06/10/20 06/10/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amamy: from new york c city, the epicenenter of thehe pandemimice unitited states, this is democry now! >> hello, my name is brooke williams. george floyd's niece. and i can breathe. as long as i can breathe, justice will be served. amy: as protests against police brutality and racism continue acss the country, ororge fyd is laid rest in houston. we will hear excpts from his neneral. ththene speak harvard

professor khalil gibran muhammad, author of "the condnation of blackness: race, crime, and the making of modern urban america." americaca,ts s across hundre o of thousandnds of protesters right n now are showg us exaxactly what tranormation lolooks like.e. the hasn'n't been a moment since the 1960''s, and m maybe evegoig back to the e early 20th c ctur, whwhen we saw lalabor upheals ad a fundamamental challelenge to cacapitalism that t creates thed of opportunity we want right n to see real and lasting change in this country. amy: and we look at the story of martin gugino, the 75-year-old buffalo peace activist who remains hospitalized after being pushed to the ground by a police -- two buffalo police officers. on tuesday, president trump attacked martin on twitter claiming he staged his fall and was an antifa provocateur. we will speak with a member of the peace poets who protested

alongside martin gugino for over a decade with the group witness against torture. all that and more, coming up. welcomome to democracy nowow!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy gogoodman. after weeks of protests over the death of g george floyd, who did after a minneapolis police officer killed him by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes, his family and friends gathered in houston tuesday for a private funeral delay george oyoyd to rest anand to call for changege. this is george floyd's niece, brooke williams, speaking at the funeral. >> these laws need to be changed. no more hate crimes, please. said, make america great again. but when hasas america ever been great?

does four officers were kneeling on him for nine minutes. they didn't show they have a heart or soul. this is not just murder, but he crime. i share happy memories with my uncle. that is all i have, memories. amy: after the funeral, george floyd's golden coffin was driven to a cemetery to be buried beside his mother. thousands lined the streets as his motorcade passed. the last mile, his coffin was carried in horse-drawn carriage. after headlines, we'll air excerpts from george floyd's funeral service, including remarks by his brother philonise, who is testifyiying before the before the house judiciary cocommittee today. coronavivirus cases are continug to soar across the united states as the death toll tops 112,000. "thehe washington post" reportrs covid-19 hospipitalizations are

increasing in at least nine states following the reopening of businesses. texaxas, north andnd south caro, california, oregon, arkansas, mimississippi, utah, and arizoza are all l seeing a sururge in patientsts needing mededical tention. texas has seen two consecutive days of reco c coronavirus hospitalizationsns. onon tuesday, ththe nation's top infefectious diseaease doctor, . anthony faucucher, desibed corovirus as his " "worst nightmare"nd saiaid e pandndem is notot close to over yet. the institute for health metrics and evevaluation is now projectg the u.s. death toll will reach 145,000 0 by earlyly august. voters headed to the polls in five states tuesday. in georgia, some voters had to wait in line for as long as five hours inin the heat and rainin e to w widespread problems with nw electronic voting machines and a shshortage of trained poll workers. georgia's republican secretary of state has launched a probe.

former gubernatorial candidate stacey abrams said -- "it's a disaster that was imminently preventable. we found ourselves in the mix of both incompetence and malfeasance." "the new york times" has published drone footage showing hundreds of people waiting in line a at one sitete. the e lines werere so l long, js extended voting hours at polls in at least 20 counties, including in areas with large african american communities. reporters from the "atlanta journal constitution" posted videos of voters complaining about the long lines. this is 80-year-old anita heard. >> in the united states of america, it's time people can vote, people are killing each other -- i don't have to like you, but i respect you. what is going on? and now we get here [indiscernible]

waiting since 6:00 this morning. six of what. if youou go around this buildin, you will see people waiting in line. this is unfair. amy: dekalb county commissioner mereda davis johnson said -- "if this is a preview of november, then we're in trouble." georgia has closed over 200 polling places since the supreme court gutted the voting rights act in 2013. results from the georgia election won't be finalized for days. leading but there stilill may be a runoff to see o will challenge republican senator david perdue in november. in other election news, republican senator lindsey graham survived a challenge from three fellow republicans in south carolina. he wilill face democrat jaime harrison in nonovember. prprotests agagainst racism anad police brutality continue to rock cities and towns across the united states and around the world. in richmond, virginia, protesters toppled a statue of

christopher columbus on tuesday evening. they set it on fire before throwing it in a nearby lake. in antwerp, belgium, city officials removed a statue of kiking leopold the second on tuesdaday, just daysys after prototesters set i it on fire. frfrom 1885 to 1 1908, leopoldld declared himself aololute rur of congo, , leading a cacampaigf torture and genocide that killed an estimated 10 millllion peopl. in england, authorities ha removed a atueue of 18thenentury scottish lord robert milligan from outside the museum of london docklands after protesters covered it in a tarp and a black lives matter sign. milligan enslaved over 500 people on his family's sugar plantations in jamaica. the statue's removal was welcomed by city councilor amina alali. >> i it is a victotory. for the ancestors and the peoples whose lives have been affecteded by slavery,y, this ia victory today. it is vevery symbolic. i am glad it happened in my lifetime. amy: in washington state,

hundreds of black lives matter protesters took over seattle city hall tuesday evening demanding the defunding of the seattle police department and the resignation of mayor jenny durkan. police did not try to stop the protesters as they marched downtown, unlike on previous nights when officers unloaded with a barrage of so-called less lethal firepower. on monday, seattle city councilmember teresa mosqueda condemned the mayor's militarizezed response too protests. >> how many people need to write inin about beingng gassed in thr own hohomes? how manyny people have t to be sprayed in thehe street every night or experieience getting ht with flash bombs or r rubber bullets? how w ny people e have to call r the police to be defundeded for you to cononsider resigning or r the mayor to embrace radical change? amy: here in new york, state lawmakers have voted to ban the use of police chokeheholds and o repepeal a controversial l lawnn as 50-a that shields t disciplinary r records of police officers fm the public. the vote came deite heavy

lobbying from police unions to kekeep officerers' records secr. in phohoenix, arizona, hundredsf protesesters have taken n to the streets demanding justice for 28-year-old dion johnson, who was killed by a police officer on the same day george floyd was killed. on may 25, johnson was allegedly sleeping in his car on the side of a north phoenix highway when a department of public safety trooper shot him, alleging he feared he would be pushed into oncoming traffic. johnson's family is demanding the release of the name of the trooper, the official report of the incident, and any video footage that may exist. the trooper reportedly was not wearing a body camera, did not have a dashboard camera, and there were no known witnesses. johnson's family has called on the u.s. justice department to investigate and for the trooper to be arrested and charged. in minneapolis, police have admitted officers slashed the tires of unoccupied vehicles parked near recent protests over the killing of george floyd after "mother jones" published photos and videos of several

incidents. a department of public safety spokesperson on tuesday said state troopers had "strategically deflated tires." in other news from minneapolis, the tv station fox9 is reporting federal and state prosecutors were negotiating a possible plea deal with former officer derek chauvin just days after he killed george floyd. the negotiations fell apart on may 28. the following day, chauvin was charged and arrested. a warning to o our viewers, this next story contains graphic images of f police v violence. in austin, texas, black lives matterer activists are demanding the arrest of officers who sent two young people to the hospital with head trauma at recent protests. on may 31, police shotot 20-year-old texas state university student justin howell in the head with a lead-pellet bag fired by an officer's shotgun. after he fell unconscious to the pavement, he was picked up by fellow protesters who tried to rush him past a police line for medical attention. the police then opened fire with another barrage. powell was hospitalized in critical condition with a

fractured skull and brain damage. a day earlier, another austin officer shot 16-year-old brad levi ayala in the head with a bean bag round as the teen stood passively on a hillside near a line of riot police. ayala's family says he is undergoing neurological testing at an austin hospital and faces a long road to recovery. in san jose, california, police shot their own anti-bias trainer in the groin, rupturing his testicle with a rubber coated bullet, as he tried to deescalate tension between police and protesters at, 29 rally. doctors say 27-year-old derrick sanderlin, who is african american, may never be able to father children. in los angeles, police officer frank hernandez was arrested tuesday onon felony assaultt charges. video shot in april showed him brutally beating richard castillo, an unhoused man who'd been squatting in a boyle heigs proper amid the coronavirulolockdo.

here inenew yo, new w rk lice officer vincece d'andraia has be c charg witith sault,t, criminal mischf,f, harsment, and d mecing a aer video showed him violently shoving a acaceful protester tohehe grod asas he shoutean expleveve and misogyststic sr. 20-yr-r-old unyaya zer suffer a a seire a andas hospitalized wh h concusonon ter the y 2929 aack. prident trp has twted an atck on a ngtime pce tivist w was asslted by ffalo poce offics at a ack livematter ptest las we. in video of the assault which has been viewed by millions, two buffalo police officers are seen violently shoving 75-year-old martin gugino to the ground. dozens of officers walk by as blood pours from gugino's head. on tuesday morning, as gugino lay in a hospital recovering from head trauma, president

trump amplified a conspiracy theory pushed by right-wing news outlet one america news, tweeting -- "buffalo protester shoved by police could be an antifa provocateur. 75-year-old martin gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. i watched, he fell harder than was pushed. was aiming scanner. could be a set up?" we will speak with one of martin gugino's clolose friends and fellow a activist later in the brbroadcast. in russia, moscow's mayor has eased coronavirus restrictions even as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the russian capital. the easing of the lockdown comes ahead of a nationwide vote that could extend president vladimir putin's rule. moscow continues to report over 1000 new covid-19 cases daily, while russia as a whole is nearing a half-millionon infections. russia has reported over 6300 coronavirus deaths.

in brazil, a supupreme court jue on tuesday ordered the government of far-right president jair bolsonaro to immediately begin releasing updated coronavirus statistics -- just days after the country stopped publishing new reported cocovid-19 deaths and infection. brazil currently has the world's second highest rate of coronavirus cases, nearing 740,000, and has more daily deaths than any other country in the world. officially, over 38,000 people in brazil have died of covid-19, though that number is likely a significant under-count. the world health organization has walked back a top official's claim that asymptomatic people rarely spread coronavirus to others. the who's confused messaging on the topic drew criticism from public health officials. the harvard global health institute said -- "in fact, some evidence suggests people may be most infectious in the days before they become

symptomatic -- that is, in the pre-symptomatic phase when they feel well, have no symptoms, but may be shedding substantial amounts of virus." meanwhile, two new papers published in the journal "nature" find coronavirus lockdowns saved millions of lives and averted tetens of millions of infections worlrldwide. uc-berkeley researcher soloman hsiang co-auauthored one of the reportrts. >> never in human history have so many y people arounund the wd come togetheher, coordinateded r action, and worked to save e so many lives in such a short period of time. amy: in n rundi, president pierre nkuruiziza has ed ---- was pronoununced dead of aa reported h heart attack.k. many are s speculang h his dth may have been due to cov-1-19 complications after e long-sviving predentnt felill overhe weeeeke. ththe president t had refused do impose c coronavirus r restrict, alallowing sporting evenents and massss political r rallies to te place duduring thehe pandemic.

in environmental news, preresidt trump friday gutted protections for the country's only maritime monument in the atlantic ocean, by opening up the northeast canyons and seamounts marine national monument to commercial fishing. gib brogan from the advocacy group oceana said -- "protecting deep-sea waters is a win-win for both fishermen and healthy oceans, as healthy oceans from the seafloor to the surface will help sustain robust fisheries for years to come," he said. legal challelenges are expected. in climamate news, tememperaturn parts of the arcrctic circle inn northernrn russia have topped 86 degrees fahrenenheit this month, continuing a rececord-breaking heat wave that b begann may. climate datata show last mon w s the planet's warmest may ever recordeded, eping 2020 on papace to becomomthe hottest t year sie rereco-keeping began. the e 10 hottest yearsrs on recd have all come sincnce 2005. after r 33 years, the reality tv

show "cops" " has been canceled. you gonna do"t >> keep your hands on the car. amy: in 2013, the group color of change launched a campaign to saying it show, "built a profit model around distorted and dehumanizing portrayals of black americans and the criminal justice system." and ththose are some of thee headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. i'm tryiying by my cohost juan gonzalez in his home in new brunswicick, new jererse juan: welcome to all of our listeners and d viewers from araround the couryry and aroundd the woworld. amy: after weeks of protests over the police killing of george floyd, his family and friends gathered tuesday in houston, the city where he w was raised, for a private funeral, to lay him to rest and to call for change.

this comes after a public viewing on monday when more than 6000 people paid their resespec. afafter the e funeral, floydyd's golden coffin wawas driven to a cemeteryry to be bururied besids mother. houstonians lined the streets as his motorcade passed. a horse-drawn carriage carried his coffin for the last mile of the procession. this is george floyd's niece, brooke williams, speaking g at e funeral. >> hello. my name is brooke williams, george floyd's niece. and i can't breathe. as long as i am breathing, justice will be served. first of all, i want to thank all of you for comining out to serve or -- to support. brother,father, uncle, activist. he moved people with his words. showed no remorsewatching

my uncle's soul leave his body. you just push harder. why must the system be corrupt and broken? someone said make america great again but when has america ever been great? were kneelingcers on him for nine mininutes and ne of them show they have a heart or soul. this is not just murder, but hate crime. i'm sure happy memories of my uncle. that is all i have, memories. i still can't myself together and how he was probably my grandma's name. i believe my grandmother was right there with open arms saying, come home, baby. you should not feel this pain. the old way wasn't working, it is on us to do what we have to do to survive. amererica, it is time for chang. even if it shall begin with more protest.

no justice, no peace. amy: that's george floyd's niece, brooke williams. this is his brother, philonise floyd, who is set to testify before congress today on p polie accoununtability. >> wake up to thehe middle of te night thinking about my brother a lot becausese i could notot believe it a atirst. but i see it now. all i thinink about is whenen hs yeyelling for mama. i know she is right ththere. she gogot her hands wide open, "come here, baby." every y mom about that. i want justice for my brother. my big brother post of everybody going to remember him around the world. .e's going to change the world amy: that is philonise floyd. democratic presidential candidate joe biden also spoke at the funeral in a recorded vivideo after r visiting f flo' family omomonday he ban b by addressising george

floyd'd's six-year-old daughter gianna. mr. biden: i know you have a lot of questions, honey. no child should have to a ask those questions that you need like children have had ask for generations, why? where his daddy gone? looking through your eyes, we should also be asking ourselves, why the answer is so often to cruel and too painful. why in this nation, too many black americans wake up knowing they could lose their life in the course of just living their life? why does justice not role like a river? why? ladies and gentlemen, can't turn away most of we must not turn away. we cannot leave this moment thinking we can once again turn away from racism that stings at our very s soul. systemic abu still pgues

erican life. amy: ding the neral, decratic hston conessman al greenalled onawmakerso support thjustice p policg act,ntntrodud momondayy the chr of theongressional black caucus, which would make it illegal for law enforcement to put a foot on someonone's neck. this is congressman grgreen. >> this country has not reconciled these differences with us. we survived slavery but we did not reconciled. we survived the second gratian, but we did not reconcileled. -- segregation, but we did not reconciled. it is time for the departmtmentf reconciliation in the highest landnd, the highesest office, te to have someone w w is going to make it hihis or her business to seek receconciliationn for black people in ththe united statatesf amamerica every day of his life. that is what t is is all l abou. is time f us to reconcile. we need a department of reconciliation. amy: as mourners at george floyd's funeral recalled how he made a difference, houston mayor sylvester turner used his

address at the funeral to announce he would be signing a new executive order. >> what that order will say is ban in this city, we will chokeholds and stranglehold. requireity, we will de-escalation. in the city, you have to give a warning before you shoot. in this city, you have a duty to intervene. in the city, we will require comprehensive reporting. in this city, you must exhauaust alall for shooting. amy: that's houston mayor sylvester tuturner speaking tuesday at george e floyd's funeral. when we come back, we look at the last two weeks have protests in the racacist history off policicing with h the scholar kl gibran muhmad.d. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: dray y tate sings "a change is gonna come" on tuesday at the funeral for george floyd in housuston, texas. behind him, an artist paints a photo of george floyd. this is democracy now!, demomocracynowow.org, the quarae report. i'm amy goodman. it's been more than two weeks since the police killing of georgege floyd in minnnneapolis sparked a global uprising in defense of black lives. the e protesests seen in major cities and small towns across the u.s. show no sign of abatining. as calalls to defund thehe polie grow, prototesters a are beginng to see results. last weeeekend, the majority of minneapolis city council pledged

to abolish the police department. in new yorork, state lawawmakers have voted to ban the use of chchokeholds a and repeal a lawt shields the disciplinary records of police ofofficers f from the public. in los angeles, mayor eric garcetti pledged to cut police funding by $150 million. residents are now demanding he go much further. well, for more, on the significance of this moment and the historory of pololicing in america frfr slave patatrols to present day, we're joined by khalil gibran muhammad. professor of history, race and public policy at the harvard kennedy school and the former director of the schomburg center for research in black culture. he is the author of "the condemnation of blackness: race, crime and the making of modern urban america." professor, it is great to have you with us. if you could talk about this moment in time, both the uprisings, not only in this country but around the woworld, and also the history of policing that you so profououndly docume? me onnk you, for having

the e show. you have n not seen a momoment e this in at leastst half f a cen, boboth here in thehe unit is rad with protesters tataking to the streets to dememand once and for all not just p police reform and accountabilityty, but the prospt of a new vision of a relationship between state authorities in the health of the community and the health of the community depends on everything from the public goods and social services that people need but alalso safety. safefety can comome in many for. as far as what we are saying, we are seeing a moment that is akin to the challenge thahat rocks te world in 1968 with global anticapitalist and ananti-imperiall and anticolonil organizing that took place both in the global south and in many of t the metropole's of the glol north. it is hard to know for sure where we are going to go from this moment, but it is clear when we look at the history of policing, we have run out of

options in termsms of r reform,n terms of thinking about with the police could d do for themselvl. i liken this to asking the police agencies of this country to reform themselves as ridiculous as asking the fossil fuel industry to solve our climate change crisis. book,professor, in your you tatalk about the 400 years f legacy of the development off these methods of pololicing, gog the to the slavave patrols in mid-19th centutury. i am wondering if f you could te our listeners s and viewers some of -- througugsome of thatat hihistory? >> absololutely. understand asvely

a system of violence and conontl slaveryan beings, slighghtl require the use of v violence to control people.. for r the entire pereriod goingk toto the mid 1600s i into the ey 1700s, colony afteter colony frm nenew york and massasachusettsto south carolina and virginia, passed a series of black codes or need go acts, various laws that were e designed to emempowr everyday white citizens wiwith e responsibilility -- let me be clear, that t duty to serve ann officialal capacity to surveill, monitor, to track, and when caught, to distance corporal pupunishment againinst enslaved african people in the cololony. accuracye largest your dedicated to a form of policing that we recognize today. it was everywhere in the colony. at the time the nation was born in 1790, while there were graduall abolition laws that tok root in many northern cololonie, the anantebellum experiencee of free blackss was little different. whatat went from a s slave patrl became the responsibility of a

growing cohort of modern police officers. in this problem from slavery to freedom simply changed uniform and changed the instrtruments ad tools of keeping track of people of african dissent. it expanded in the united states of america. but there's another part of this history that i thinknk is portlandnd, and that is that policing in their broadest wass always about policing thehe essential l workers of society. ththis is true all ovever the g. what do i mean? meaning the people who are the bottom of society, their freedom has always been constrained by privileged and more elite and in this country, , whites. whites range in clclass. bothf the ironies is thatt poor whites in many partsts of e country were e policed, especiay when they challenged political authority, when they challenged economic equality. but at the same time, they were able to join police forceces by

the 1840's and 1850's. withth the irish-americans beginnnning to both make e theiy into america but also begin to join the p police force. --yey direct reflection of a class hierararcy and also a way of adding power to groups that feel like they don't t have access to the top f the american economy. so policing is a reflection of a trememendous disorder in our economic system.m. it is a rereflection of racial hihierarchy that is deeplyy enentrenched in ouour society. when we see a police or unionn leaders s represented by working-clclass white men, paray they h have been empowered to define the profession as their own. not as a reflection of the democratic norms and universal ideas, but the reflection.

for me to talk about the history of policing is also to talk about the history of white supremacy and racial capitalism in the united states of america. this does not only affect, although it has largely affffecd the african-american community, but it has also -- this method of using law enforcement and policing as a method of domination has also been used with other people of color, specififically mexicans, puerto ricans, native americans. in 1862, president lincoln ordered the hanging of 38 dakota warriors who had gone to war against the u.s. in the midst of the civil war. they were hanged as criminals, as murderers, not as enemy cocombatants. i'm thinking of the texas rangers who were largely created to control and dominate mexicans who were called bandits because they were defending their lands. , thewith puerto ricans

freedom fighters were branded as criminals and dealt with as criminals within the justice system. i am wondering t this whole isse of the territorial expansion of the country, necessitating even on thesece repression populations of color -- your sensnse of it and your historicl ststudies? examplele --ary is an of those e examples are impopor. to takake it back to the beginning,g, my colleague w whos written abobout u.s. boborder pl and itits origin inin pololicine movementnt of mexicans coming to the country because the countryy wanted them hehere to worork. she also describeded the infrastrucucture off a american

colonial settlement, the very basis upon which the country literally expanded, issues like say, the territorial expansion was the jail. she goes back to the very beginning in the 1700s to what is now the city of los angeles, which used to be the congo basin, which used to be populated by indigenous populations. she said it was precisely the introduction of the physical jail as the instrument of controrol and dominatition. at a a domination that was alwas rooted in harnessing the labobor power r people, n not to exterminate or to exclude them altogetherer but to ensurure tht their labobor would be extracted for the purposes of work and then everything else will be controlled. that their freedom would be constrained. and that story is the story of every group in every part of the coununtry whosese labor p powers the most importatant contrtribun that they would make. there are several liberties, humanity itself was o optional. was secondary. the right to political dissesent

was secondary.y. you can look at chihinese immigrants in san francisco in the 1880's s and see the same story. you u can look i in chicago in e midst of the labor upheavavals f ththe 1890's, foreign-born immimigrant whites dememanding r achihievement in the workplace, and see the samame storory. you can look at texas and s see the story of the texas rangers, which enforced liberal white andererty theft of tejano mexican dissident landowners, people who not only once beforoe the mexican revolution and thee annetition of mexico by the u.s. in 1848, b but people who were law-abiding, resespectable cititizens in their cocommuniti. they showed up andndssentiallyly accuse them of all crimes, criminalized them, and texas rangers enforce that. across time, across states, cross groups, policing has tortured history of being in forces andnd various forms of domination.

amy: this is so interesting acause you, before you were harvard professor, were the head of the schomburg center for research and black culture, which was established by schomburg who was an african-american puerto rican, bringing together all of these .ifferent cultures i'm wondering if you now can go back, as you have, talking about the history of police repression, and talklk about the history ofof the resistatance t? >> yes. the resistance is fascinating. was an slslave patrol individual or group of individuals who sought to subvert the system. the most famous of those w who fight agagainst it was h harriet tubman. while often we think of her as a kind of character person n who stands outside of history, she embodied the earliest t forms of resistance to the system itself but also to c challenenging they

violent instrurument and that system. we can look at the resistance of laborers who armed themselves to fight against private security and police offfficers at the gas of companies in various cities of massachusetts in the 1870's and still countrtry in the midwt and the rise of populist anticapitalist organizing c come of socialistst leaders in the tn of the 20th enentry. white workers anand black workes side-by-side and some cases fought togetether to change the variouous understanding of their rights as economic beings and citizens of this country. most certainly we can look at northehe cities as places where african-americans showed upp beginnnning in world w war i and completely transnsforming the work andding of citizenship in the station by virtue of f the great migration. and titime after time, instancne

afterr instance, african-americans demanded inequality att the wororkplace, demanded equality in t the home, and theyey fought against white police and white citizens in that effort.t. we saw c commissions beginning really in the 1890's around white policece agencies focusesn imimmigrants, that was on thee e thing occur in the great migration period b beginning in ancago o after resultss of anti-black riot in 1990. these commissions came to the same conclusion over and o over again. for over a century from chicago inin 2017 around laquan n mcdon, shooooting you have the arc of 0 years of hisistory saying the se story. whicich is that some precipitatg acts of violence by police officers is only the tipips of e iceberg o of a submerged story f in some cases thousands of people being subjected to various forms of everyday fofors of abuse and trarauma by the police. that resistance in the form of those commissisions is blalack s

speaking to theieir conditions. of c course the black frereedom movement gave us t the black panther party and other radical groups that essentially centered police brutality as the key dignityr securing black and citizenship in this country and other places was the they were subject to the full weight of the federal government and repressive tactics, including co intelpro and other mechanisms, including assassinations, for example, fred hampton in chicagago. amy: i want toto turn to william barrrr speaking sunday on n "cbs face the nation." he was asked if he believes there is systemic racism in law enforcement. this was his response. it is now playing, but let me ask you thihis, professor khalil gibran muhammad, you've talkedd about t the resiststance through history. hohow does -- it looks like we

have william barr. looks i t think there's racism n the united states still but i don't think the law enforcement system is systemically racist. i understand the distressesed, however, of the e africacan-amen community givethee history i in this country. i think we have to recognize for most of our history, our institutions were exexplicitly racist. wece the 1 1960's, i thihink have been in a phase of reforming our institutions and making sure they are in sync with our laws and are not fighting that rearguard action to o oppose inequities. amy: "i don't think the law enforcement system is systematicallyly racist." yourur response? morell, i was actctually impressed with s some of the concessions he made in that speech than this fine linene he draws betweween indndividual rit now w apple's and ththe systemem ititself. i would like your listenerers ad viviewers to thihink about it ts way. this would be the akin are nonot

built to dehumanize given everything w we know that goesen inside of them despite t the fat that people who show u up to w k every day arare not necessarily evil peopople. ththat is the proroblem we're hg around this s conversation arord popolicing. policing as a system has beeeena system of control that sorts people and decides who gets to liveve and who gets to die with even the mere accusation of crimininality. ththat is not true in white afflueuent communities.. it i is not trueue in communitis where politicacal elites are. we just saw a parade of criminality in thehe trump administration. all we kept hearing his federal prosecutors say, we're not sure we can win this case, wewe're nt sure we can bring this case. wewe did not see micichael, be subjecected to flash grenadesesa nee on his neck. there'e's a double standard of justice that police are enforcing white supremacy and

enforcing economic hierarchy. ununtil we come to terms with tt in the way we should be comingng to terms with what happens insiderr systems, we'reoioing to c connue totoee the restance, take to e street and demand ansformaon. a: i wanto ask you about rticularspect ofhe role the ess and eedia rrative the isss of polici and pice abus fo most othe couny's histor-- and 've de quite bit ostudy onhe pressn amica -the presfunction almost aan intelgence operion for e domant white commity. dung t coloniaperiod a muchs one thd of a of the contenof amerin newspers sntelligence to thwhite settlersbout whathe rican-amican or the native amican cmunitiesere doing. even up to the 1960's, the press were largely white and even the rebellions of the 1960's, the reporting from a white

perspective is the turner commission noted. but in recent years, as the press themselves have become diversified, we are seeing both in the mainstream m media -- and now with citizen videos -- this enormous change in the narrative as to what the role of the police is. i'm wondering if you think that along with the public resistance movement will have a more lasting effect in terms of redirecting or changing the nature of policing in america? >> that is a great queuestion. and certainly appciate eveven you sharining your own reseaearh i've media in ththpast. i think it is s important. the question is, can we see this moment for the democratitization of media itself? obviously, by virtue of social media a in effect that citizens can aggregate and s spread newsn ways they could d not befefore i do thinknk this is a fundamentay different momoment. the gatekeeping of information and distribution of knowledgdge

has broken down in many ways, both for good and bad. on the good side e of the ledge, there is no question that this is a a moment of possibility becacause there is a c crisis of legitimacy in our democratic institutioions. most obviously, in the executive branch with the white house. t it is soso tru that ns agencies around the cotrtry, no matter who is in charge, a black person or itite pron o or tino asianan american, have been deferential erer the past two offialal accounts.s. legitimacy for poli agegencs has s d many of those ne directors, noatatter who ey are, to begin to think alike we can' trust the official record. t the case of derek cuvuvin lllling georgrg floyd, he lied onhehe pole rereco. the differencehat has been assumed up to this time now is breaking down. the ability to shoot irereal time the killing and executi of peoe by police or the brutality dictcted b police e is the case buffalo and many

otr r plac as police use brutality to stop protesters fr p proteing g agnst brutality means this csisis of legitimacy will be resolve the only question of wh t the sosoluti looooksike is how longilill pple stay in the streetdemandinchange? amy:halil gian muhamd finally, defunthe poli. doou see a comparae moveme in htory? and d w this h chaed the narrate.e. >> defunthe police moment is an incredible adjustmenent to te issue of abolitionon that is activistsas been about ceding the notion that thesese institutions are finally broken. ururbanization''s critical resistance thahat began mamany decades ago hahave helped to develop the theory of chahange f which abolitioion in our prison system and our p police haveve n developed. takes the core idea of

ababolitiois as if w we were t startt over, w what would we dee police should be doing versus not be doing? nonow, i'm already taking the mimiddle position between the notion that we simply wipe out police altogether -- which is one percent of it. a as it is beingg articulated in places like minneaeapolis s is really a conversationon up, we're goioino start over.. we're goingng to start over by putting together a list from everythingng from nuisanance cas toto wellness checks to claiaimf violent crime. we're goioing to decide what the police o ought to be doing. once we see what is left over, then that is the percentage of the budget that t the new versin of police will keep. the rest will go to other public services. we can use violence interrupters, public health workers trained in the community by the community, for the community to deal with conflict resolution. this is how it works in nearly every other countntry where pole have not b been militarized and

given unlimited resources and power to police their own citizens as if they were soldiers in occupied territory. people resolve conflict sign side -- inside healthy functioning communities. so people in this country need the same training and resources to be able to do similar things. that is what defund is about. i will say one more thing about this. police unions are a problem. those on the left cannot be ambivalent about the need for opening up collective bargaining agreement where police unions are concerned because they are a major impediment to the reform and the defund or whateverer version ofof new policing is gog to emerge out of this moment. khalil gibran muhammad, thank you for being with us, professor of history, race and public policy at the harvard kennedy school, suzanne young murray professor at the radcliffe institute for advanced study, and author of "the condemnation of blackness: race, crime and the making of modern u urban amamerica." when we come back, we come back,

look at the story of martin gugino, the 75-year-old buffafao police activist who remains hospitalized after being pushed to the ground b by two buffalo popolice officers, now president trumump hass attacked him on twitter. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: houston's gospspel singer m burrell sisinging at georgrge floyd'd's funeral service in houstston tuesday. this is democrcracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan denzel's. juan gonzalez. on tuesday, president trump took to twitter to attack a longtime peace activist who buffalo police o officers assaulted at a protest last week against the police killing of george floyd. police officers assaulted him last week. in video recorded by a bystander that's now been viewed millions people, two police officers violently shove 75-year-old martin gugino to the ground and --ens of officers walk by

not one stopping to help him -- as blood seeps from his head onto the pavement. after widespread outrage, the two officers were charged with felony assault over the weekend, prompting 57 police officers from buffalo's emergency response team to quit the special unit in protest. martin gugino is well known in the community for his years of peaceful protest as a catholic worker and member of witness against torture -- a group that has long advocated for the closure of guantanamo bay. in his many years as an activist, gugino has demonstrated against climate inaction, racism and nuclear proliferation. on tuesday, president trump attacked martin gugino as he lay under the hospital. trump tweeted -- "buffalo protester shoved by police could be an antifa provocateur. 75-year-old martin gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment.

i watched, he fell harder than was pushed. was aiming scanner. could be a set up?" trump tagged one america news, a fringe right-wing media outlet that frequently amplifies conspiracy theories and has run multiple segments attacking gugino since video of his assault drew national ire. one republican senator after another was s asked to comment while mitt romney did saying it was ridiculous, other senators said we are weighing the information. for more, we're joined by someone who protesteted alongsie mamartin g gugino for over a a d lu aya is a part of the peace poets, andnd a member of wititns agagainst torture.e. he joioins us from oakland, california. lu aya, it is wonderful to have you with us. if you can talk to us about martin. activism, what it is about, how you know him, and

response to president trump's completely unfounded outright lying tweet. you.ank good too be with youou both. forememost is a and mostone of ththe kindestst, goodhearted people that i have been lucky to walk with. this morningng as he is still in the hospital, i just want to send him love and healing from here.. i wawas able to wowork with marn with witness againstst tortutur. every janunuary, we e go there o protest the cocontinued abuse of human rights in the prison inn guguantanamo and d demand justie for the people detainedd there. so working with h martin has always b been a joy.. it is grereat deal to tell peope that he is one of the amazing elders that has always led with

curiosity, creativity, and courage in our community of witness against torture. honest, amy, i appreciate your question, but it is hard to even justify a response to such a ridiculous tweet from president trump. i feel personally that t it is just say to, first, that martin is someone who eldersves, like all of our , much more respect and care. i want to notice what the president of the country did not say. he did not say t that it is important for the police e to respecect eldersrs, to treat pee wiwith dignity and care. the f face ofn having seeeen what happens to ts friend of mine who was pushed over -- when i heard hisis headd

hit the pavement, i jumped for the screen where i was watching. just so i coululd try to help pm ththe same way that t i felt lia lolot of us respond to o sing te images of violelence. i jujust want to pointnt out the absence of that, thehe absence f care andnd compassion for all or peoplele, especiaially for ouour elders. so for martitin, again, someone whoo always led with kindness, love, , and respect, it is realy painful to see that lack of care and d sethe opposite, the trying g toation,, and create a narrative in which he is the e enemy -- which is realy painful because i know he wass out thererand i wantnt to raisep martin. beehe said was he wanted to clear that his statement was black lives matter. you, likewant to ask

many of us, wee keep being astounded when we think this president has reached a new low, but he always manages to find an even deeper low to drop into.o. i wanted to ask you about some of the work that you did with witness against torture. what were someme of the activits you were involved in together and what drove h him to be involveded? that we so,o, the work would do is every january, we would go to d.c. for a week of fasting and action and prayer. an advocaca week in which we e spent all day everydy togegether thinking about the ws inin which we can creatively express our outrarage at the continued injustices perpetrated by our g government.

our time together was often spent in circles deciding how we best were going to do a creative action, then going o out into te streetets of d.c.c., to the supe court, t to the whitite house eo express to the government as well as to the people that the need for humuman rights in guantanamo and all militarary prisons, as well as present throughohout this country -- jon amy: i i want toto go to martinn his own words, martin gugino, recently submitted a statement to a judge overer the plolohars seven. he q quoted from martin luther king junior. >> it really starts with this .uote from mark luther king [indiscernible] that ite doesn't t say is doesesn't bend itselelf.

we have to g go out into the , morally,and act justly do good. and lilittle byy littltle, it wl bendhe culturere toward justice. and some of the time, the culture does not want to be bent. so there will be a conflict. and that is just part of it. martin lutherr king very well te possibilities. amy: after beingng assaulted by police, martin gugino, we just heard, is like in a hospital bed, brought in crcritical condition. i wanteded to give you a chahano sing the song that you wrote, lulu, to share it with us now. >> thank you so much. this s song really want to rarae up that ma d did a lotot to support that shiftingg of cultue and one of the ways s is by supporting my crew, the peace popoets. unfortunately, this song is still so relevant -- amy: we have less ththan a m mi.

>> thank you so much.. stillll hear b brother cruyg i can't breathe now i'm in this struggle singing i can't leave we a are calling outut the viole of thehese racisist policice stop until l our peoplele arereree gononna stountil ourr people are free e ♪ right nowow across the cocountri know i can hear my people rising up singing this s -- ♪ defund thehe police, give that money toto community do black people freree, we are risingng up in unity ♪ thank you foror having me. i hope people keep singing in the streets.

thank you for having me. amy: lu aya, thank you for being with us, member of peace poets, member of witness against torture and protested alongside martin gugino for over a decade. that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is looking for