06/08/20 06/08/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: after nearly two wes s of histicic prosts,s, t minneapolis city councilasas

announceitit wilmoveve t dismtltle the city's lilice dedepartnt i in e wakekef the police killing of georgeloyd. weill speato minneolis cityty councilmember jeremiah ellison. then we look at the growing movement to defund the police with professor alex vitale, author mychal denzel smith, and activist linda sarsour. >> defunding the police is simple. that means get police out of our schools, get police out of addressing homelessness, get police out of addressing mental health crises. put police where they belong, and that is not in our communities to address things that require qualifications and expertise. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy nowow!, democracynow.org, the quarantine repoport. i'm m amy goodman. as h historic prprotests contino sweep the itited states two weeks afr r the licece mder ofof georgeloyd, ththe minneapolis

city couilil annnceded sday itit will move to sband the city's police deptmtment. nine members of thcocounci a veto-proofajajorit madade e vow duri a a comnityty rly onn sund.. this is minneapolis city councilmember phillipe cunningham. we will get to that clip in a moment the about to disband the police can ju d days ter r th mimieapolis city council voted b ban chokeholds and neck restraints. derek chauvin, the rmrmer oicerer w killele floyd by kneelin on his neck for nearly ninmiminute wilill ke s first court appearance toda l's s to that clip of the ununcilmber.r. this is not new. we know that. roross t entntir city over the pa t two weeks, we have seen i is psisible r usus t keep our ownn community safe.

in north minneapolis, as t buildings we being bkeken an burned by white supremacists and was nowhere td be fndnd. whilile have e paradigm for policing that is not rood d in whitite supremacy, we do veve a paradigm and a wayoo have community safy that irooted in cmunity and jtice. y: we will have re after headnes withinneapol city counciciember jemiah ellon. we wl spspenthe rest of f e sh talkiki about dunundinghehe police. in more headlines, the nationwide uprising against police violence and anti-black racism saw hundreds of thousands of protesters take to the streets across the united states over the weekend. in new york, large-scale protests took place throughout the city, many continuing into the night in defiance of an 8:00 p.m. curfew. in san francisco, thousands of

protesters shut down traffic on the golden gate bridge. in richmond, virginia, protesters toppled the confederate statue of general williams carter wickham and doused it with paint. many in virginia, including some of wickham's own descendants, had called for the confederate statue to be torn down for years. on friday, protesters around the country wished a happy 27th birthday to breonna taylor, who was shot dead by louisville, kentucky, police inside her own apartment in march. this is s a protester speaking t a rally in los angeles. >> today we are taking a stand against police brutality and taking a stand against the system of oppression we see with the police department. it is not that it is a white cop or a black cop or a mexican cop. they don't have a color in the

police department, that one color -- blue. amy: we'e'll bring youou voicesm protests here in new york city later in the broadcast. in washington, d.c., mayor muriel bowser had the words "black lives matter" painted on a section of 16th street that leads to the white house. the words in giant, yellow capital letters span more than a block and are visible in satellite photos from space. black lives matter called her out. protesters later painted the words "defund the police" next to the words "black lives matter" in large, yellow letters. colin powell become the latest and prominent former pentagon official to criticize trump's mental and driest response -- militarized response to the protest. he also endorsed joe biden for president. this came as president trump

said he had ordered the national guard to leave the streets of washington, d.c. his reversal came after abc news reported last monday president trump got into a shouting match with the top pentagon official demanding the mobilization of 10,000 troops in washington, d.c., and other u.s. cities to suppress protests. on sunday, utah senator mitt romney broke from other republican lawmakers and joined a march in washington, d.c. violencely way to end and brutality anand make sure tt people understand that black lives matter. amy: protests also intensified around the worldld as crowds poured into the streets in britain, germany, france, spain, france, denmark, sweden, canada, japan, south korea tunisia, among many other , places. prprotesters gathehered in fronf u.s. embassies in some capital as they demanded an end to police brutality and racism in both the united states and their own countries. in spain, demonstrators rallied

in front of the rota u.s. military base in cadiz. as well as the capital madrid and other places. in britain, protesters in bristol tore down a bronze statue of 17th century slave trader edward colston and threw it in the river avon. in london, protesters wrote "churchill is a racist" on the memorial statue for former prime minister winston churchill. in cololumbus, ohio, an investigation has been launched into the death of 22-year-old protester sarah grossman, who died soon after getting pepper sprayed at a protest. this comes as reports ofof polie violence against protesters continue to pile up. a warning to our tv audience,, we're about to show graphic images of police violence. in i indiana, 21-year-old balin brake lost his right eye after a police officer fired a tear gas canister directly into his face at a protest in fort wayne. in texas, 26-year-old brandon saenz lost his left eye, seven

teeth, and fractured his skull after a dallas police officer shot him in the face at close range with an unknown projectile. in la mesa, california, 59-year-old grandmother leslie fulcron was filming a facebook live video o of a protest when e was shot between the eyes by a bean bag round fired by police. >> oh, my god! oh, my god1 are you ok? you ok? amy: fulcron was hospitalized in an icu and placed in a medically-induced coma. meanwhile, the two buffalo police officers who last week assaulted martin gugino, a 75-year-old demonstrator, violently pushing him to the ground, have been charged with felony assault. gugino is a long-time peace activist, who has been attending protests for racial justice and many other causes for years. he is a membmber of witness against torture. his representatives said over the e weekend he is in sereriout

stable condition. 57 police officers from buffalo's emergency responsese team quit the special unit following the suspension of the their fellow officers last week. immigrant rights advocates are sounding the alarm over the presence of immigration and customs enforcement agents at protests. last week, a viral video showed a group of ice agents detaining a protester at a george floyd rally in new york city. the immigrant defense project said agents held the man on the ground as they pointed three guns at him. the man, who hasn't been identified, was handcuffed and searched. he was reportedly released after agents found a military veteran id on him. immigration rights advocates say the man is a u.s. citizen of puerto rican descent. ice recently confirmed t the agency has deployed personnel at protests across the country. in washihington state, calls a e mounting to fire and prosecute four police officers w who killd manuel ellis, a 33-year-old black man, in march. ellis wawas violentltly arrested

beaten by four officers on the side of the road. he died while he was being restrained and was in handcuffs. he can be heard saying "i can't breathe" on a police scanner. the county medical examiner ruled his death was a homicide. meanwhile, a b bereaved d famils demanding answers after the fatal shshooting of 28 year old maurice gordon last month by a new jersey police trooper. the state trooper, who has not been publicly identified, pulled gordon over for a routine traffic stop. he then waited in the officer's car for over 30 minutes for a tow truck to arrive after gordon's car wouldn't restart. the trooper reportedly shot and killed him when he tried to exit the vehicle. the attorney general's office said video of the shooting would be released when the initial investigation is over. maurice gordon, originally from jamaica, was a chemistry student and a driver for ubereats -- a job classified as essential during t the pandemimic. in media news, "the nenew york times" editorial page editor james bennet has resigned following outcry from staff and readers over the publication of

an op-ed by republican senator tom cotton about the protests headlined "send in the troops." meanwhile, stan wischnowski, the top editor of "the philadelphia inquirer," has resigned days after the paper published a piece headlined "buildings matter, too. in other journalism news, the board of directors of the committee to protect journalists sent a letter to u.s. governors, mayors, and police chiefs, demanding they take immediate action to stop attacked on reporters covering the uprising. the committee to protect journalists say they are investigating at least 28080 reports of violence against journalists. the death toll from covid-19 in the united states continues to susurge where it has passed 110,000. this includes nearly 600 frontltle healthcacare workers according g to a new report by e guguardian. according to cnn, in the past hours alone there have been 30,000 new infections and 700 deaths. in arizona, some hospitals are

on the verge o of running out of intetensive careninit beds as se number of covid patients has reached a new high. meanwhile, new york city begins to reopen today after 78 days of lockdown. more than 21,000 people have died in new york city from covid. in other news, preresident trump on friday visited a factctory in maine e making medical swabs f r covid testing. trump did not wear a mask while on the factory floor. the factory owner later said all swabs made during trump's visit will be discarded. his health sec. alex azar also did not wear a mask. in mexico, protests against police brutality erupted in the city of guadalajara, jalisco, last week following the alleged police killing of 30-year-old giovanni lopez ramirez. a video emerged wednesday showing police officers carrying assault rifles forcing lopez into a police pickup truck as witnesses scream, demanding his release., lopez ramirez's body was reportedly

found by his family at a local hospital. in more news from latin america, the brazilian government of far-right president jair bolsonaro has stopped publishing new reported coronavirus deaths and infections. brazil's healalth minister on friday took down a website that had published daily, weeeekly ad monthly numbers of covid-19 cacases and deaths. when the website went live a agn saturday, the total numbers of infections foror states and the entire countntry of brbrazil wee missing. brazil had ovevertaken italy a s the country with the third-highest covid-19 death toll. in canada, indigenouseaders are mamandinan i invtigatiti into the picice kiing g ofn digenous woman w was repoedly kild during wellss check. -year-olchantel ore was lled thuday in eundston, new brswick, ban offic who d respond to a cl from o of h loved pice alle moore ones. threaten the offer with knif the ficer th shot hefive mes. ore had cently med to edmundst to be cser to h fi-year-oldaughter shwas a meer of th tlo-qui-ahfirst naon. inore newsrom cana, charges were dropped last week

agains2222 we'sut' landd defenders and eir allies, who were aesested is p pasfebruaua in norerern brish h combia after a days-long raid in indigenous triritori whehere hediditaryhiefs ha beeeen a protcted battle to ptect thr r landrom the nstrtrucon of transcana''400-0-mi, $4.7.7 billion cotatal gainkk pipene. back in the united states, president trump invoked the memory of george floyd as he celebrated the government's recently released jobs report. pres. trump: hopefully, george is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that is happening for our country. it is a great day for him. it is a great a for everybody. this is a great day for everybody. thisis is a grgreat, great day n termss of equality. amy: the labor department's may jobs report shows the economy gained 2.5 million jobs in and the unemployment rate fell to 13.3%. however, the report contained a

note warning of a misclassification error, indicating the unemployment rate is actually about three points higher, or around 16.3%. the report also shows the unemployment rate went up for asian and black people. there is going to be a correction i issued this week. the north carolina s supreme cot ruled friday over 10100 death rw prisoners will b be given the opportunity to prove racism played a role in their sentences. cassandra stubbs of the aclu celebrated the ruling, saying the ruling "ensures we will be able to continue our journey as north carolinians to really confront the legacy of race in capital trials." and in sports newsws, the nfl hs issusued a video message in supporort of black lives matter anand apologized for rejecting black football players' protests against police brutality and racism in the pastst. this is s nfl commissioner roger goodell. >> week, the national football league, inmamate we were wrongnr not listening to nfl players

earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefullll protest.t. we, the national football league, believe black. amy: in the video, nfl commissioner roger goodell did not name or directly apologize to colin kaepernick, the former san francisco 49er quarterback who was shunned from the league after he started taking the knee in 2016 during the national anthem as a protest against popolice violence. and those are e some of the headadlines.s. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the city council of minneapolis announunced saturday it would disband and abolisisthe policece department responsible for the killing of african american man george floyd following nearly two weeks ofof mass protest and growing calls to defund the police. in a statement, nine of the city's council members said -- 12 "decades of police reform

efforts have proved that the minneapolis police department cannot be reformed, and will never be accountable for its action. we recognize that we don't have all the answers about what a police-free future looks like, but our community does." the historic announcement comes after years of organizing on the ground by groups like reclaim the block, black visions collective, and mpd 150. this is minneapolis city council president lisa bender speaking sunday. >> our commitment is to do what is necessary to keep every single member of our community say. it is to tell the truth, that the minneapolis police are not doing that. end ouritment is to cities toxic relationship with the minneapolis police department, to end policing as we know it, and to re-create systems of public safety that actually keep us safe. amy: a

super majority of minneapololis city council members support disbanding t the police departmentnt, meaning m minneaps mayor jacob frey -- who opposes abolishing the police -- can't override their efforts. organizers with black visions collective and other activists convinced the mayor to step outside his home saturday to speak with them. this is organizer kandace montgomery. >> jacob frey, we have a yes or no question for you. no, will you commit to defending minneapolis police department? [indiscernible] police.n't want no more we don't want people with gunss in our communities, shooting us down. do you have an answer, yes or no? it is a yes or no. will you defund the minneapolis police department? >> [indiscernible]

amy: you're wasting our >> you are wasting our time. go home jacob, go home. gogo home, jacob, go home. amy: this was in d downtown minneapolis. kandace montgomery reminded demonstrators that mayor frfreys up for reelection next year. well, for more, we go to minneapolis wherere we're joined by city councilmember jeremiah ellison. councilmember ellison, welcome back to democrcracy now! this is a historic announcement that the majority of you on the city council made last night, that you're going to dismantle the minneneapolis p pe dedepartment. explaiain what that means. that we havaveeans gogot to create a sysystem of pc safety that t works for everery. i thinknk the minneapolis police departmement, even before the mumurder of georgege floyd, , hd a a whole host of issues, a

hahandful i can wrwrite off thep of m my head -- we dealt with an isissue of the minneapolis polie department being involved d in illegal injection of k ketaminea peoplele who did not need it. notave had a history of taking sexual asult case seriouy, invesgations serislsly post and recently lie abouhohow ma u untesdd rape kitse e have the list goes on and on. i inink there has been an acknowledgment, we have nene everything we've done on the rerms side we he e a cheap is probably one of t most per reformanand inststited every refororm he legally can. amy: he himself had sued the minneapolis police department for racisism, isn't that true, yeaears ago? >> that is true. when we are looking at having an amazing chief and a cocouncil who has s pushed for

reform and it is not just ee latitionip iss bad, the relatishship is untenable. where w we gorom m he? i think we have to asask ourselves, what is the best way to keep people safe if not the minneapolis police department? amy: explain what this would mean. you madade the announcementnt. you have notot had a vote in the city council. what happens today? >> for the commitment that we made y yesterday, we made yestererday, we'rere going to oe the next year toto engage thee people minneapolis,, o obviousl, council members have ideas, but i think of the ninine of us that in a room for a couple ofays anand cooked up p a plan withouy public engagemenent, i think the community wowould reject t that. i think we're going to commit to a years wororth of conversation. i think in somome ways i it will rerequire every single e residef minneapolis to g give theieir i. the groundwork is there. some of the groundwork has been laid for what we can do to keep communities safe other than have a police force. amy: what exacactly do you mean

you're going to waitit a year? so there will not be a a vote taken? >> sorry, we're not going to wait a year, we're going to engage the community for a year to develop a new s system of public safety. you have to understand, the police department has been around for 150 years. i'm sorry, the minneapolis police department has been around for over 150 years. police department's around the country have been around a lot longer than that. i think we owe it to the city of toneapolis, residents, develop a plan that moves forward intelligently, moves forward in a way that works. we're not going to hit the eject button on the police department today, for instance, because we do not have that new system in place but we have to start the conversation somewhere. yesterdaday was the e start of t conversation. amy: will there be a vote and what will it on in the city

council l now? >> at some pointnt there will he toto be e about about what our w system of public safety looks like. exaxample, onee you an of the most efeffective e progrs we have been a able to fund onna shoeoestring budget is our group violence prerevention program. it is a program that helps young men get out of gang activity and removeve themselveves from gang life. it has been more successful in t to choose a members different path forward for ththemselves than sending them o jail or anything else we have tried inin the pasast. ththat is just one program f for examample that i think we need o actually put our investment i in to get fully o operational so we can keep our city say. we're going to have to figure out how to address things likee active s shooter situations. we arere aware of the fact that

someme situations are e extremey difficult to d de-escalate. -- west o of what police do did a study last yeyear of 911 calls. we realizeze that one of the top calls police makee our for what we call emotionally distururbed persons or m mental health call. the useed d someone with of force backgroround to answer thatat call? do need a gun n present at a cal present like tha at a call l for a forged $20 bi? i thinink the answer to o that s no. as a country have leleaned into figuring out how o issues like this without force. i think my colleagues and i are committed to figuring thahat ou. amy: i want to ask about the minneapolis police union president bob kroll, as actavis are demeaning he e resign aftere called george floyd a violent criminal and called on police to

expand the use of force. in april, kroll told a radio podcaster he "wasn't bothered" by shootings he's been involved in. >> i've been involved in three shootings myself. not one of them has bothered me. .aybe i am different amy: minnesotata's afl-cio coalition n of labor unions has joined calls demanding that minneapolis police u union president bob krololl resigngn. jeremiah ellison, if you can talk about the role of the police union and arere you also calling for kroll to be out? >> i would love for thehem to be out but i i don't think ththis s the first time foror people to have called for kroll to resign. he has a long history of incompetence and rage. i think you very much though follows in this traditional model of policing. when you look at the groundwork that has been laid for modern-day policing, it is to is toe vagrancy laws, it bust the heads of union muchizers, and kroll very

so is proud of that tradition and i think leans into that tradition. knowing ishat kroll, protected by our base that elected them to represent them, he knows there's no grounds frame data resign. there is no server him dr. resign -- there is no pressure for him to have resign, even of people are calling for. i'm sure he finds it amusing. he doesn't just represent himself. he isepresentnts his -- democratically elected. i think for a long time we underestimate what it means to have a department who advocates for extreme use of force, who recently advocated the use of lethal rounds on dedemonstrators here in minneapolis. biker the member of a gang with ties to white supremacist organizations. i think we often regarded him as an annoyance. i think the truth i is for a lon

time he's been a lot more dangerous than that. amy: your father keith ellison is the attorney general of minnesota, the first african-american attorney general of minnesota. he is in charge of the prosecution of the archer officers, just increased the charges against chauvin and charged the other three officers. have you discucussed with him ts whole isissue of dismantling the policece department? of theink he is aware concept of dismantling the police department. i can't fit him, obviously, butt i think this is a concecept that has to be explored. question i'vethe made, what are we going to do about sexual assssault cases? ii had to remind them that our current department does not andlve sexual assault cases has a track record of not taking them seriously. light about the number of rape kits we had untesteded.

i alalso had a constituent c cal yesterdaday upset saying, jeremiah, the police don't answer when we call now, what will we expect now? i said, , at i'm hearing from you is the policice don't come when you call. so we'e've got to fifigure out a sysystem that keeeeps you safe, keeps our neighbors safe. this current one is that it. amy: the role of community groups, at which you are apart before you were elected come the same -- famous photograph of minneapolis police officer with a country get your head when you were protesting years ago. of thenificance commmmunity groups that have ben pushing for this. >> absolututely. i t think the comommunity is the mostst important part of this. otheher cities have -- call it what you will, disnded, fired eir enti p policdepapartnt's -- to slowly glue themem bac tother ovetime..

i think with community suppo, wi community vision and leadership, this is the lyly way that warare gog toto g to aa point where we are learni h how to keep communities safe without using the police as r r singar tool. i think we have heard fmm police over the yes s whene ha asksked them to use less force in certain situations, well, look, i'm not sosocial wowork. at is made a lot of commitity members say, okok, maybe we need soalal worrs.. maybe we need mental health prprofesonalals. maybybwe need people who spiaialize in childhood develo men to b be addressing these issueses. inhink that city council minneapolis is 100% owed to the fight, creativity of the broader community. amy: thank you for being with us, jeremiah ellison minneapolis , city council member. the council l has made this historic decision to dismantle the city's s police deparartmen.

when we come back, we look at the growing movement too defund the e police with linda a sarsor and alex vititale and mychal denzel smith. back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. ofer nearly two weeks massive demonstratioions in new york city calling for police accountabilility, mayor bill de blasio has pledged to shift some of new york funding for police and reallocate it to social services. he made the announcement in a press conference sunday >> we will be moving funding from the nypd to youth ininitiatives and soalal servis. the detatails will be workeked t in the b budget process s in the weekeks ahead. but i want people to u understad that we are commimitted to

shiftingng resources to ensure e focus is on our young people. amy: the new york city police department has an annual budget of $6 billion -- that's about 6% -- 7% of mayor de blasio's proposed $90 billion budget for 2021. this comes as los angeles mayor eric garcetti agreed last week to slash between $100 million to $150 million from proposed funding for police, and members of the minneapolis city council have vowed too dismantle the city's police department. for more, we're joined by linda sasarsour, palestinian-american-muslim organizer, author of "we are not here to be bystanders" and co-founder of "until freedom," which along with communities united for police reform and until freedom, has been pressuring new york city's mayor to insnstitute meaningful change around police accountability. well-known activist, new yorker. linda, welcome back to democracy now! can you respond to what the mayor announced yesterday? this is like a day or two after

turned theirts back on him, booed him when he came out to speak at one of the memorial services for george floyd run by george floyd's brotother who lives here in new york. >> let's make sure the credit goes where it is do, amy. the credit is to the e justice committee, the new york justice league, they gathering for justice, until freedom. many groups in new york cicity o have been doing police reform work for decades. in the last for years, have continued to mayor -- pressure mayor de blasio ran on a police reform platform to make change. on saturday we marched from 110 in central park west all the way to washington square park. over 50,000 people came out with us and we had a set of demands. one was to defund the police and re-appropriate funding to youth and communities. we called on him when the anti-chuckle bill gets to his

desk, i don't see him. i want him to put pen to paper and assign that anti-chokehold bill. we need is leadership right now. tocan tell me he is going defund the police or reappropriate funding, but we have to see that. he has lied over and over to black and brown communities in new york city. we want to see the actual tangible things he is going to be doing for us. amy: mayor de blasio was lolong considered a progressive mayor. your thoughts on this and what has s happened since? alsoso, governor cuomo's attacks on him and his apppproach to law enforcement, linda? blasio is abill de progressive, amy, please don't ever use that term to describe someone like me. bill de blasio is not a progressive. he ran as a progressive but when he became the mayor, the nypd started running him. i always wondered who was the actual mayor of new york city.

was it the mayor himself or the nypd? what we are looking at from the mayor, he only has a little time left right now, and hehe c could really go out here with the legacy of transforming the new york city budget, of defunding the police department, of actually listening and implementing the visions of black and brown communities. we protetest all the time in new york city. organizing.e brown people organizing. we are trained in de-escalation. we are trained in bystander intervrvention. we have seen the b brutalityff ththe new yoyork police departrt not just against i innocent, unarmed people, bubut agagainst prprotesters. one of t the largest democracies in the world, we watched the largest police force -- two you remember mayor bloomberg said that if they were an army, nypd would be the seventh largest army in the world. they have been brutalizing protesters across new york city. the mayor has not asked nypd to

stand down. we are t tired of it. i'm looking forward to sising te nenew york city councicil also d the mayor accountable and not do any handshakes with the budget unless we defund the new york police department. amy: linda sarsour, this call to defund the police that is echoing throughout the country, explain exactly what it means. and when you say it goes along the lines of what the minneapolis city council says they're going to do within the next year, dismantntle the polie department? thet to completely cut off $6 million to the new yorkrk police department or reallocate a lot of money? >> i just want to make it clear that the movement to endnd pleae brutality is being led by like women and black people and they've been calling for the .bolition of police for decades

i want to make it clear the long-term goal for many in the movement is the abolition of prisons. when w we say defund the police todaday, we do not mean that tomorrow you're going to wake up and not find a single police officer around. that is not what it means right now at this moment. what it really means, and it is very rational and reasonable, we need to take cops out of our schools, cops out of addressing mental health crises, cops out of addressing homelessness, and reallocate those resources to services, to adequate housing, to case management, to economic opportunities in our community, to reinstate programs like the summer youth employment program, to make sure we have protective equipment for health-care workers, clinics and hospitals and access to health care for black and brown people, undocumented people in our community stop that are buses and infrastructure and transportation. let the cops to do with the cops are supposed to do, keep people safe. they are not social workers or

mental health professionals, educators. they are engaging in activity that does not match the qualificications more the critea of a police officer. that is not what they are trained to do in the academy, so why are we sending them to address things that have nothing to do with them? what we're saying is the new york city police department has one of the largest budgets of any agency. maybe the largest of all agencies in new york city. all here saying -- saying is decrease the budget, reallocate that into youth, seniors, community development, and with a focus on those who have been the most directly impacted, focused on communities of color, poor working class people. when you have this conversation with people who do not understand what defund the police is -- i'm not have one conversation with a white ally or neighbor in a place like bay ridge, which hasas a lot of prolonged first my people. .eople say, you make sense this is rational and reasonable. we are n not saying to lead the pocece officerers ofthee face of

the earth tomorrow, but we are saying reappropriate the fundidg and p put it back into o servics that our communityty needs so we can n be healthy and safe andd secure and we can h have communitities that thrive andd t only survive in new york city. amy: i want to ask about a man in captivity, in the metropolitan detention c center, who isis pepper sprayed. i first want to go to mychal , author ofh "invisible man, got the whole world watching: a young black man's education." his forthcoming bookok is title, "stakes is high: life after the american dream." i want to ask you about this whole call to defund the police and also, governor cuomo's discussion of what he is calling the"say their name" bill at new york state level. he says the next wave of reform will be shipped funding from nypd to youth and social

well, thateform 50a, is what the mayor is calling for. of the governor in the "say their name" bill is calling for demands.of dififferent i wawant to geget your sense oft "xactly that "say their name bill means when he says more transparency, the new york attorney general will be in charge of prosecution of police, there shshould be no chokehohol, and other sues. that are on things the backend of this issue. , wedefund the police demand have to and recognize it as -- the shifting of funds from the policece d department currentlys you stated, the new york city police departmtment's budgdget s nearly $6 bibillion, must billin

dollars in los angeles, stating percent of their city budget. similar numbers in chicago and other large cities. those are funds that could go toward building the type of institututns and infrastructure for the health and safety of people like linda was just saying. you u can invest that t moneyy d thinings thapepeople actuaually need. the one thing thatat has come up with hisis global pandemic of covid-19 is an understanding of what conststitutes essential, wt do we actuallyly need? the polie have shown they are not essential. they not there to do i it p peoe imagine them to do. they donon't protect and d they don'n't serve unless you are rih and white. youn that instance, if continue to find t the police at ththe rate that youu do and y 'e denying other services s those funds, which you s set up as an untenable situation in which you always neeeed the police or need

the policice because a system of inequality requires that violent enforcer when their uprisings, as we have seen the pololice and thee suppression of these uprisings in the past few weeks. the call f for defining the pole really is sosort of the first thing. it is one of the first demandsd. it goes along with decrimiminalization. it goes along with the building of new institutions ththat are --ually community organizers safety measures, getting rid of s, egging amacist shot at the heart of what that means and how that is undergirding every institution in the united states. defining the police is one step toward that. it is a crucial step because it gets people to understand they prioritize the police in ways that are unhealthy for so many of us, that are dangerous, that threaten our l lives. amy: let me ask about campaign

zero, efforts at reform. they releleased an eight can't wait with eight reforms they say would reduce police killings by almost three quarters. abolitionists are responding with an eight to abolition platform. explain all of that. >> in the midst of this campaign zero, which i is an organization of swords that came out off the ferguson uprisings and has been at the forefront of activists around police violence, delivered stats on policing and police violence and use of force been crucial and uncovering things about police union contracts. and those things are essential, but their program the eight can't wait, the policy reforms that they issued and came along with this nice graphic on social are milquetoast

reforms. what they do i is sort of change the rules of engagement for police. they say, you have to issue a warning before shooting or you can't use chokeholds or youu can't shshoot at a movoving vehe and the sorts of things. while those things could do something in terms of the , byction of police violence campaign zeros on admission on their website, 72% number, the reduction of police violence by 72% would only happen if you go from having zero of thesese reformrms to having all ate at e time. then you would reduce police violence by 72%. already across the country, a number of police departments have these reforms in place. what that means, though, you're not getting out what the actual issue is and the broader issue of policing as a structure. being meant to and always having

been in its historical roots a measure of suppression, a measure of violent law enforcement of white supremacy and capitalism. abolition response, which has been led by black abolitionist, is to say these are actual forms that are also actionable items that you can do that strike at the heart of policing. it reduces points of contact with police so we don't have -- we remove police from schools. we are decriminalizing so we have fewer interactions with policecesetting up communityty-d conflict resolution so people don't call the police for t the minor conflicts like noise complaints or parking violations and stuff like that that could were talking towe one another. these are things that are actionable right n now and that you can do t to divest from the idea of policing, car's role

logic that is steeped into all of our thinking that the police are somehow a necessity and safety when theyave provenen over and over they are not. amy: in a moment we will be speaking w with alex vitale, bui want to ask you, linda, about the 35-year-old african-american man in jamel floloyd, another m. floyoyd, who died afafter being pepper sprayeded by guards insie the metropolitan detention center. floyd had been held at the brooklyn jail since 2019. october his family says he was asthmatic. on thursday, protesters gathered outside the metropolitan detention center to demamand justice for floyd. inside, inmates knocked on their walls in solidarity with the protestersrs. this floyd's father, jajas floyd, speaking g at the protes. >> theyy claim he had a heart atattack. they lieied. they a all live. the truth will come e out. amy: can you tell us, linda, you have been marching from minneapolis to louisville, now here in new york.

you have been involved with this -- protesting this case. we just have 30 seconds, but if you can tell us what happened to jamel floyd. >> i have been in t touch with e family, working w with them. this is a 35 euro man was about to be released frorom prison vey soonon. he was pepper sprayed in his cell where he was not a t threat to any otherer inmate. we are oututraged. thatt people to remember also incarcerated black lives matter. that means that t we fight also the systems of i incarceration that also kill our brothers and sisters inside. this case is ongoing. we are demanding investigations and demanding the firing of the corrections officers who pepper spray mr. floyd. he left behind a wife, mother, father, siblings, a 14-year-old daughter who i is about to celebrate her 14th b birthday wh her father upon his release. it is very sad case i never

should've hapappened. we need new york city to focused on onlyy on george floloyd, but also justice for jamel floyd. amy: thank you for being with us, linda sarsour, cofounder of until freedom. ofhal denzel smith, author "invisible man, got the whwhole world watching: a young black man's education." we will be back in 30 seconds. ♪ [ [music eak]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. this weekend activists i in washington, d.c., updated aa massive mural unveiled last week by mayor muriel bowser on a two-block stretch of road that leads to the white house. what she had printed in enormous block letters that can be seen from space, "black lives matter" and they put right next to it "defund the police come to referring to the whole movement now. we're goingng to turn right nowo alalex vitale, , who has long ad the answer to police v violences not reform. it's defunding. he is a sociology professor at brooklyn college, coordinator of the policing and social justice program author of the book, "the , end of policing." can you talk about the defund the police movement in terms of the end of popolicing?? what exactly you mean, professor? clcle sure. part o what w'reealilingith

here is a longtotory a abouthehe us ofolice e d p psons to mana pblems ofnequalit and expitatioio. and is goes ck -- this is a sty thatatoes back hundreds off yeyears. but we'' also talkingg abobout a story of the last 50 years about neoliberal ausrity andnd the way in which it is concncentrated inequali in the uniteded stes, producucing oblelems l like mass homelessnessndnd masuntrtreated illness and mass involvement in black markets because of economic per carry. to managesing police those problems. we have seen this incredible explosion of the scope of policing. with the defund movement is talking about and all of your guests have been amazing in their discussions of this, is about rethinking not just what our police are doing but why are we using police to paper over

problems of economic exploitation? whiche defund movement, was occurring in dozens of cities before the events in minneapolis is about concretely identifying police spending that could be shiftfted into specific targeted commumunity intervevens ththat will acactually produce ,ublic safety without coercion violence, and racism. amy: can you respond to whatat s happening in new york, the pressure that de blasio has been feeling from community groups talking about cutting some of the budget of the police? and d then this historic momentn minneapolis for r the city counl veto-o-eek have a majority to dismantltle the pole depapartment? >> i think we're dealingitith an economic -- i'm sorry, political earth wake. ththe things that seem cplpletey possible t to ask ago are now being imimplemented. while i agree with linda we cannot trench the mamayor -- t t

the mamayor at all in n this, we need to kekeep the pressure on e city council to fofollow throuoh withth these cut and to makeke t just t the cuts, but the reinvestments, that communities have been egging for, at a significant level. the mayor has nonot been our partrtner t this endeavavor he h has undermimined irreveren. he h i increased the police budget consistently during his mayor reality including adding 1300 adddditional police to the headcount seseveral years ago. we have to keep the political pressure on. amy: the role of picice unions, alex? ellisonu heard from mr. lay y out exaxactly what we're p against. it is not just the unions. it iss not jusust the rank-and-e memberships.s. theyey have become in mamany cis the lowest institutional hub for a whole set of right thin blue line politics that believe that policing is not only effective, but the most dedesirable way to

solve our problems. and embedded in this is a deep racism that says that certain population can only be managed through constant thrhreats and coercion. it is the logic of slavery. it is the logic of colonialism. and we have to take concrete steps to dismantle their political power. and one of the most exciting things we have seen this week was in new york, this effort to give politicians to reject those political donations and turn them over to bill funds and mutual aid projects. amy: alex vitale,, thank you for being with us sociology sociology professor and , coordinator of the policing and social justice project at brooklyn college. we end today's show with voices from the streets of new york city as hundreds of thousands are in the country are being heard. these are some of them. -- i havekids stoptwo

two kids. i'm here so my son never has to do this march. when we are we have two different conversations. one for my son to save his life and be safe, the other conversation with my white son, to protect his brother when he gets older and do better for all the black children in this world. i am here today for my son so he never has to march ever again. sometimes what happens is we lose sight on what we are all fighting for. we can get distracted. i want people to remember breonna taylor. she is not forgotten. she is why i am here. we are fighting for her. i can't lie you with this march means to me today. -- i can't tell you what this march means to me today. >> i am out here because, one, i'm a woman of color, a mother of two boys and two girls. we have had enough.

this is the time. the time is now. that is why i am out here. >> breonna taylor! >> again, a woman of color who was unjustly gunned down in her home. we know it is because of the color of her skin. with these cuffs, it is always shoot and ask questions last. if you're white, they ask questions before they do anything else. our organization is activate your life. we make sure that black people as whitejust as justly people are. it is important not only to walk for my boys but for the women i believe in. i can say honestly even my own son was accused of something he did not do. what is being done is an extreme global world changer. i am honored to be a part of it.

it is about time we made global change. justice, no peace1 no racist police! >> said no justice1 but im from mississippi went to school here. i am here because i am affected. despite my education, despite what i've done, i am just as afraid when police are behind me. i don't have a family yet but i hope to. i am out here hoping to get more justice for my kids and my friends kids and everybody after me. what else can we say? , he makes surety to say racist happen. we compare the riots 10 rows in

the last few weeks that he said about thugs and when the looting starts, shooting starts. -- whenrlotte heaven, sai charlotte happened, he said good people on both sides. march 20 8, 2015, police were called to a domestic dispute. 20 seconds after arriving, police officer fired and killed her. she was only 28 years old. the same police officer was just involved in a shooting one year prior. that person did not die, but people knew there was a problem. just like many other stories, nothing came of it. very little justice at all. and people don't even know her name. so along with breonna taylor and george floyd and eric garner and tamir rice and everybody else, megan hockaday deserves justice, too.

off at the sidewalks and into the streets! >> linda sarsour come in brooklyn activist, cofounder of until freedom, i am here organizing like we have been doing for the last many decades here in new york city. we're literally watching history unfold before our eyes. as an organizer, it is different. i feel different. this is a moment where people have said enough is enough and they mean at this time. >> no justice! >> no peace! no peaeace1 amy: special thanknks to john hamilton and iara fraga. that does it for our show. democracy now! is working with as few people onsite as possibible. the majority of our amazing team is working from home.

if you want to sign up for our daily digest, go to democracynow.org. 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!]

hello glad to have you with us on nhk newsline. hanging up we begin with developing news from north korea. the country says it will shut down hotlines with south korea from noon on tuesday. pyongyang says the move is the first step in cutting all contact meansns with