggling to reach infected people amid ongoing viololence by anti-government militias as well as widespread mistrust of foreign medical workers. in south dakota, members of the cheyenne river sioux tribe on monday turned around a truck believed to be carrying construction equipment for the keystone xl oil pipeline. in a statement, tribal chair harold frazier said --

"any vehicles or personnel working on the keystone xl pipeline are not welcome on this reservation. this is sioux territory. we will not stand for more encroachments and defilement of our land." the keystone xl pipeline has long been opposed by environmentalists, farmers and native americans. if completed, the pipeline would carry oil from canada's tar sands region in alberta to refineries as far away as the gulf of mexico. former stanford university sailing coach john vandemoer has avoided a possible prison term for his role in a college admissions cheating scandal that saw wealthy and powerful parents spend millions of dollars in bribes to get their children into elite universities. on wednesday, a u.s. district court judge in boston sentenced vandemoer to two years' supervised release and a $10,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to raracketeering conspspiracy cha.

prosecutors asked for a 13-month prison sentence. they say vandemoer took in over $600,000 in bribes to fast-track student applicants for stanford's sailing team, funneling the money to the stanford sailing program. the two students he received the bribes for did not attend stanford. britain's home secretary has signed a formal request for wikileaks founder julian assange to be extradited to the united states where he faces 17 counts of violating the espionage act in the first ever case of the journalist or publisher being indicted underer the worldld wai hero law. british court will now decide whether to honor the extradition request. julian assange is currently behind bars in london are skipping bail in 2012 after being forcibly removed from the ecuadorian embassy by british police in april. and vermont senator and 2020 presidential hopeful bernie sanders offered a vigorous defense of democratic socialism

in a major address wednesday at george washington university, vowing to complete the unfinished promise of fdr's new deal and work towards economic rights for all. >> when trump attacks socialism, i am reminded again of what dr. martin luther king jr. said, and i quote, "this country has socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor." [applause] and that is the difference between donald trump and me. he believes in corporate socialism for the rich and powerful. i believe in the democratic socialism that works for the workrking families of this country. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show in hong kong, where authorities have shut down government offices and postponed debate in the legislative council one day after riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray at tens of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets wednesday protesting a proposed bill to allow extradition of hong kong residents to mainland china. on wednesday, demonstrators attempted just from the legislative council building where lawmakers are debating the extradition bill. human rights watch criticized hong kong authorities for using what it described as excessive force to suppress peaceful demonstrations. protesters described police using indiscriminate force. >> the hong kong police actually fired tear gas for the crowd while no people are showing any

symptoms of attacking. so they are just doing that. we t think they're tryrying to oppress our rights of expressing our opinion and actually oppressing the freedom. amy: this came days after as many as a million protesters marched in hong kong against the extradition bill on sunday. the protests are some of the largest hong kong has seen since before britain's handover of hong kong in 1997. since then hong kong has operated under a different legal and political system as mainland china, a set up known as "one country, two systems." critics of the extradition bill say it would infringe on hong kong's independence and the legal and human rights of hong kong residents as well as people visiting hong kong. we go now to hong kong where we are joined by mary hui. she is a hong-kong based writer and reporterer for the news outt quartz. she has reported on the extradition bill and has been covering the mass protests. welcome to democracy now!

can you start off by talking about the significance of this bill that was passed? just explain it. >> sure, and thank you for having me. the significance of this ill is that it will threaten hong kong's price prejudicial and legal independence. as the former governor said, there needs to be -- between hong kong's legal system and china's. with this bill, that firewall will be done away with and it means -- it will mean the death of one country, two systems, because the world no longer be this firewall and people will be -- there's a possibility people will be able to be extradited to china to face charges were they .ace an uncertain fate nermeen: could you outlinene wht the key features of this proposed amendment is?

are? >> sure. so as the law currently stands, hong kong has signed extradition treaties with 20 other jurisdictions. the u.s. being one of them. what this law is trying to do is to work around that. under the current law, the people's republic of china explicitly ruled out as a place that people can be extradited to. so there is no extradition at all to china under the current law. last year, there was a murder case. a young hong kong couple traveled to taiwan. the boyfriend was accused of murdering the girlfriend and fled back to hong kong. because china sees taiwan as part of the people's republic of china, there is no extradition so the hong kong government has then come around and said, well, there is this major loophole in that the suspected murderer is

not able to face any charges and won't face justice. so they took this opportunity to say we have to reform and amend this bill to make sure this person -- this is by to murderer can face charges and be brought to justice. how do we do this? we plugged the loophole, and a link the government, by doing away with the restriction of the people's republic of china and oneng t there can be extradition a grammatical to hong kong and china. amy: i want to read a recent maet from the exiled writer jian wrote on twitter -- "at the hong kong literary festival in november, a friend accompanied me at all times, for fear i'd be secretly kidnapped and smuggled to china. if the extradition law passes, any critic of xi's regime could be legally, openly abducted. it would be the end of freedom in hong kong."

your response, mary? >> i think that is a very, very reasonable fear. people are afraid of that, not just writers of chinese descent, but also foreigners. hong kong is a financial hub, international media hub. there are lots of human rights advocacy groups here. means -- if doing their work means angering china, then they will very likely be accused of committing a crime and china will be able to find a way to have them extradited to face charges in china come in mainland china. what this means is that china will be a blue use this bill as retaliation against opponents, whether it is hong kong-chinese or foreigners who are traveling to or are based in hong kong. nermeen: could you explain who is behind the proposed amendment and why is it being proposed now? >> yes.

really who is behind it is the hong kong government. who is behind the hong kong government is the beijing government. the hong kong government has insisted this is their own initiative. chief executive carrie lam has repeatedly said that, this is her making, the hong kong government's making, there is no instruction from the chinese government. though the top official based in hong kong, the top chinese official, has made an unusual move of trying to persuade hong kong politicians to back the extradition bill. as to whether china really is behind this bibill is uncertain. i am doubtful of that. theeen: could you describe kinds of protests taking place and the violent crackdown by the police in hong kong against the protesters? startede protesters gathering outside the central government offices tuesday night

local time here. and overnight, their numbers grew. by the time i arrived at the protest at about 9:00 a.m. during rush-hour traffic, tens of thousands of people had gathered and taken over vast swaths of this highway outside the central government offices. from the looks of it, it was calm, quiet for much of the morning. i was there until about 2:00 p.m. really all i saw were protesters being very well organized. they had set up supply stations, collecting umbrellas to repel against pepper spray and tear gas they were expecting death fired at them. they were collecting water and medical supplies. they were erecting barriers around the protest site. they were handing out masks to resisting i take a mask as a j journalist because they expected d to guess to be fired.

the was a sense of camaraderie. there was not too much going on at that point. a senense there was of tension as police and protesters stood 10 meters away from each other. police in riot .- pololice in riot gear it was not until 3:30 local time that clashes broke out. i had left and gone back to thee newsroroom for the rest of the y so i did not personally see the clashes. from what i've seen online, from videos because i have been watching, he really does not seem like protesters were the ones starting any kind of confrontation with the police. the police were trying to disperse them. ended up aggravating the crowd. amy: according to "the new york times," it is estimated one in seven hong kong residents to heart in sunday's protest.

and on monday, hong kong's commissioner to the united states at a mac outlined the government's position writing -- if you c could respond to thatad the fact that what the chinese authorities have done in the past, for example, the objecting of hong kong residents, five ?ong kong booksellers in 2015 >> there really is no trust of the chinese government. with the protesters of spoken to, that is the one thing that they have all mentioned when i asked about what about the hong kong government amendment and assurances that your freedom will be trampled upon.

time and again the protesters tell me, we don'trust the chinese, and his party, thee chinese governmentnt willtop it isis all aunch of lies. so any assurance that the freedom speech, freedom of willbly as it exists now not be trampled upon, i don't think those assurances hold any water. amy: and the booksellers? >> the booksellers, of course, there is that precedence of chinese government coming in and essentially launching this global campaign not just in hong kong, but elsewhere, of state-sponsored kidnapping. with the booksellers, i think people have looked at that and seen how the chinese government will behave without an extra bill -- extradition bill legitimizing their behavior. with the bill, i think what we will see is this legitimizing of things sponsored kidnapping, as some people have called it. nermeen: mary, before we

conclude, what do you expect happened next? will this amendment pass? do you expect the protests to continue? >> the debate over the bill in the legislature has been postponed until next week. it is unsure whether protesters will come out again, though my gut feeling is that if the debate is to continue and a vote is taken -- if a vote is taken, it will very likely pass given the legislature is stacked with pro-regime, pro-china parties and politicians. should it pass, i'm sure the anger will boil over and protesters will be out again to stand for their freedoms. amy: mary hui, they give for being with us hong-kong based , writer and reporter for the news outlet quartz. has been covering the protests. this is democracy now! when we come back, professor in arizona is met with the response

of a hung jury. they refused to convict him for aiding migrants and the brutal sonoran desert. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "lonesome valley" performed by xiu xiu. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: in tucson, arizona, a jury has refused to convict humanitarian activist scott warren who faced up to 20 years in prison for providing water, foodod, clean clothehes and bedo two undomented mrarants crcrosng theheonoran desert in southern arizo. waenen's trtriaended d esday in a mistrial aerer a ddlococke jury was ublble toeliviver verdt. eight juro f foundarreren t guty, four said heasas guiy. a status hearing is scheduled

fojuly 2. prosecutors ha d declid toto comment on whether they wou seek retrial against warren. wawarren brily spoke to pppporte oututsi tucsos's deral l urthouse where thehe hung jury was declared. january my arrest in 2018, at least 88 bodies were recovered from thehe ajo c corrr of the arizona desert. we know that is a minimum number and that manany moree are out te and have not been found. the governments plan in the midst of this humanitarian crisis -- policies to target undocumented people, refugees, and the familieies. prosecutions to criminalize human a terry in aid, k kindnes, and solidaritity. anand now, where i live, the revelation they will build an enormous and expensive wall across the vast stretch of the unbroken sonoran desert.

todaday rememains as s necessars everer for locals to stand together with migrants and refugees. we must also stand for our families, friends, neighbors and the very land itself most threatened by the militarization of our borderland communities. supporteceived enormous lawyers,ly, friends, and my community. everyone and i want to say that i love you all very, very much. >> we love you, scott! though, take a, moment now and get some rest. but the other men arrested with

, jose and christian, have not received the attention an outpouring of suppoport thati have. i do not know how thehey're doig now, but i desperately hope that they are safe. nermeen: scott warren is an activist with ajo samaritans and no more deaths, which for years has left water and food in the harsh sonoran desert, where the temperature often reaches three digits during summer, to help refugees and migrants survive the deadly journey across the u.s. border. when warren testified last week, he told jurors his actions were motivated by three intentions -- relief of suffering, respect for human dignity, and the right to self-determination. while presenting the case against warren, u.s. attorney anna wright said -- "he gave them food, he gave them

water. he did a bad thing. this is not a case about deaths in the desert." amy: scott warren was arrested on january 17, 2018, just hours after no more deaths released a report detailing how u.s. border patrol agents had intentionally destroyed more than 3000 gallons of water left out for migrants crossing the border. the e group also pubublished a o showing bordrder agents dumpmpig out jugs of water in the desert. hours after the report was published, authorities raided the barn, a no more deaths aid camp in ajo, where they found two migrants who had sought temporary refuge. we're joined in the studio by ryan devereaux, a staff reporter at the intercept, who is closely covered scott warren's trial and the criminalization of humanitarian aid volunteers for more than one year. it is great to have you back. you have just long back from arizona covering this trial that took about two weeks. talk about the significance of the verdict. it is a hung jury. eight for scott warren, four

against. >> correct. it was an outcome i personally was not expecting. i expected this would go one way or the other, guilty or not guilty. the hung jury, which came after three days of deliberation, was not something i think anybody was really expecting. had taken a lot of turns. the story is not over for scott warren. this is not necessarily a defeat, but it is not a victory, either. we do not know if the government will retry the case. there is a status hearing in july. a lot of the questions surrounding this case, the central precedence a good set, are still alive, and that includes the possibility of her broaden crackdown on humanitarianan aid work in the desert, potential targeting of folks who have undocumented people in their lives, potential targeting of mixed status families in the u.s. -- there's a whole lot on the line with

respect to this case, those questions are still very much alive. nermeen: you said the crucial question foror the jury wawas at scott warren's intentions. explain what that means in the significance of that for the fact there was a mistrial. after this arrest, we have seen a lot of evidence in this case, hundreds of filings. the government brought many was mrs. -- witnesses. what it boiled down to was intent. did scott warren intend to shshield these men from law-enforcement knowinhe was in violation of ththe law? if so, the goverernment argues e is guilty. scott warren's attttneys say, yes, intenis critil. s intent in thisase was providhumanitaan a, and that haseen his intntenll alg. jurors heard about how sco behad and wh he d in the hour a days afr these o

yog men arved at t barn in ajo,rizona. scott rren intend -- tended to theen'feet. they havblistersn their feet. oneas rorting se ribs. he toodown nes abouthe dical coitions a called doct who therganizatn no re deathorks witand has workedith for ars, ard-winng physici. heeported e cditions ese ung men re i he wdvised they shld stay off thr feet and rab or a. d voluntrs should keep eye them. the vernmentn its argumen inourt over the lasteek as said the notescott warn tk dung this piod wereart of a cover-up. they took these notes no more deaths got in order to be able to say they were providing medical aid when in fact they were just try and help these men enter the country. they argued stocks real intent

worth the border patrol at every turn. amy: let's go to scott in his own words talking about finding the remains of migrants who have died while crossing into the u.s. this is a clip from the intercept mini documentary tieded "let them have water. >> we we from finding hunn mainins ery othe monththo nding fi sets of human hiking on a singlerip thugugh th valley. and thenoioing back a week later and fiing two more sets of reremain and then on a single day of searchin finding eight setofof remains anbodies of peoplehoho d died in adjacent areas the mbing rge. st this sce of is crisi this humanitariaian crisis and missing persons crisis just blew wide open.

amy: that a scott warren. the government says this is not about deaths. it since 2001, at least 3000 migrants have been found dead in the southern arizona desert. thousands of others have disappeared. activists of the numbers are probably much higher. talk about the government saying it is not about deaths and of course scott warren's argument in the name of his organization, no more deaths. >> the government began this trial by arguing this is not a case about humanitarian aid and deaths in the desert, this is about scott warren and his actions. but what happened in the days that follows, the government could in many arguments documented terri and aid and said what no more deaths and groups like it are doing is a political process, not a humanitarian project. -- thentire goal government alleged these groups are political actors with political goals. it is important to keep in mind

when you are talking about this that the deaths and the desert are the result of policy that began some 25 years ago under the clinton administration called prevention to deterrence. under the strategy, migrant populations are funneled into the parts of the desert, increasingly in the last several years, that has been the ajo corridor. beginning in 2014, s scott brout together a sorort of network of humanitarian aid groups to really start focusing on this region. what they uncovered was a pattern of death and disappearance the really rivaled anything else in thehe sonoran desert. they started dropping water and looking often for people who were reported missing were bodies that were reported and contribute it to a historic increase in the number of remains and bodies found in that region during a particular time period. as that happened, the government escalated the crackdown on their work. nermeen: i want to turn to

amnesty international america's director who has called for wawarren's charges to be dropped in light of the mistrial. she said in a statement -- ryan, what do you think happens now? >> we wait to see if the government is going to retry this case or not. we should note that scott warren's prosecution takes place against a backdrop of targeting of humanitarian aid workers, advocates across the border. earlier this yeaear, we saw journalistsivists,

and the tijuana, san diego area, that worked with that caravan targeted by stripping operation and lawout by cbp, ice, enforcement in that area. this is not confined just to scott's case. amy: ryan devereaux, thank you for being with us, staff reporter at the intercept where he covers immigration enforcement, the drug war, and national security. his most recent article is "felony trial of no more deaths volunteer scott warren ends in mistrial." in may, he published "bodies in the borderlands," an extensive investigation into warren's case. when we come back, outrage is mounting after layleen polanco was found dead in a rikers island sell friday. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "la nuit" by ah-mer-ah-su featuring pale eyes. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. amy: outrage is mounting over the death of layleen polanco, a transgender afro-latinx prisoner who was found dead in a cell at rikers islanand on friday. polanco was arrested on misdemeanor charges and jailed on rikers in april when she was unable to post $500 bail. nearly two months later, she was dead. her family, friends and transgender rights activists are now demanding answers for the conditions that led to the 27-year-old's death. the city says the cause of death has not yet been determined. polanco was held in a unit for transgender women while jailed at rikers, but a week before her death she was transferred to so-called restrictive housing, an arrangement polanco's lawyer says a amounts to solitary confinement. amy: layleen's death came at the beginning of pride month and just one day after the new york police department apologized for the first time foror its raid a

half-century ago on the stonewall inn, a gay- and trans-friendly bar in manhattan's greenwich village. in june of 1969, the inn was the site of a violent police raid that triggered an uprising and helped launch the modern-day lgbtq rights movement. hundreds gathered in new york city monday to demand justice for layleen polanco and demand rikers to be shut down immediately. democracy now! was there in the streets. this video begins with transgender rights activist cecilia gentili speaking at foley square. >> layleen loved new york. you could not get her out of here. she loved the buildings. she loved the vibe. she loved the people of new york city. and ultimately, it has been the city who led to these circumstances. answers.ed to ask for and we need to change the criminal law. and it is crazy that people like her and people like me and

people like most of us can and island.leep] rikers >> black and brown trans women of color are not protected federally through this current administration. and in this month of june, there is no pride in knowing that the injustices of transgender women of color and the violence continues toto be perpetuated in the deaths of transgender women, black transgender women, continues to be a leading epidemic and our community -- in our community. trans rights are human rights. trans-people are people. we are in a war. don't get it twisted. we have been in a war. black and brown trans people have been in a war since we were born, in a world that continuously tells us we should not exist until they actually

make it so we don't exist. and so if you are invoking the name of marsha or invoking the stormy or any of these architects of our movement, amanda and so many others -- [bleep] you. as a formerly incarcerated sex worker, i know -- i can only imagine what she went through. i myself remember being made fun of them being treated subhuman just to get my medication from the medication window. or how about picking up my commissary or going to visit my loved ones and have my family and myself subjected to those vicious things that the police did to us? i can honest imagine how she

felt subhuman being chained going to seek personal help. how many grievances or probably overlooked? -- phone on deaf eyes or deaf ears? i free shape everyone showing up in her death, but where are we when we are living and breathing? i need a same anger. i need you to support. how the hell does a misdemeanor result in the dust on amy: that was tabitha gonzalez. for more where joined in studio istwo guests, raquel willis transgender activist and writer and executive editor of out magazine. and joel wertheimer is an attorney representing the family of layleen polananco. welcomome to democracy now! joel, let's begin with you. what happened to layleen? why y s she in rikersrs? >> there is still a lot we are

figuring out about what happened. she was arrested in april on misdemeanor charges. we believe that did not have bill set. there was another warrant outstanding. amy: you mean she would have just been released yet go >> they set one dollar r bill, whih is a technical thing. but she would have been released if this other warned have been ---- had not been issued that ws from a human trafficking intervention court. that was only $500. she would not be in jail under the new bail law, which is supposed to go in effect in new york state in 2020. but prosecutors are still seeking bail. amy: how long had she been in judges because she could not raise the $500? >> from its april until the day she died. amy: over two months. >> just under, yes. nermeen: can you talk about the impact of layleen's death? one, just in a series of numerous deaths of black trans

women killed either by civilians or by the state? could you talk about the impact of this on the transgender community? >> it is been a particularly heavy year. there have been 10 trans women reported murders this year. we know there are always probably more that go unreported. it is heavy because it is the 50th anniversary of selma. -- of stonewall. this is our pride month. while there is excitemenent arod the strides we havave made of te community, these are sobering reminders of how much further we have to go. s casehink about layleen' and even in the discussion of the murders in the violence that happens to black and brown trans bodies, there is such an erasure of people who are incarcerated inpeople who are detained respecting their humanity and why they should still be here.

on the first day of pride month, even before what happened toy, there was joahna medina seeking died in ice custody on june 1. all of this is happening while in the background there are the celebrations ignoring the israelis most t of amy: : and ts is pride month. back to layleen at rikers island, why was she in solitary confinement? this so much reminds me of sandra bland who could not raise the $500 she needed to get out. >> we still don't know exactly why she was placed in in aictive housing punitive segregation unit. the department of correction has been stony with us. amy: she was in a transgender unit at rikers? >> she was to begin with. rikers is one of the few jails that actually has a transgender unit, but she was transferred to the punitive segregation unit,

which is solitary were minimal freedom while you are incacer atated. amy: how did she die? >> that is still being determined. i don't to speculate too much. she did have epilepsy. she had a seizure condition. we don't know how frequently she was being checked on. but we are still waiting for the medical examiner to determine the cause of death. nermeen: i want to turn to new york city mayor bill de blasio speaking about layleen polanco's death on new york 1. he was asked why she was in custody for nearly two months for two mimisdemeanor charges. >> well, that is unusual. i need to get you an answer on why that would be. obviously, we have been moving consistently to have alternatives to incncarceration

and our jail population is down over 30% in the last five years and about to go down a whole lot more because, thankfully, all but he did some important reforms on bail but there is more work to be done on that front on several levels. i need to get the facts about this case, but, you know, most important, she is no longer with us and we have to find out why. nermeen: in may, de blasio promised to protect transgender new yorkers, dedicating a monument to legendary transgender activists marsha p. johnson and sylvia rivera. raquel willis, your reresponse o what the mayor has said and what he has promised? >> i think it is great we're honoring these figures, but we forget the facts of their lives. marsha and sylvia were women who were fighting for people who are incarcerated, for people who have had very difficult experiences and interactions with law enforcement in the state. while it is great we have these monuments, we have to continue

this fight. amy: sylvia rivera, 50 years ago at the stonewall inn. we want to end with actor and model indya moore, star of "pose." >> i want to start by noting the recorded trans women and people who have been murdered, most of which there have been no arrests . you know, there are no leads. our cases are at the bottom of the pile always. jesus, 25-year-old mexican trans woman of color, better known as tricia. she went missing on may 17. the authorities later found her

head severed in a cooler outside a town hall. her decapitateted body was later found in the streets of mexico. a 25-year-old woman, a trans woman killed in el salvador after being deported from the united states. color, a trans woman of 39, was found shot to death in her vehicle in a roadside ditch about 11:00 p.m. sunday, january 6 in montgomery, alabama. a 27-year-old trans woman of color slain by gun violence in maryland. ofire, 21, transform and color, shot in the head on april 15 after an argument broke out between her mother and the

suspect in cleveland, ohio. she was defending her mother from someone that stole from her. , 23, a trans or woman of color was found shot saturday in dallas, texas. the shooting comes after a little more than a month since the viral video we all saw of her being beaten and dragged across the street in her own brothers.by her own speaking -- i don't know if it was a rally or a media correspondents thing, but after speaking, she spoke publicly saying "this time i can stand

before you where as in other scenarios, we are at a memorial." and now that is where her family or her family saw her a few weeks after she said those words. michelle washington, 40 years old, longtime transgender rights advocate was shot. again, by gun violence. paris, 20, was shot in detroit, michigan, on saturday may 25, memorial weekend. by gun violence. chanel lindsay, 26, found in rock lake, dallas, texas, 5:45 on saturday, june 1.

the body was discovered only mel away from where booker's body was discovered. a trans woman of color, shot and in north carolina. her body was found in a field. black trans woman was found dead in her memphis apartment in march. layleen polanco, the most recently slain trans woman of .olor, a black trans woman i looked up to her. when you are a young trans person, you have the trans women and people around the to look to. and you imagine where you want to see your self in your life. layleen was one of those girls for me. they're deciding whether or not we deserve human rights and that must end. we could not lean on the understanding were empathy of

federal people to protect and fight for our basic human rights. our freedom to exist and access employment, shelter, safety, health care, or anything else that we need to thrive should not be at the mercy of the people who do not share our experiences -- let alone, believe we don't deserve to live or thrive. we need our government to listen to us in regards to our needs, not listen to cis people in regards to our needs. we are all worthy of safety and protection everywhere, including in our own homes with their own , in our and shelters own neighborhoods and churches and schools and jobs and hospitals and clinics and community's and cities and country and world. we are worthy of legal aid, liberty, justice, resources, and we are worthy of rights. we are worthy of love. if the side of us using our bodies and voices to protest oppresses this a ministration of

people who endorse it and the religion that are fighting for , andight to dispose of us the political system that is giving the world permission to dispose of us, districts and frames you more than our mysteriously dead bodies in the custody of rikers island and ice and the site of as being beaten and dragged up and down the gravel streets of our streets in dallas and beyond, shot at an decapitated on the stairs city hall in mexico, we will not back down and rest in peace no more. and you go to transact or india more speaking at a protest on monday. time magazine recently named her one of the world 100 most influential people of 2019 post of chaucer recently become the first trans woman on the cover of "elle" magazine as she spoke honoring layleen? all of the initiatives that

are led by us in fighting for us need to be supported, whether that is donating, volunteering, or elevating the work we're doing. amy: raquel willis and joel wertheimer, thank you for joining us.

tokyo. i'm miki yamamoto. we begin with the latest of the tanker attacks in the gulf of oman, a key waterway for global oil imports. u.s. says iran is responsible but no group has claimed responsibility. >> this assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise