04/14/21 04/14/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the president has been consistent that there is not a military solution to afghanistan , that we have been there for far too long. that has been his view for some time. amy: president biden is going to withdraw all troops from afghanistan by september 11. we will get response from an

afghan professor and a former state department official who resigned his post 12 years ago to protest president obama's policy in afghanistan. >> the united states has been culpable in the violence that has besieged the afghan people for more than four decades now. amy: then american insurrection -- a new frontline documentary looks at the rise of right-wing extremism across the country. >> i think about a revolution against the government. we are past the point of peace. >> one of the darkest days in the history of our nation. >> we are seeg this country follow apart befe our eyes. amy: we will speak to journalists a.c. thompson and filmmaker rick rowley. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the biden administration has unveiled plans to withdraw u.s. troops from afghanistan by september 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. the move will end the longest war in u.s. history. over the past two decades, the war has killed more than 100,000 afghan civilians, 2300 u.s. service members, and has cost the u.s. trillions of dollars. nato forces are also expected to withdraw 7000 troops by september 11. this is white house press secretary jen psaki. >> the president has been consistent in his view that there is not a military solution to afghanistan, that we have been there for far too long. amy: the white house announcement comes just over a week before the scheduled start of a new round of peace talks in istanbul between the taliban and the u.s.-backed afghan governnt.

but on tuesday, the taliban announced it would boycott the talks because president biden is reneging on a deal made by president trump to have all u.s. troops out by may 1. we will have more on afghanistan after headlines. in minnesota, protesters took to the streets for a third straight night in minneapolis and in brooklyn center, where a white police officer killed 20-year-old daunte wright, a black man, during a traffic stop sunday. police fired projectiles into a demonstration in front of the ooklyn cter police station, declaring it unlawful and ordered reporters to leave. kim potter, the officer who killed daunte wright, and the city's police chief tim gannon, both resigned tuesday amid mounting anger. potter was also an officer trainer. daunte's aunt, naisha wright, responded to the news of her resignation during a joint press

conference with the family of george floyd. >> she was the law. protect and serve. put her in jail. like they would do anyone of us. amy: naisha wright also revealed that george floyd's girlfriend was her nephew's former teacher. philonise floyd, the brother of george floyd, also spoke at the news conference. >> minneapolis, you all cannot sweep this under the rug anymore. we are here and we will fight for justice for this family just like we're fighting for our brother. to the protesters all around this nation, stand up. we need you all to come out. amy: the emotional press conference was held outside the hennepin county courthouse, where the trial of former police officer derek chauvin continued inside for a 12th day.

chauvin's defense called its first witnesses, including barry brodd, a former police officer and so-called use-of-force expert who argued chauvin was acting "with objective reasonableness" when he kneeled on george oyd's neck for over nine minutes, leading to his death. new bodycam footage was also shown to the jury of floyd sitting, handcuffed, and giving his name and birth date to minneapolis police officer peter chang, among the first officers to arrive at the scene before chauvin. talks are set to resume in vienna today between the u.s., iran, and other parties to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, just days after an attack on the natanz nuclear facility in iran. iran blamed the attack on israel, which is staunchly opposed to relaunching the international accord. iran said tuesday it will ramp up its uranium enrichment

efforts following the attack. the biden administration is moving ahead with more than $23 billion in weapons sales to the united arab emirates after reviewing a deal made under president trump. the deal includes the sale of lockheed martin f-35 jets and armed drones.cr anti-war groups and progressive lawmakers have called for the u.s. to stop all arms sales to the uae over its involvement in the saudi-led, u.s.-backed war in yemen. ukraine says 40,000 russian troops have amassed on its eastern border, prompting some to warn russia could be preparing for war. another 40,000 troops are in annexed crimea. but others say russia is sending its soldiers to the region as a show of force and intimidation to ukraine and its allies. the u.s. and nato have vowed to support ukraine, though it is not a member of the alliance. analysts also say russia could be seeking a distraction from

domestic issues, including the imprisonment of alexei navalny. meanwhile, defense secretary lloyd austin said tuesday the u.s. military will increase its presence in germany -- a reversal from the trump administration's plans to withdraw troops. austin said the move reaffirms u.s. support to nato and "improves our ability to surge forces at a moment's notice to defend our allies." president biden has sent an unofficial delegation of former government officials and a former lawmaker to taiwan, two days after taipei said china sent 25 warplanes into its air defense zone. china has been increasing military drills around taiwan and warned the u.s. against intervening in the territory, over which it claims sovereignty. in burkina faso, authorities have charged exiled former president blaise compaoré with the murder of thomas sankara, who was killed in a 1987 coup.

sankara was a revered leader, an anti-colonialist marxist who enacted popular social programs and was dubbed the "african che guevara." compaoré succeeded sankara, his one-time cse friend, and was eventually ousted decades later in a popular uprising in 2014. he will be tried in absentia. "the guardian" reports facebook knew right-wing honduran president juan orlando hernández was using thousands of fake facebook accounts to make his political campaign appear more popular -- and let him get away with it for nearly one year after the company was alerted to the activity. facebook reportedly learned what was happening in 2018, with posts on hernández's page receiving engagement from tens of thousands of fake accounts. but facebook took no action until the following year, even though it violated company policy. hernández, a key u.s. ally, has long been accused of spreading misinformation online to

discredit his critics and undermine social movements. in coronavirus news, the european rollout of the johnson & johnson vaccine has been delayed after regulators here in the united states moved to temporarily halt its use as reports of extremely rare blood clots were being investited. south africa also suspended its use of the johnson & johnson vaccine. six women aged 18 to 48 reported the clots after receiving the shot and one has died. the number represents less than one in a million administered j&j shots in the united states, and it is not yet known if the condition is linked to the vaccine. what is known as the standard treatment of blood clots is contraindicated for this reaction. president biden sought to reassure the public the pause in j&j's uswould not hamper the white house's vaccination goals.

pres. biden: there is enough vaccine that is basically 100% unquestionable for every single solitary american. amy: india is fast-tracking the approval of foreign-made vaccines as it reported yet another record daily caseload of 184,000 infections wednesday. mumbai and the state of maharashtra is going into a full two-week lockdown. >> this disease is spreading at a horrifying pace. i say horrifying because today's numbers of positive cases is the highest so far. over 60,000 have been reported in the state today, his the situation is very grim. amy: in other coronavirus news, u.n. secretary-general antónio guterres is lling on governments impose a wealth

tax on rich people who have profited from the pandemic. a recent report found the world's wealthiest have seen their fortunes surge by $5 trillion since the start of the pandemic. back in the united states, a new report by the capitol police's watchdog reveals officials knew congress was the target of the deadly january 6 insurrection, yet officers were instructed to refrain from deploying a more aggressive response. officials on duty on january 6 said the use of crowd control equipment such as stun grenades could have helped "push back the riers." we will have more on this story later in the broadcast. an ally of embattled florida congressmember matt gaetz is reportedly cooperating with the justice department in its probe into gaetz's possible sex trafficking crimes. joel greenberg, a former florida county tax collector who has himself been indicted for sex trafficking, told investigators

he and gaetz gave cash or gifts to women in exchange for sex, this according to a "new york times" report. the house ethics committee recently launched itown investigation into congressman gaetz. president biden has nominated robert santos to head the u.s. census bureau. santos is president of the american statistical association. santos, who is mexican-american, would become the agency's first permanent director of color. if confirmed, santos would fill the term of trump appointee steve dillingham, who quit in january following whistleblower complaints over the agency's attempt to rush an inaccurate report on undocumented residents. in reproductive rights news, the food and drug administration will allow providers to mail abortion pills to people who choose to terminate an early-stage pregnancy without surgery for the duration of the pandemic. the move was welcomed by medical

groups that had been fighting a january ruling by the supreme court which sided with the trump administration in enforcing the in-person requirement even after a federal judge waived it in order to spare patients unnecessary travel during the pandemic. wisconsin is on track for a devastating wildfire season as hundreds of blazes have already caused destruction comparable to the whole of 2020 in just four months. wisconsin governor tony evers declared a state of emergency last week. climate groups say wildfires are likely to get worse in wisconsin due to increasing droughts and heat waves. and new york announced it will become the first u.s. state to divest its pension fund from tar sands companies. divest new york coalition said -- "it is wrong to be invested in companies that are destroying the planet, and it is also financially unwise, considering that the world is transitioning to renewables, which is causing

fossil fuel values to steadily decline." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. when we come back, president biden is bowing to end the longest war in u.s. history by withdrawing all troops from afghanistan for september 11. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york city joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, an. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: the biden administration

has unveiled plans to withdraw u.s. troops from afghanistan by september 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. biden will formally outline his plan today during a speech in the treaty room at the white house -- the same room where president george w. bush announced the start of the u.s. invasion of afghanistan nearly 20 years ago, beginning what has become the longest war in u.s. history. the war has killed more than 100,000 afghan civilians and over 2300 u.s. service members. it also cost the u.s. trillions of dollars. nato forces are also expected to withdraw its 7000 troops by september 11. white house press secretary jen psaki discussed biden's plan on tuesday. >> the president has been consistent in his view that there is not a military solution to afghanistan, that we have been there for far too long.

that has been his view for some time, well reported on. he believes and remains committed to supporting negotiations between the parties, which many of you may be following or resuming next week. he also believes we need to focus our resources on fighting the threats we face today, almost 20 years after the war began. amy: biden's announcement comes just over a week before the scheduled start of a new round of peace talks in istanbul between the taliban and the u.s.-backed afghan government. but on tuesday, the taliban announced it would boycott the talkbecause biden is reneging on a deal made by president trump to have all u.s. troops out by may 1. in recent weeks, the taliban attacked aecret u.s. military base in eastern afghanistan, as well as kandahar airfield which houses hundreds of u.s. troops.

on tuesday, a senior biden administration official told reporters the president is committed to the withdrawal regardless of the situation on the ground in afghanistan. the official said -- "this is not conditions-based. the president has judged that a conditions-based approach, which has been the approach of the past two decades, is a recipe for staying in afghanistan forever." we are joined now by two guests. zaher wahab is an afghan-american professor who taught for decades at lewis & clark graduate school of education in portland, oregon. he was born in afghanistan and has regularly returned since the u.s. war began in an effort to rebuild afghanistan's educational system. he was a senior advisor to the minister of higher education in afghanistan from 2002 to 2007. he has also taught at the american university of afghanistan. and we are joined by matthew hoh, a senior fellow with the center for international policy. in 2009, he resigned from the

state department in protest against the obama administration's escalation of the war in afghanistan. we welcome you both to democracy now! professor, what is your response? president trump said the troops would be out by may 1. president biden has extended that to september 11. it would into the longest war in u.s. history. the number of casualties and afghanistan will over 100,000. >> goodorning. . good morning, hoh. we were on a program some years ago in eugene. thank you very much for having me. it is great being with you. i approve of president bid's decion to withdraw all of its forces, but i want to point out

the united states d its allies should never have attacked and occupied afghanistan. it was wrong. it was illegal. i think it was immoral. t now the united states and nato withdrawing, the war would end in some ways but we have to point out the domestic dimension to the war and the war amongst the afghans will definitely continue. amy: can you talk about the effect of this war the last 20 years? and then what it means at this istanbul summit, the taliban has pulled out because they are protesting the fact biden is continui beyond the may 1 deadline president trump promised? >> she pointed out, for the last 20 years, i spent more than half

of my time in afghanistan. i have almost gone there every year and spent the last seven years there full-time. we must know this invasion, occupation, and the bloodshed have destroyed the country, its economy, its institutions, its infrastructure, its educaon, its way of life, relationships among the different ethnic groups. this occupation has been nothing short of a catastrophe. this is why i think -- there are three dimensions to the war. there is the domestic dimension, the regional dimension, and the global dimension. and we also should point out that many, many reports by credible institutions and individuals, "the washington

post" and the afghan network have repeatedly demonstrated and documented the ruling elite in washington have been lying about the war and so have the afghan -- whoever was in power. the war was wrong to begin with. enormous amount of money and blood has been invested. and here we are 20 years later admitting to the world this was a mistake and was a failure and it is time to leave. but leaving now would be highly responsible. because as i said, domestically, afghanistan is a very divided country. there are several major ethnic groups that are in conflict. we know the price of guns is going up.

people, some of them who are warlords or were warlords and have an enormous amount of blood on their hands, while there will be dissipating in this conference, there are people also constituting militias and buying weapons. so while the united states may leave, the war will end for the united states but will intensify for afghanistan. something needs to be done. we need to constitute a u.n. peacekeeping force immediately. while the united states is withdrawn, the u.n. peacekeeping force should move in. we also need to establish a trust fund so no -- no dollars are spent without advice and

guidance of an international cadre development. amy: president bites as they will withdraw troops, no conditions, no preconditions, by september 11. can you talk about what are the forces that are there? do you believe all of those forces will leave my talking about nato -- he is talking about u.s. troops. but what about, private contractors? >> yes. we know there are 3500 north american troops and there are some000 contractors and also some 10,000 nato forces. some of the nato countries have said they will extend their sy in afghanistan, most of them are like to follow the u.s. ample. as said, the united states

should withdraw because as long as the u.s. is in afghanistan, the taliban war against the americans and all foigners will continue. but the dilemma is when there are knn forces, outside forces, and there would a war -- civil war or multiple ethnic wars in afghanistan. we must make sure, as i said, the u.n. peacekeeping force to maintain peace and law and order. right now the country is in every way unlivable. tens and tens ofeople get assassinated every day other than the war between the taliban and the government forces, but also if there are no foreign forces, no matter what the shape of the government might be, the

taliban are likely to prevail and take over in out two months. that is why we need som guarane, international guarantee with the presence of peacekeepers to make sure that there is peace, stability, tranquility and the countries of the country can rebuild. but we also must make sure that no money is given to any afghan government. but also the problem is that while these delegations, for example, talk about going to istanbul, right now there are disagreements among the 19 members of the government delegation or the afghan delegation as to the nature of this agreement, its agenda and what it portends for the country. juan: i would like to bring in matthew hoh to the discussion, senior fellow with the center for international policy.

in 2009, he resigned from the state department in protest against the obama administration's escalation of the war in afghanistan. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about your reaction to the recent announcements in terms of the biden the administration's policy for the future? >> thank you for having me on. professor, it is good to be with you. i have learned a lot from you, sir. this is potentially very good news for the afghan people. the afghan war has been going on for more than 40 years. it began in the late 1970's and has been going nonstop since then. it is not correct to say it has only been 20 yearsecause it has been more than 40. therhas not been a formal peace process in afghanistan for over 30 years. for this peace process go forward, foreign forces must be removed. i have been talking to you all for more than 11 years stop i

was just thinking about how 10 years ago i was on with you the morning after the osama bin laden break. both a president biden president sensors have said they would remove all of the troops -- both of president biden's predecessors have said they would remove all of the troops. the fact that we're still talking about this ways zombie right now. also regardless of whatever the intentions of the biden administration are, the onus is now on the taliban. whatever they do now give context or reason for the u.s. and nato to say, look, we're not going to withdraw anymore or possibly resume operations or maybe even send more troops. this may sound skeptical, but i think, understanding these post cold world wars as well as all american wars going back to the native america genocid this

gives the u.s. and nato decent interval. this puts the weight of responsibility on the taliban for the next four or so months. this allows the administration a recent to aggregate the withdrawal, aggregate the peace process. i say this again because of the evidence of the post cold world wars as well as the general history of american military warfare. t other thing i think is very important to remember is that this does not include the thousands of men and women who e part of u.s. special operatn and nato special operation teams, cia teams, as well as literally dozens of squadrons of attack aircraft and bombers, whether they be man or drones, station either in land basis or on aircraft carriers

outside of afghanistan. so the potential for the united states to remain involved militarily is quite high even if all 3500 acknowledged u.s. troops are withdra as well as nato troops. again, this is potentially good news because this is the step necessary for the peace process to go forward, and that is what the afghan people desperately need. juan: matthew hoh, could you talk about the toll on the afghan people? you yourself served in the military in afghanistan years back. the 2.5 million afghans officially registered as refugees with the united nations. the impact of this more than -- 20 years of the u.s. period but also the period before that when the soviets were occupying the country? >> this proceeds the soviet

occupation. this really begins in 1970 three, the same year i was born. 48 years ago. the king is deposed. at that point, if you are an afghan, there has been hardly a single day without some type of violence or political chaos. by the time the soviet union and bates in 1979, 1 hundred thousand afghans have already been killed in the fighting. we want to remember what the role of the united states has been in afghanistan. the united states starts funding the islamic militants in afghanistan at least six months before the soviet union invades. this was a plan by jimmy cardi's national security advisor to bait the soviet union into a trap, to give them their own vietnam. so the effect on the afghans has just been catastrophic. it has been well over 40 years of fighting.

millions of afghans have been killed or wounded. the devastation on the afghan people is hard to imagine. at 2.5 million refugees are what a registered right now, but there have been millions of millions of refugees in the last 40 years -- for most of these last 40 years, the afghans have been the largest refugee population in the world with the exception of the period of time where the syrians were. as a serious go back, as that war has wound down, i believe the afghans are once again the largest refugee population in the world. something like 70% of afghans subsist on one dollar a day. there is no industry in afghanistan to speak up. there is no infrastructure. the only industry you can speak about is the narcics industry, which is heavily dominated by the afghan government and the afghan military post of the

taliban have a role in it but for the most part, the chief players in the afghan drug trade far the afghan government were partners. the afghan government itself is corrupt and predatory. the taliban are hideous and horrendous. at the afghan government is not much farther behind them in terms of human rights violations. as well, this notion that somehow we have built democracy -- you hear a lot about we can't leave afghanistan because of the games we made, the progress we made. that is propaganda. the afghan elections have been incredibly fraudulent since the united states invaded. they've only become more fraudulent with each one. the effect on the afghan people has been incredibly disastrous. the suffering they have endured and continue to endure, i think it is something that we here in

the united states cannot possibly imane. juan: professor, i would like to ask you as well, the impact of this war on the afghan people as well from your perspective and the prospts, what you see for the prospects once the united states pulls out for afghanistan to finally have an era of peace and somewhat stability? >> i totally agree with matthew. 70% of the population lives on one dollar a day and half of the government revenues are stolen. the government is highly corrupt, inefficient. inefficient, ineffective, has no credibility, no legitimacy. the people live in constant fear

. there are about a million and a half displaced people, rather than the 3 million -- there is no infrastructure, the education system is horrible, health care. people still do not have electricity regularly in the capital, drinking water, food, you name it. there is no emoyment. anyone who can is in some way leaving the country. while occupying the country and bombing it, we have not really attempted to build this institution and its infrastructure. so while leaving the forces may solve the u.s.' problem, but there are internal dynamics and afghanistan. a resurgence of civil war and multiple wars because

afghanistan is a highly polarized and divided country. right now amongst the key members of the afghan delegation, there are conflicts. people are arguing as to who is who and how many of which grew, etc., etc. the war will resume in a more vicious way. that is why i say we must replace the u.s. nato forces with some kind of u.n. peacekeeping force. the war community must continue to subsidize the afghanistan development but must be different. right now what we have done is we have empowered and resourced the very wrong people, the kind of people who should be on trial of the people who should probably be in jail. so i worry a great deal. while i agree and welcome the

u.s. witrawing, but as i said, they are leaving us now without any kind of solution, without any certainty that -- will not go into a violent situatn. i ally aue for a u.n. peacekeeping force. why don't they? we have e u.n. peacekeeping forces in several other countries and it is working. why not afghanistan? it would be much cheaper, effective, and sure that t country can stand on its own. amy: professor, college.com who served under a has served under bush from arrector afghanistan, afghan american, serving now under biden, do you hold out any faith in him? close no. am sorry to say the man has no

basis, no credibility, no legitimacy in his policies, daily behavior, his diegard for the conditions, terrible conditions. as i said, there is no protection from abroad than he would be gone into or three months, can be sure. amy: zaher wahab, thank you for being with us, afghan-american professor. i am sure we will be getting back to you as this all develops. and matthew hoh is a senior fellow with the center for international policy who resigned from the state department under obama because of his policy in afghanistan. next up, and american insurrection. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman juan gonzalez. a new report the capitol police watchdog reveals officials new congress was the target at the deadly january 6 insurrection yet officers were instructed to refrain from the nomar

aggressive response that could have helped "pushback the rioters." capitol police inspector general, michael bolton, found the agency failed to properly prepare for and respond to the pro-trump mob despite warnings . the report cites a capitol police intelligence assessment issued several days before the attack that warned -- "stop the steal's propensity to attract white supremacists, militia members, and others who actively promote violence may lead to a significantly dangerous situation for law enforcement and the general public alike." the assessment also warned congress itself is the target on the sixth. bolton is set to testify thursday before the house administration committee. meanwhile, "the washington post" reports domestic terrorism incidents surged to a record high in 2020 fueled by white-supremacist, anti-muslim, and anti-government extremists on the far right.

"the post" found that since 2015, right-wing extremists have been involved in 267 plots or attacks leading to 91 deaths. for more, we turn to a new film called "american insurrection" that explores how far-right groups were emboldened and encouraged by former president trump -- and what the fears and concerns are going forward. the documentary by frontline premiered tuesday on pbs in collaboration with propublica and the university of california berkeley's investigative reporting program. in a minute, we will be joined by the film's director rick rowley and correspondent a.c. thompson. this is the trailer. >> i think about a revolution against the government. we are past the point of peace. >> from charlottesville to the assault on the capitol. >> one of the darkest days in the history of our nation. >> we are seeing this country

fall apart before our eyes. >> of the former president galvanized an army. >> we ve a guy whos a nationalist in the most powerful seat in the world. we can actually get our views represented. >> stanback and standby. >> lock them all up. >> the far-right militias felt much more licensed to publicly engage. >> tear plot to kidnap governor whitmer. >> it was going to be a citizens arrest. looks prepared to kidnap and possibly kill me. >> if you do not fight like hell, you're not going have a country anymore. >> hospital. they were venomous. their country somehow was being taken away from them. >> in the aftermath of the 2020 election, how these groups have become part of the political landscape. >> whawas the role of the

ogaloo boys? >> there were some in the crowd associated with us. they were there just to mess with the federal government one more time. >> frontline and propublica been reporting on the rise of hate -- >> last year. >> what you think was going on in this house? >> they were making bombs. >> a.c. thompson investigates. >> soldiers and marines, what did they bring? >> training expertise in certain areas. >> they decided this was a strategic initiative for them. there is a legitimate fear. >> i'm afraid more innocent civilians will be targeted and actually victimized by these violent offenders. everything we're predicted has come to fruition. it is actually worse. >> and a series of films of the rise of extremism around the world -- >> we are definitely the modern

militia. amy: that's the trailer for "american insurrection," the new frontline documentary now streaming on pbs.org. for more, we're joined by a.c. thompson, pbs frontline correspondent and staff reporter with propublica who has covered the rise of right-wing extremist and white supremacist groups for years. and director rick rowley, the oscar-nominated and emmy-winning filmmaker and an independent journalist with midnight productions. we welcome you both back to democracy now! a.c. thompson, you begin this documentary on january 7, the day after the deadly insurrtion in washington. then you make your way back to the university of virginia. talk about what we are facing now and the buildup. >> the concern i havat this point is that we may see an act of mass casualty terrorism sometime in the relatively near future because we have a massive pool of radicalized individuals who have been fed an abundant

supplies by the former president, by this entire conspiratorial right-wing media and social media ecosystem. and that is the concern i have. for us, the film traces sort of what happens from charlottesville with the white power movement -- which was emboldened and catalyzed by former president trump -- up to now, where we see the sort of white supremacist fading in these groups we saw on janry 6 coming out, the street fighters like the proud boys, the militias, the boogaloo bois. that is sort of the ark we are tracing here. we expect trouble from those groups in the ture. juan: in the film, explore several of these groups and the proud boys, for instance, the cuban-american -- one of the leaders of the group, several of these folks, they are white

supremacist but they are not white themselves. those of us that know the latin american history know there has always been an extreme right-wing trend among people of latin american dissent. can you talk about the proud boys and what you found? >> that is a great question. honestly, a few years ago our colleague and work filming in portland, filming these proud boys rallies. we thought, how to even make sense of these guys? they're ethnically mixed, sort of white supremacist-adjacent, like hanging out with white supremacists but not how they categorize themselves. i think the term we came up with was multicultural fascism, multiethnic fascism will stop in the film, we meet a member of the proud boys and he is wearing a shirt that says "pinochet

did nothing." we sell shirts about throwing socialist and leftists out of helicopters. these movements, alter national, really represent as a multiethnic fascism. amy: i want to go to a clip of your documentary. you report on steven carrillo, the active-duty air force sergeant accused of shooting dead a federal security officer in oakland during last year's protests over the police killing of george floyd. remember, was originally blamed on antifa. it turns out to be that carrillo killed a deputy sergeant in the santa cruz county sheriff's office. he belonged to the antigovernment boogaloo boys movement and was interviewed by investigative journalist gisela pérez de acha from jail. >> before he was captured,

callo wrote messages in his own blood, including single word that uld be key to all of th chaos. he told perez that he was part of a movement called the boogaloo bois. >> is about people that love freedom, liberty, and they are unhappy with the level of control the govnment takes over our lives. being free to do what you want as long as you do not hurt anyone else. >> aren't you of hurting someone? >> that is what am acced of, but -- back to the example, at ishat i wanted to get to. the freedom of choice, the freedom of expression.

>> carrillo has pleaded not guilty and would not answer questions about the shootings. did you find it hard -- >> so hard. he just denied. how diyou come to this? you said you did not read a lot before. >> basically, through friends. once i joined the air force, i traveled around the world. i met people from all over the world and just talking to people changed my whole views. >> do you think he is saying he found these radical ideas in the military? >> yes. i think mainly from my conversations with him, definitely radicalized at the air force. amy: we were hearing the voice of carrillo from jail thanks to the investigative journalists

gisela pérez de acha. central to this is the military's prominent role in the white supremacist movement. you even interview a pentagon spokesperson who says this is what they are looking at now, the disproportionate presentation of police and military in the white supremacist moveme. tell us more to the story of carrillo. >> sten carrillo is a 32, 33-year-old air force staff sergeant. he was assigned to a sort of elite security unit called the phoenix ravens within the u.s. air force. he had been in theervice for many years. the truth about steven carrillo, who is facing a federal death penalty for allegedly killing --

he is representative of a much, much broader nexus betweenhe military and extremist mements most prominent antigovernment militias and the white supremacist movement. he is mexican american. he would n identify as white supremacist in any way, but does identify with the sort of extremist, extreme libertarian ideas and this really antigovernment sentiment that we see swirling around manpeop in the armed forces in recent yes. we did reporting that found, basically found some 20 members of the boogaloo movement with military ties. many of them active-duty. 13 of them had been jailed on serious, serious criminal charges in the last year. our colleagues at berkeley found another 15 active-duty airmen, many of them connected to carrillo online, who are promoting boogaloo antigovernment content while collecting a government paycheck. juan: rick rowley, could you

talk about, first of all, the timeline of the film starting from charlottesville through a variety of other events that most people -- most americans do not associate as part of any kind of continuing? also, the role of social media as you got into the story and the growth of these groups? >> thank you. really the important, a major important takeover everyone is we look too often at these movements as a monolith, an unchanging kind of thing. at the far right ecosystem is diverse and evolves and takes advantage of political crises as they appear. if you don't understand how to dish how it is growing and changing, it becomes a possible to understand the kind of threat they pose. we begin in charlottesville with unite the right, the explosion of the white -- largest openly

white supremacist. there was a backlash after that that was quite effective in splintering and breaking up the overt explicitly white supremacist organizations that were there. the main groups behind that, they dissolved or changed their names disappeared. but what happened was something else, and that was trump, with his response to charlottesville, he made explicit something that had been in minute inside his campaign for a long time. in many elements inside the whitsupremacist movement found in him a path into the mainstream. they took off their swastikas and wrapped themselves in the flag enjoyed groups likehe proud boys. at the time the proud boys seem to me to be kind of a joke, not a very serious player in this space. but they became a vehicle through which neo-nazis and white supremacist could enter into mainstream kind of organization.

one of the great interviews that a.c. does is with this guy brian james, who is -- his career is like a bingo card of far-right violence. like the kla malicious where he met timothy mcveigh, founder of a neo-nazi skinhead gang whose members having committed -- have been convicted up multiple murders. now he is a proud boy. he says on camera that he sees now they can win with someone like trump in power, in office, d just offering them as vehicles to the mainstream. what you mentioned earlier about enrico tarrio, this is a self-conscious mood by the movement to put forward an image of themselves that is difficult for people who have not watched them evolve to classify. people look at them and it is hard to call them white supremacist because it is hard to square that image. the slogan -- pinochet did

nothing wrong -- there was one popularized a few years ago about hitler's. suddenly they are a multiethnic, multicultural fascist movement. amy: i want to go to another clip of "american insurrection" about the boogaloo bois. >> i need to see the movement for myself. i go to virginia where boogaloo is marching against a local gun ordinance. 50 protesters show up with body armor, assault rifles, outlawed high-capacity magazines. they carry it with flags and wear hawaiian shirts. the group is led by mike dunn. >> are you doing today? >> success in your mind? >> hpostures like a seasoned

squad leader. this does not look like a group that is going to lead a violent insurrection. i can see the threat they pose. the boogaloo boys have demonstrated the potential to carry out acts of violence. some i know law-enforcement and the intelligence community also saw this threat. i have been told there were concerns rejected by the white house. >> among this counterterrorism community, we took it seously that you do need that presidential level leadership saying this is a threat, we're going to use all of our tools to go after this threat. that never happened under trump. >> elizabeth newman was one of the top counterterrorism officials in the trump administration and said she tried to warn about the rising threat of far-right extremist with the president and allies claimed the real threat was from black lives matter and antifa. >> doesn't even exist? it is a movement. you have groups of people that associate with them.

do they show uat protests? re. is it to overcome the u.s. government and kill a lot of people? no. that is on the right. it is in the white supremacist movement. it is in the boogaloo boys movement. amy: that is key, elizabeth newman come a trump administration official quit then because the white house kept stressing it was the threat was black lives matter, in people, when all of the facts indicate the overwhelming level of violence, the number one domestic terror threat in this country are the white supremacist, are the antigovernment groups, this right wing that coalesced on january 6. you have mike dunn. a.c., you say he has gone underground now. what do you see as the next insurrection or threat? and what about how the biden administration is dealinwith this? >> i think the fear that i have -- and i have gotten this from our interviews with people like

mike dunn, is both federal agencies and federal law enforcement being targeted. their particular target for people in these militia and antigovernment groups, as well as i think there is a real concern with state level and county level officials being targeted, particularly in states that maybe have more serious covid restrictions. i think that is the thing saw in michigan with the kidnapping plot against the governor. particularly in states where they may be moving to an xm slightly more aggressive gun-control laws. those are concerns i think we should all have. that has been articulated to us. look, it is not just we are targeting the federal government, we are targeting everybody. amy: a.c. thompson, thank you for being with us, and rick rowley. just released "american

insurrection" now streaming at pbs.org. that does it for our show. we have a job opening of a senior news producer to join our team here in new york city. learn more and apply today at democracynow.org.mogñgú

. thank you for joining us. from our studio in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." we start with the longest war in u.s. history. president joe biden says country will withdraw all troops from afghanistan by september 11, the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the united states.