09/24/20 09/24/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new yorkrk, this is democracy now! that feels like today black lives do not matter to our elected officials in louisville, kentucky, and apparently, in this country. amy: protests erupt across the country after no louisville police officers were charged for the death of breonna, who they shot dead in her own home. a grand jury indicted one officer for shooting into an

adjacent apartment during the fatal no knock raid. >> according to kentucky law, the use of force by mattingly and cosgrove was justified to protect themselves. this justification mars has from pursuing criminal charges in his breonna taylor's debt. amy: we will go to louisville for the latest. then we speak to jacob blake, sr. his son was paralyzed last month after police in kenosha, wisconsin, shot him in the back seven times in front of three of his children. -- they shotsons my son seven times. seven times. like he did not matter.. but my son matters. amy: all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now, democracynow.o.org, the quarante report.. i'm amy y goodman. in louisville, kentucky, a grand jury has declined to charge any of the three white police offificers who killed breonnnna taylor with her death, more than six months after they shot the 26-year-old black emergency room technician in her own home. the grand jury's only indictments were three counts of wanton endangerment against former louisville police detective brett hankison for aootingng into the apartment of neighbor during the deadly no-knock raid that ended her life. news of the grand jury's single indictment sparked immediate outrage in louisville where protesters began flooding the streets moments after the news broke. >> the fact that black lives do not matter to our electcted officials under louisville,

kentucky, anand apparentlyly ins countrtry. this has been an incredibly dramatic, difficult time for the community. amy: overnight, protesters took to the streets defying a 9:00 p.m. curfew. louisville's police chief said a suspect was in custody after two officers were shot and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. police fired chemical agents and projectiles throughout the night, arresting at least 46 people. elsewhere, protests erupted in cities from coast to coast. after headlines, we'll go to louisville for the latatest on breonna tataylor's killing. president donald t trump wednesy refused to commit to a peaeacefl transfer of power r after the election if he loses the vote to joe biden. trump p was asked abouout this during a white house press briefing. >> will you commit here today for a peaceful transferral of power after the election? pres. trump: we will have to see what happens.

i have been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are disaster. >> but people are rioting. do commit that there will be a peaceful -- pres. trump: get rid of the ballots and there will be a transfer, frankly, there will be a continuation. the ballots are out of control. no one knows better than anyone else, the democrats. amy: earlier this week, trump said he expects the november election to end up before the supreme court, saying that's why he's pushing the senate to rapidly confirm a replacement for justice ruth bader ginsburg, who died last week. meanwhile, the atlantic magazine has revealed republican party officials are looking at ways to subvert the election process to ensure trump stays in power. one option would be to have republican-led state legislatures claim the results of the election to be fraudulent and then choose a slate of republican electors to vote in the electoral college regardless of the outcome of the actual

vote. the united s states reportrted neararly 1 1100 deaths from cov9 and over 40,0,0 new coronavirus ininfections wedednesday. at the white house, presidident trumpp said hehe might overrrrue fofood and drug administration f it issue stricter guiuilines on ththe emergency use of a vaccin. public h health officials s ward umump's push to approve a vaccine before election day threatens to bring an unsafe and ununtested product to market. this comes as seen in reports white house tatask force coordinator dr. deborah birx's distress with the direction of trump's coronavirus policy and is not certain how much longer she can serve in her position. cnn reports she believes white house coronavirus advisor dr. scott atlas is feeding the president misleading information about the efficacy of face masks for controlling the spread of the virus. on capitol hill, top infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci

warned a senate committee that many of those who survive covid 19 suffer symptoms measured in weeks to months. myalgia,ave fatigue, fever, and involvement of the neurological system as well as cognitive abnormalities such as the inability to concentrate. amy: dr. fauci warned many patients who appeared to have recovered from covid-19 were found to have inflammation off the heart. >> these are the kinds of things that tell us we must be humble and that we do not completetely understand the nature of this illness. amy: missouri republican governor mike parson a and hisis wife said wednesday they've tested positive for coronavirus. throughout the pandemic, governor parson has opposed mask mandates and has frequently appeared at publicic gatherings without a mask -- most recently as last weekend. in july, parson dismissed concerns that reopening missouri schools would lead to a surge of covid-19 among students, their

family members, and school employees. >> got to get back to school. the lowest risk possible. and if they do get covid-19 -- they will and they will when they go to school, they're not going to the hospitals. they're not going to have to sit in doctors offices. they'rere goingng to go home ant over it. amy: the global death toll from covid-1919 has topped 975,000, according to governmenen statistics, thouough the true count is likely far higher. indonesia ported morore than 4400 new coronavirus cases wednesday, a daily record. india recorded more than a -- morore than deaths and over 1000 80,000 new cases, keeping india on track to pass the united states within weeks as the nation with the highest caseload. in canada, prime minister justin trudeau warned d wednesday of a new surge in coronavirus cases. in our four biggest provinces, the second wave isn't just starting, it is already

underway. we are on the brink of a fall thatat could be much worse than the spring. amy: france's health minister has ordered new restrictions on public gatherings amid a record surge in new cases, while spain is now seeing more daily cases than it did at the height of its first wave of the pandemic last spring. in climate news, a newew study n the journal "nature" finds melting of the antarctic ice sheet will cause global sea levels to rise by more than eight feet, even if nations meet their emissions reduction goals undeder the paris climate e acc. in california,a, governor gavin newsom on n wednesday signgned a bill to phphe out all gas-powered cars by 2035. meanwhile, a new oxfam report finds the wealthiest 1% of the world's population is responsible for emitting twice as much greenhouse gas as the poorest hahalf of humanity. brazil''s national center fofore prevention of forest fires reports over 7 million acres of the world's largest wetland have

burned in unprecedented fires exacerbated by the climate crisis. the pantanal fires have consumed 50% more land this year than have burned along the west coast of the united states. in california, the creek fire has become the largest single source fire in state history, burning nearly 300,000 acres in fresno and madera counties. five of california's six largest fires in recorded history are still raging, including the record shattering august complex fire, whihich is s now at 8 8600 acres with 40% containment. chinese authorities haveve continued to construct mass internment camps for muslilim minority groups even as china's government c claimed they were winding dodown their so-called reeducation system. that's according to a new report by an australian thi tank, citingng satellitete images shog the construction of dozens of new camps in xinjiang provovince over the past two years.

over 1 million ethnic uighurs and other muslim minorities are believed to be imprisoned in the camps, with countless children separated from their families. meanwhilile, reuters reports cha is pushing tibetan rural laborers off their land and into military-style training centers where they are turned into factory workers i in a program similar to xinjiang's internment camps.s. amnesty international is demandnding the united s states senate reject chad wolf to serve as secretary of homeland security, citing his involvement in president trump's family separations policy along the u.s.-mexico border and other human rights violations. on wednesday, wolf told a senate committee at his confirmation hearing he was unaware that his wife was awarded more than $6 million in contracts from the department of homeland security since 2018. wolf has served as acting secretary of the department since last november, though earlier this month a federal judge ruled he is likely serving

unlawfully in that capapacity. the trump administration has restored a wealth test rule for green card applicants after suspending thehe hard-line immigration policy during the pandemic. the so-called public charge rule allows immigration officials to deny permanent residency to documented, low-income immigrants who seek benefits, including medicaid, food stamps, and housing vouchers. presesident trump has expanded a ban on racial sesensitivity training to ininclude federal contraractors, not just federal employees.s. this comes as "the washington post" reports trump privately complained to senior aides that african-americans have themselves to blame another struggle for racial equality that he "could never understand" why first lady melania trump wanted to go to africa and that jews are "only in it for themselves." last friday, trump praised a

inrly all-white crowd which echoing eugenicists. pres. trump: you have good genes. you know that, right? a lot of it is about the genes. the resource theory, of good genes inn minnenesota. amy: t the executive director of jewish community action responded, from minnesota jews, it is chilling to hear this which rate goes -- echoes the nazis. "the g guardian" newspaper has revealed pro-trump right-wing activists in oregon plotted to violently attack protesters in portland and even discussed carrying out political assassinations. "the guardian" report is based on leaked chat logs of members of a group called patriots coalition. a member of the group also discussed using violent force in support of president trump. in august, one member wrote -- "i'm waiting for the

presidential go to start open firing." facebook, youtube, and zoom are .acing censorship zoom and facebook blocked organizers from using their platforms in advance after coming under pressure from groups, including the anti-defamation league and the lawfare project. the start of the seminar was livestreamed on youtube but then was abruptly stopped after 22 minutes. and the other tech news, environmental and indigenous activists recently had their facebook accounts temporarily suspended as they planned an online protest against private equity firm kkr, investor andnd the cocoastal gaslink pipeline n british columbia. and florida's republican attorney general has asked the fbi to investigate billionaire democratic donor mike bloomberg, the former may are -- mayor of

new york, after he donated $16 million to a fund helping people with past felony convictions to pay off fees and fines so they can regain their voting rights. the fund is run by the florida rights restoration coalition headed by desmond meade, a former prisoner who has become a leading voting rights activist. earlier this week, "time magazine" named meade one of the 100 most influential people in the united states. but on wednesday, he was dealt a setback after the state clemency board rejected a pardon for him. meade, who graduated from law school, needs a pardon in order to become a member of the florida bar. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. when we come back, we go to louisville, kentucky, where protests have erected after a grand jury failed to charge any of the three white police officers for the death of breonnnna tayloror. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "cry no more" by rhiannonon giddens.s. this is democracy now!, demomocracynow.org, the ququarae report. i'm amy goodman. i'm joined by my cohost nermeen shshaikh. nermeen: welcome to all of our listeners and viewers frfrom aroundnd the country and around the world. amy: a grand jury has failed to charge any of the three white louisville police officers who were involved in the killing of breoeonna taylylor with her dea, more than six months after they stormed the 26-year-old black woman's home in a no-knock raid and d fired a hail of bullets in the middle of the night, leaving her dead. the grand jury's only indictments were three counts of wanton endangerment against former louisville police detective brett hankison for shooting into the apartment of a

neighbor during the raid that ended taylor's life on march 13. the two officers who shot her six times were not charged after the grand jury deemed their actions justified. in all, the three officers fired 32 shots in the raid. this is kentucky's republican attorney general daniel cameron announcing the decision at a news conference on wednesday. >> after hearing the evidence from our team of prosecutors, the grand jury voted to return an indictment against detective hankinson for three counts of wanton endangerment for wantonly placing the three individuals in apartment three in danger of serious physical injury or death . the charge one endangerment in the first degree is a class d felony and if found guilty, the accused can serve up to five years for each count. amy: breonna taylor's family

responded to the grand jury's decision through their attorney benjamin crump, who called it "outrageous and offensive to breonna taylor's memory. it's yet another example of no accountability for the genocide of persons of color by white police officers. with all we know about breonna taylor's killing, how could a fair and just system result in today's decision?" crump said. soon after the decision came down, protesters flooded the streets in cities nationwide. in louisville, at least two police officers were shot before i 9:00 p.m. curfew. police say the shooting suspect is in custody. police fired chemical agents and projectiles at protesters throughout the night, arresting at least 46 people. this is one of the protesters in louisville. >> it feels like today that black lives do not matter to our elected d officials s in louisv,

in kentucky, and apparently in this country. this has been an incredibly traumatic, difficult time for the community. amy: news of the grand jury's decision comes after months of relentless protest demanding justice for breonna taylor amid an uprising for racial justice. but wednesday, trump praised how her case was handled. pres. trump: i thought it was really brilliant, kentucky attorney general cameron is doing a fantastic job. i think he is a star. he is handling it very well. you knowow who he is, right? amy: allll of this comes as an i investigatioion into the no-knok warrant the officers used to enter breoeonna taylor's home in march is ongoing. for more, we go to l louisville, kentucky, where we are joined by sadiqa reynolds, president and ceo of lououisville urban leagu. welcome back to democracy now! you are an attorney, an activist. he had been in the streets.

can youu respond to ththe grandd jury dececisio >> i think the lack of indictments in the grand jury process is an indictment on the system itself. some of what we heard the attorney general talk about presenting to the grand jury some things he t talked about being i inconclusive -- one example, we have allll heard and read t the deathth certificatett said she had b been shot five times. he indicated yesterday that it was six timemes. these are things that should hahave gone toto a jury. they have created a completely seseparate g grand jury system r polilice officers. processompare it t the that kenny walker went through, you will remember kenny walker was the boyfrienend of breonna d he was in the home at ththe time the police arrived. he e ended up firing at the officers a and hitting one o

themem his grandd jury procesess -- i mean, he was therere thos same fact pattern, everything they would have had to present as it relates to police they should've had to present as it related to kenny. kenny's grand jury process took less than three minutes. and for these officers two days of presenting -- and there's something else. we are saying now that the grand jury has said the officers behavior wasas justifiable, bute don't know if that is s what the grgrand jury said or if f that s what the attorney general decided and therefore did not even present to the grand jury. we don't know what he presentetd to the grand jurury. i think that is s really impornt for u us to talkk about. i think the other part of it is anybody practicing l law knows there is nothing easier than getting an indictmtment. there is nothing easier than getting an indictment. and so the fact they could not and did not get indictments, in

my view, is an indictment on this entire system. and it is the reason that people are protesting and raising t thr vovoices.. because e of this ininequity inr justicice system.. eneraln: the a attorney said the statates investigationn about the use of force by these police officers,s, that the e uf force because they have been fired upon first by breonna taylor''s husband kenneth w wal. not husband, her partner. your response to that, what the attorney general said? >> t the officers had the righto fire on the person who fired d n themem. that self-defense does not apppy to breononna. breonna hadad no weapon. breoeonna did not fire.e. again, we're changing the law in order to take care of police

officersrs. that is just not how that shshld be applied. there are so many things that are questitions of fact here foa jury to decide. when the a attorney y genera was addressing whehether or not hankison fireded a weapon ththat ndnded in breonna's body, he answered there was no conclusive evidence. well,, was there any evivince at all? ifif in fact there was, that is something that would be a question for a jury and not answered in a grand jury. when you heard him say there was one witness who indicated they did here the police announced -- hear the police announce themselves, and remember, this was a no-knock warrant and it was changed to an knock and announce, so the police officer was thing we did knock and announce. well, 12 people were interviewed and 11 of them said "we did not hear police announce." what you heard the attorney general say was there was one person who did hear them say "this is police."

that person was upstairs and outside. well, did you tell the grand jury that there were 11 other people who did not hear police announce? did you tell the grand jury two people called 911 and said, "we need the police here"? did you allow the grand jury to listen to the tape of kenneth telling 911 where he is saying, "s"someone has come in and they shot breonna post what? amy: we want to play that 911 clip. boyfrienden breonna help. the police for this is kenneth walker. isi don't know w what happening. somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend. >> where was she shot at? >> i don't know. she's on the ground. i don't know. help. issue alert and able to talk

to you? -- is she alert and able to talk to you? and because that is kenny walker crying. he calls the police because e he does not know it is the police who shot his girlfririend dead with these six bullets. this is a critically important point. they were not in uniform andnd e clearly did not know who these men werere. >> thahat is exactlyly right. then you havav an attotorney general who o stands u up sterey that tells us he should havave knowown, basically, thatomomehow hehe d k know because there iss somemeone e else -- i know there 12 peoeople wh did not h hear polilice and two people call 9 1 and this can you who call 91 want to geget police on e scene, but somehow you should believe that everybody knenew it was popolice. question this is not a for a a jury. it is unbelievabable. it is a an unbelilievable a assn our intelligence.

it is offenensive. it expososes the system rr what it i this system is designed d to ototect e privilege, and police have the greatest plalayr village. that is what we are in the streets. people are so frustrated with not being heard, not being seen, not being protected or valued. there are so many problems with this case. anyone knows -- on average, a grand jury could indict 12 people in an hour. they keep spitting them out. it is not a hard process. prosecutors go in, give you a little information, and you move on. you vote and move on. if you get a tape and grand jury, was he that. in any criminal case, you would get a copy of the grand jury indictment. and usually, they are not five minutes long. so this process of presentnting all of this information and contradictory information, that doesn't happen to regular citizens. that is just not the way the

grand jury process works. and those of us who know the system understand that. there is another thing that is important here. the attorney general was not prepared yesterday to tell us whether or not the warrant was even a good warrant. do you understand that? this woman was killed in march and we are now in september and we still don't know if the warrant that theyerere reining on was even a good warrant? he did not answer that question. if a white woman -- if a 26-year-old white woman was killed in this country and six months later you cannot answer the question about whether o or not police went in with a good warrant, this country would d bn itself down. but somehow we are supposed to act with all of this restraint and be ready to move on and heal. it is frustrating. the system is completely broken

and needs to be reformed. there is too much subjectivity. amy: i want to ask about the fofoot. this new information yesterday, sadiqa reynolds, that the attorney general shared saying was shot not fiveve times, but six. when he was questioned about this to the shock of everyone he sasaid, well, there was somethig in her foot. talk about the s signifificancef wh it t mes to b b "in her foot."." > it has been my understandig that breonna died in the fetal position on the floor. and d if you think of police officers - -- we know that kenny shot one shot and he stopped firing. they continued to fire. they continued to fire repeatedly into that apartment.

to thearently, according attorney general a bullet was lodged in her foot. that of all, even the fact he is contradicting the death certificate is a question of fact -- was it a bullet? what was lodged there? who fired it? we need to understand more. this case deserves a jury. when i heard that, all i could think of was, i pray to god that he has told her mother before he told the world that her baby was shot in the foot. i hope yet a very long conversation with the mother. i have since learned there was not enough conversation. he did not explain everything. this is -- amy:y: it means shshe was lyingn already. >> no doubt about it. no doubt about it she was lying down already. you heard him talk about there was one bullet that would have killed her, but i don't know if

it was the first bullet -- so did she suffer through the first three or four or five and then it was the sixth one that killed her? which one? which bullet killed her? how long was she alive? how long did she suffer? she seemed to be alive when katie was on that telephone. there saying to us, that one fatal bullet would have killed her but -- within seconds or a couple of minutes. well, but there are so many questions here that go of thised because attorney general's process. how this is handled is an incredible miscarriage of justice for the city. we deserve better. breonna taylor deserved better. her mother deserves other than this. nermeen: you've saidd thahat noy wowould have even known the nams of breonna tayaylor or k kenneth walkerer if it were not for the protesters.. could you talk about the significance of the protests

that have broken out, not just in louisville, but all across the country? also, what happened last night, over 1 100 protesters were reportedly arrested in louisville? >> so let's start with the fact was in march when breonna first killed by police, we were at the top of the pandemic and people were just trying to figure out what this virus was, how their offices were going to work, and we heard that breonna taylor had been killed. the officers did not have on body cameras. basically, it was described to us as a drug raid. when they went in, the suspect fired, hitting an officer and then the female suspect was basically killed in the crossfire. that is not exactly what happened. so people began to ask questions. people began to ask questions, but again, they're doing it in a pandemic with so many other

things happening. this case is sort of pushed to the back of our minds -- some of us. of course, you have e her mother still fighting f for answersrs because she knonows who her chid is. and you have us calling this a come explain again why there a e no body cacameras. itit doesn't t make sense. these officers could not have been undercover. they obviously were going to serve a warrant and any cover would have been blown, why were there not body cameras? you have repeated questioning, but no traction, no changes. the police department saying they did everything right. think any walker is in custody. -- kenny walker is in custody. he is locked up in jail. begin --ril, may you more and more peopople are calag her r name andnd saying heher nd we begin t to get this nationonl attention. when that happens, that is when we see kenny release from custody. charges dismissed. i have to commend one of the

judges. i have to tell you, judge stevens released kenny on home incarceration. case is a sign this bad. live judge says i am not going to make and stay in joe because there's something wrong here, that is a sign this is a problematic case stop you fast-forward. ,enny is ultimately released even from home incarceration. his charges are dismissed. then people are more and more saying her name across the country, across the globe and you get movement, you get motion. and these protesters -- and i certainly have been one of them -- for 118 days, people have protested in this city, raising their voices for justice for change to begin with police reform, but even going beyond that and saying there are injustices in every system in the city and we want to see things change.

havehose powerful protests been successful. it was important for us to say to everyone who had been willing to sacrifice their freedom, their bodies, their time to raise their voices here in louisville. it has been dangerous for us. the first and of protests we were met with tear gas and pepper bullets. police started that aggression. and it did -- things got out of hand very quickly. was killed because at 26 and broadway. if you could understand louisville, most of the protests have been happening in downtown louisville, some to the east of downtown. the west end of the city is much like other urban areas, and invested, nothing there -- un invested, nothing there.

folks are all the way down, 2 21 atcks away from any protests 26th and broadway.y. and they are just living, doing what they do, all ththe time. plplea take the e national guard down there. they begin shooting pepper bullets at people. david, a a beloveded community member, and even beloved by police -- he catered their training. he shoots a gun into the air. we are not sure he even realizes it is always outside. it seems to be trying to disperse the crowd. police returned fire. he is killed. but it started with them shooting people who were out -- there literally shooting at people's heads for protest violations. i'm so sorry, for curfew violations. for curfew violations. so you move forward from there and i t think it is important fr us to say what was accomplished in these protests.

it was more just whether or not whether daniel cameron decided to indict these officers. we can't say that is the only way we can measure the success of the protesters buttons that we have to talk about the fact the police chief was exited. there was one officer indicted. now we have mandatory body cameras in louisville, kentucky, when there is a search warrant issued. that we have band no knocks in the city. the creation of a civilian review board in order to create an officers inspector general to oversee the police department, this is areva born -- a review board that i am currently on. it talks about a review of our police department. now in writing, we have this duty to intervene. our police officers have a responsibility to intervene if they see an officer engaged in misconduct. you and i probobably would have thought that was something that was just understood. now it is in writing because we

cannot count on that. we are getting an independent investigation of our police department. there ar70 things. i go back to, again, if this casese had n not made the natiol me, kenneth believe walker would have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. it is because of the protests in the streets that this case change. we changed everything. amy: i want to reiterate, he was arrested and jailed as h he is mourning the death of his girlfriendnd who is gunned downn front of him. i want to go back t to the kentucky attorney general daniel cameron who announced the grand jury decision and talked about who he doesn't want weighing in. ,> there will be celebrities

influencers, and activists who having never lived in kentucky, will try to tell us how to feel, suggesting they understand the facts of this case, that they know our community and the commonwealth better than we do. but they don't. let's not give into their attempts to influence our thinking or capture our emotions. amy: this is the republican attorney general daniel cameron just weeks ago whoho spoke at te republican national convention and reference the killing of breonna taylor. >> dwight eisenhower, future republican president, who said democracy is a system that recognizes the equality of humans before the law. whether you are the family of breonna taylor or david dohrn, these are the ideals that will heal our nation's wounds. republicans will never turn a blind eye to unjust acts, but

neither will we accept an all-out assault on western civilization. amy: yesterday at the news conference, president trump praised cameron as a rising star in the republican party.y. your response, s sadiqa rereyno? >> he certainly is a rising star in the republican party, and i can see very clearly how he is inng to be used against us every imaginable way. i think we are in very dangerous territory in this country. and there are people right now who are so focused on greed and their money anand what they can achieve for themselves, and they're missing the bigger picture. this democracy is under attack. it is not just under attack for black americans, it is under attack for all of us. life as we know it is changing every day little by little. our democracy is being killed. it is the death of a thousand cuts.

we had all better start paying attention. soundscameron's rhetoric good. he is an articulate black man. i generally -- i hate when people say that,, you're so articulate. but let me tell you, listening results ofver the his investigation yesterday and the grand jury, the danger that is posed to us is real. and we had better be ready to respond because this country will change and is changing. and it is not for the better. that is not a political statement, that is not about partisanship -- i don't care if you are democrat or republican, i run a nonpartisan organization. but what i care about is justice. what i care about is someone who is honest. when you look a man in the eye and you expect for them to do their job and they come back and that is not what happened, you need to hold them accountable. we are in danger in this state

and in this country. it is not a joke. it is aost unrealal. everyry race,f nationonality, gender,r, relelin had d better be paying atttion and get out of your head about what is best for you and about this country. we have got to do something different here. amy: very quickly, on the issue of the fired detective hankison who fired wildly into the bedroom window come into the glass door, ultimately not charged for anything involving the death of breonna taylor but for the bullets going into the neighbor's apartment? he is a person we have learned more about because as his picture got out there, one woman after another came forward and said, that man sexually assaulted me, picked me up saying he was a cop, would drive

me home after i left a bar, and others said that, too. can you talk about the fact that he might not even face any jail time or up to 15 -- faces three charges of wantnton endangermen? >> y you can count on him not facing any charges -- anany time at all. it is my understanding that he was arrested in shelby county, turn himself in. he posted his $15,000 bond and was out. this is another slap in the face. we can plan on him absolutely not spending any time in jail for the death of breonna taylor, for wanton endangerment, for anything related to the shooting, the killing that happened at that apartment complex that night. he may end up spending time in jail for the assault on these women who i think have tried to defer -- i think they have really made an attempt to honor this black woman's life i sort of silencing themselves. i expect they will step forward

even more now as time goes on. also, it is my understanding that those things are being investigated. all it will show is you can murder a black woman in america and served no time, but the sexual assault of a white woman will come down on you -- we will come down n and you fofor that. amy: and the b bullet ininto the neighbor''s family, that w was a whitite family? >> i don''t kn who the families were. i don't know what color, what race the people were. i have no idea. to me, the issue is not in that case what their race was, i'm simply saying -- let me say this. let me calm down and say this clearly. if we were talking about a 26-year-old white woman in september, the results of this case would have been different. that is what black people know

for sure and that is why they are in the streets and that is why our allies are on the -- in the streets with us. demonstrations, the rallies, the protests have been integrated. while we certainly have challenges around race, we also have alignment for justice. it has -- the interesting thing to watch and i pray that we continue to move together as best we can. i said yesterday and i sincerely mean it, i think we are in a fight for the soul of our country. 49%/51%, but we have to keep fighting. amy: presidedent and ceo of f te louisville urban leae,e, sadiqaa reynynolds, a attorney y in ken. i am amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. ononly come back, we go to milwaukee where the investigation of the shooting of

jacob blake isis underway. we will spspeak to jacob blake . stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is dememocracy n now!, democracynow.org, the e quarante report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. as oututrage mounts over the grd jury ruling in the police killing of breonna taylor, we turn to wisconsin n where the investigation into the police shooting of jacob blake is in its final stages. jake blake's case became a flash point for national protest after the african-american father was shot in the back by kenosha police seven times in august, paralyzing him. wife police officer rusten at pointired the shots blank range into jacob blake's back as blake leaned into his car. inside the car were his three boys a age 3, 5, and eight. prosecutors in wisconsin have tapped former madison police chief noble wray to serve as an independent t voice during the final stages of the investigation into the shooting. wray will review the state department of justice's findings

before a report is sent to kenosha county district attorney michael graveley, who will ultimately decide whether charges s should be filed agagat the police officers. well, for more, we go to milwaukee where we are joined by jacob blake, sr., the father of jake blake, jr. he has been fighting for justice for his son alongside the parents of breonna taylor, george floyd, and others. jacob blake sr., welcome to democracy now! we are so sorry about what happened to your son. if you can respond to the decision that has just come down in louisville and then talk about how is your son jake in the hospital now? >> well, what happened in louisville shows the two systems of justice in the united states, clear and cut. if a young lady is murdered by the police, someone is

responsible for r that death. if the police were involved. but when it is a brown person, we don't find the quick or swift end of justice. jacob is doing much better. his spirits are better. it is hard for him because of the pain, but we stand in support of my son as well as george floyd's family and the taylor family. mr. blake, where e is the process with the grand jury in your son's case? >> right now they have wrought olice brought inin an ex-p chief to do some investigation of what the district attorney has come up with at this point.

can you talk about that day, which i know is extremely painful for you? you were in kenosha when you're somewhat shot by police officers. talk about where you were and how you got the news and then .our response to the video inks i was driving charlotte, north carolina, where i reside and i got a phone call. my phone was connected to my car . all i heard was his mother screaming "he's shot. they shot him." i id, who? who shot who? and she said, the police shot jacob. it is almost like it rewinds in

my head every day. i heaear that p phone call in my sleep when i am awake. i can't even explain to you the emotion that you have as a parent when that phone call comes to you. i did not have a starship enterprise. i could not beam up to milwaukee, so i had -- i had been up all day, two days ago before the phone call i had just got back -- a ride back from chicago, so now i knew i had to back tound and head milwaukee. i do not remember driving in the mountains. i do not remember driving throrough kentuckyky. i i don't remember -- all i remember is walking in the hospital.

your sonthat day that was shot was supposed to be such a happy day, isn't that right? brittle grandson -- >> it started out as a happy day. my grandson, two hours before got the call for his mother -- maybe three hours. that day is such a blur, i can't tell you exactly. all i can tell you is how happy he was and he had a list of things that he wanted his father to get, and we were laughing. el, you're going to spend all your day today, baby. he laughed. i said, call me back later when they cut the cake or whatever. -- myd, we are grandchildren, all of them call me papa. he said, poppa, we're going to call you back. i will call you so you can see what i got. i remember hearing his little --

you know, you can't measure the happiness but you can see the happiness. i could see the happiness in his voice. it just came through the phone. i pictured happiness. an eight-year-r-old happy to be with his dad. i want to go to the first news conference. we did not expect you were going to be speaking. i believe one of the lawyers said he would not be. i can you talk about that day before we go to that clip? i had so many different emotions. you know, you have a father in protective mode, a father worried mode. i was so tired. i had driven all night. the news conference was that day .

time i was onular an emotional roller coaster. moment let's go to that where both you speak -- this is you. seven times.my son seven times. matter.did not but my son matters. how would you feel if your white come as a up to you mother, said, mommy, why did the police shoot my daddy in the backck? you have no clue. amy: and you have repeatedly said, also at the march on your son is human, as if you have to say that. tell us who your son is.

and also, your father. your son's grandfather, who was so well known in chicago as a civil rights leader, the reverend jacob blake. excuse me for a moment. i'm sorry. --son is a happy amy: take as much time as you need, mr. blake. we are so terribly sorry about what has happened to your son and what has happened to your whole family as a result. he was -- he was a jokester as a kid. happy-go-lucky, smililing

jokester. he thought everything was funny. i can hear him laughing as a kid. older, me andhim had a .pecial type of relationship like he was my best little friend at times. , headingng was older toward 30 come as a father, your relationship changes with your children because now t they see the things that you went through

is a 30-year-old parent. so they respect you in a different way. and you share moments with each priceless.are father, being a civil rights meder, taught me and gave to be the man that i am today. confident, unshakable. now, in regards to the emotional me, you some things get guys got me with when i was boyfriendto breonna's

. call.at 911 he was scared to death. children scared to death? -- scared to death of people who are supposed to protect and serve them? 2020, why do have to continuously tell people that my son is a human being? at like we areed animals? it is not a good place to be in. for marching beat for civil rights. 50 years ago.

and we are still trying to get equal rights. at some point in time, you get tired. givenis no avenue that is to you directly to do what you need to do. whate can explain to you to do. they tell you, it takes time. well, how much time? they tell you to vote -- and we vote and we're going to keep voting. we have to change these laws. amy, we have to do something because we have come up to this point to where the whole world is seeing ththe two systems of justice. norwe are not in the mood in the mindset of taking it anymore.

amy: jacob blake -- >> what are we to do? continuere going to this discussion and posted online at democracynow.org. jacob blake sr., father

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