05/19/21 05/19/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> often you hear some saying israel has the right to defend itself. what rights do we have? do have the right to resist occupation? to have the right to protect our children before they go to sleep? amy: israel's bombing of gaza is continuing for a 10th day despite growing international calls for

cease-fire. we will go to gaza where israel has killed at least 222 palestinians so far. and we will speak with a long time israeli reporter amira haas. her latest piece is headlined "gaza lives erased: israel is wiping out entire palestinian families on purpose." then to north carolina where authorities have announced the officers who shot dead andrew brown will not face charges. we will speak to bakari sellers, an attorney for the brown family. >> what we saw on that video was an unjustified killing. what we saw on that video is something we believe also that no further investigation and does have some criminal liability. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman.

israeli forces are continuing their deadly on the gaza strip, killing at least four palestinians today, including radio journalist yusef abu hussein. residential buildings have been leveled as the number of people who have had to flee from their homes reached at least 72,000. this is a man who was forcibly displaced from his home in beit lahiya and is now sheltering in a u.n.-run school. >> we all moved out except for the wife of my brother and three of her children. they die at home. we left them there. in the ambulce service moved them from under the rubble, dead. they sleep on the ground in the shelter. there's not enough water. we are out of water, especially during the corona pandemic, is worse. it is crowded. there are 30 to 40 people in each classroom. amy: the israeliombing

campaign has killed at least 222 palestinians in gaza, including 63 children. here in the u.s., president biden landed in detroit, michigan, tuesday, where he was greeted on the tarmac by congressmember rashida tlaib. an aide to the palestinian american congresswoman said she urged the president to protect palestinian human rights and that u.s. military funding to israel was being used to commit crimes against palestinians. later, speaking at the ford plant, president biden addressed congressmember tlaib. pres. biden: i admire your intellect and passion and your concern for so many other people. it is from my heart i pray that your grandma and family are well . i promise you i'm going to do every thing i came to see they are in the west bank. you're a fighter and god thank you for being a fighter. amy: also during his michigan trip, biden joked he would run over reporters who asked about

the is gliding crisis in israel and palestine as he test-drove an electric truck in the city of dearborn. multiple protests took place in dearborn -- which has the nation's highest percentage of arab american citizens -- during biden's visit. protes continu elsewhe in thu.s. here inew yorkity,eople raied frontf thunited nation senat schume's office, d the fices aipac -- amerin israelublic affas committee and friends of the israel defense forces. this is a protester at a los angeles rally tuesday. >> the message to the u.s. government is to stop funding israel with $3.8 billion in military aid a year. the message to israel is that you cannot have two state solution what you have people behind walls and being bombed and murdered and lives stolen from them. that is not the way to peace. amy: we'll have more on these stories after headlines. 60% of u.s. adults have now received at least one dose of a

covid-19 vaccine as data shows cases are declining by 5% or more in almost every state. over 3.5 million kids and teenagers aged 12 to 17 have also received at least one dose. new york city is relaxing many of its coronavirus restrictions today and is lifting its statewide mask mandate for fully vaccinated people. houses of worship and businesses , including restaurants, can open at 100% capacity but must allow for six feet of distance between groups or use partitions if social distancing is not possible. new jersey and connecticut are also lifting many of their restrictions starting today. a major new report from the international energy agency says licensing for new fossil fuel projects needs to end after this year if the world is to reach net zero targets by 2050. oil, gas, and coal projects would need to be phased out as quickly as possible in order to

ve a chance of limiting obal heating 1.5 deges celsius above preindustrial levels and averting the worst effects of the climate catastrophe. climate activists say the report should act as a wake-up call. oil change international said -- "today's report should herald the end of any excuses for continued fossil fuel expansion." in north carolina, protesters took to the streets of elizabeth city after the county district attorney said the deputies who shot and killed andrew brown, jr., an african american man, were justified in their actions and that brown endangered them by recklessly driving in their direction. d.a. andrew womble said the men will not face charges and will be reinstated. the prosecutor showed for the first time a portion of the bodycam video to the press, but advocates say it was cherry-picked and calls are mounting to release all body

mounted tape. video seen by brown's family show he did not drive toward deputies and an autopsy confirmed brown was killed by a shot to the back of his head. we will have more with the family attorney bakari sellers. the house passed legislation tuesday to address hate crimes against asian-americans, which have increased exponentially during the pandemic. this is new york congressmember grace meng, who first introduced the bill over a year ago. >> asian-americans are tired of living in fear and being frightened about their kids or elderly parents going outside. people often ask what congress is doing about this. and we are here today to say that congress is taking action. amy: the legislation tasks the justice department with expediting the review of hate crimes, facilitates the creation of hate crime hotlines, and

provides funding for law enforcement to train officers in identifying hate crimes. a bill has already passed the senate. president biden is expected to sign the measure. at least 57 refugees drowned off the ast of tunisia after their boat capsized monday. 33 people, originally from bangladesh, were rescued. the tragedy comes just days after another shipwreck on the same route killed at least 17 refugees. spanish prime minister pedro sanchez traveled today to the spanish enclave of ceuta on the northern tip of morocco after 8000 refugees entered the area earlier this week. spain has sent troops to the enclave's border and has already returned thousands of people but groups say officials may be expelling people that legally should be processed as asylum seekers, including children, sick people, and anyone who is not a moroccan national. many say morocco recently loosened immigration controls in retaliation for spain giving brahim ghali, e leader of the polisario front, treatment for

covid-19. the polisario movement is fighting to establish an independent state in western sahara, which was colonized by spain in the 19th century and illegally annexed by morocco in 1975. at least five top salvadoran officials, including political allies of salvadoran president nayib bukele, have been named in a confidential u.s. state department report as suspected -- suspects of being involved in drug trafficking or corruption schemes. among the named officials are bukele's current chief of cabinet and his former minister of security. the report was sent to congress monday at the request of california democrac congresswoman norma torres. "the new york times" is reporting the biden administration has approved the release of three prisoners held in the u.s. military prison in guantanamo bay without charge for two decades. they will reportedly be released

to countries that have agreed to impose security surveillance on them. while advocates welcomed biden's move, they say it's not enough and continue to pressure his administration to shut down guantánamo. the aclu said -- "an end to almost two decades of military detention of muslim men without charge or trial is a human rights obligation and a national security necessity." at least nine of the 40 remaining prisoners at guantánamo have been approved for release. some have been waiting for years for another country to take them in. mexican president andrés manuel lópez obrador has formally apologized for a 1911 massacre in which over 300 chinese people were killed by mexican revolutionary troops in the northern city of torreón. among the victims were children and agricultural workers. the massacre took place during the mexican revolution of 1910 to 1920 and was part of a wave of anti-chinese violence in the region. there are no monuments

acknowledging the massacre and it's been largely excluded from most accounts of mexican history. this is president lópez obrador at a ceremony monday, days after the massacre's may 13 anniversary. >> mexico apologizes to the families of the victims of this authoritarian repression committed by movements, organizations, and governments of our country. the mexican state will not allow racism, discrimination, xenophobia. amy: in philadelphia, district attorney larry krasner handily won the democratic nomination against his challenger carlos vega tuesday. vega is a former homicide prosecutor who was fired by krasner after he took office in 2018. krasner is credited with lowering philadelphia's prison population, halting the prosecution of drug possession and other low-level offenses, and reversing around 20 wrongful convictions. but he has also come under fire

-- come under criticism for opposing appeals of prisoner and journalist mumia abu- jamal. krasner will face a republican defense lawyer, charles peruto, jr., in the november general election. meanwhile, in pittsburgh, state representative ed gainey defeated incumbent bill peduto for the democratic mayoral nomination. tuesday's win means gainey is likely to become pittsburgh's first black mayor. house minority leader kevin mccarthy says he will oppose the bipartisan deal to form a 9/11-style commission to investigate the deadly january 6 insurrection at the u.s. capitol. mccarthy suggested a congressional inquiry was not needed and said he would not support it since it will not examine "political violence on the left" which is unrelated to the insurrection. the biden administration has voiced support for the bipartisan commission. and in labor news, an amazon worker at the bessemer, alabama, warehouse testified last week he saw amazon security guards use

keys to open a u.s. post office box that was used to collect ballots on the historic union vote. the mailbox was unlawfully installed by the usps at amazon's request. the labor union that organized the workers in bessemer has accused amazon of anti-union threats, firing an employee for distributing union cards, and creating an "impression of surveillance" during the voting period. the national labor relations board continues its hearing on the case this week. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzalez in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: israel's bombardment of gaza has entered its 10th day as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu rejects growing international calls for a ceasefire. the israeli bombing campaign has killed at least 222 palestinians

in gaza, including 63 children. over 1500 palestinians have been injured. 72,000 people have been displaced. the norwegian refugee council has revealed 11 of the children killed in gaza were taking part in a program to help them deal with trauma from growing up in the besieged enclave. at least six residents of gaza died in israeli strikes overnight, including the radio journalist yusef abu hussein. another airstrike destroyed a residential home in khan younis, where 40 members of the al-astal family lived. ahmad al-astal is a university -- describe the attack. >> while it was still dark, we were surprised by a drone rocket which was followed by a missile minutes later taking down the house.

this behind us reflects the community, demolishing the houses while inhabitants are inside? people leaving their houses during the night, terrifying children and the elderly? in spite of all this, we remain on our lands in the occupation and those who came with it and those who support itill eventuallyemise. the people of palestine will remain in palestine. amy: in the west bank, israeli forces on tuesday killed at least four palestinians taking part in a historic general strike to protest israeli atrocities. dozens were arrested. the strike united palestinians in the west bank, gaza, east jerusalem, and inside israel. meanwhile, in israel, the death toll has reached 12 after two migrant workers from thailand died tuesday in a rocket fired from gaza. israel's bombing campaign has destroyed much of gaza's infrastructure from sewage

systems to clean drinking water supplies. at least 50 schools have been damaged. gaza's largest bookstore and publishing house, samir mansour, was completely destroyed in a bombing. another israeli strike destroyed a popular ice cream factory in northern gaza. israel also destroyed the offices of a company which used 3-d printers to make tourniquets and medical devices. meanwhile, the united nations relief and works agency has accused israel of blocking humanitarian aid from entering parts of gaza. on the diplomatic front, every member of the european union -- with the exception of hungary -- has called for an immediate cease-fire. but the biden administration has yet to demand a ceasefire. on tuesday, president biden visited an electric vehicle plant in michigan. he refused to answer a question about israel from a reporter. >> mr. president, can i ask you a quick question on israel? pres. biden: no, you can't.

not unless you get in front of the car and i step on it. amy: during the same trip, rashida tlaib, the first palestinian-american congresswoman, confronted biden on the airport tarmac in detroit. tlaib has been a vocal critic of u.s. military support for israel. meanwhile, on capitol hill, democrat gregory meeks, the chair of the house foreign affairs committee, has backed down on his plan to push for delay of a new $735 million u.s. weapons sale to israel. this comes as protests continue across the globe to condemn israel's bombing of gaza. these really military confirm it has unsuccessfully attempted in recent days to assassinate the leader of the armed wing of hamas. he has been in hiding for two decades. israel killed his wife and infant son in 2014. this comes as protests continue across the globe to ndemn

rael's bombinof gaza. in new yk, demonrators rallieoutside e officeof iends ofhe israedefense and aipa the amecan isra publicffairs cmittee. begin tay's show igaza where are joid by ayal azzawi, palestinn activi bad in ga who wres for w are not numbers. welcome to democracy now! can you describe what is happening on the ground now? >> thank you for having . gazas witnessing another nightmare, another massacre, genocide. israel [indiscernible] until now come has killedbout 219 palestinians, including 6 children and 56 women. israel sees palestinians in gaza

not as human beings. benny gantz told the prime minister of israel that no person, no neighborhood is immune and that [discernible] everything in gaza is damaged. israel is turning gaza into a wasteland. making it difficult for ambulances to reach palestinians injured and even makes it difficult for injured people to try to get to the hospital. everything in the gaza strip is a real catastrophe. we are very much afraid and living in constant anxiety and fear. also fear for our loved ones.

our children are asking, why is this happening? why aren't we able to sleep? we have not been able to sleep for 10 days now. [indiscernible] while people around the world enjoy -- we in the gaza strip have to fight. what is happening in gaza is not happening in a gazan particular but also taking place all over palestine and the west bank and jerusalem, gaza strip, and other territories. in moment of national unity --

against one enemy. this is not the first time something like this happen and at the gaza strip. it brings back memories of the israelis in 2008, 2012, and 2014. many have lifelong disabilities. in 28 -- we are just trying to figure this out and overcome this trauma we have been living. [indiscernible] face such brutal conditions.

even nonviolent like in 2008. we were targeted. more than 200 -- 281 palestinians were killed, thousands were maimed by israeli soldiers, snipers. palestinians are being targeted everywhere. whether they are civilians or other people. [indiscernible] yes? juan: i wanted to ask you in terms of you right for "we are not numbers," and talk about what it feels like to see the headlines referring to palestinians as statistics and your analysis of how the outside media is covering or are covering the events that are occurring right now and the israeli attacks?

>> of course. are very muchisappointed by the news outlets are reporting to us as your numbers -- mere numbers and fosing on hamas and factions. returning to your point, "we are not numbers." we have a great mission to do which we share the stories behind numbers. israel does not kill only numbers, they kill our dreams, our memories, and everything. a doctor was 21 years old and the third year of digital studies. she was a bride-to-be. she was supposed to be getting married this month. instead of her getting pretty

and finding her wedding dress, worrying about the invitatio or studying for her final exam, she was bombed in a massacre. israel bombed without any warning. 42 palestinians were killed, including 12 women and eight children. any children likely were found alive. his six-year-old, she lost her mother and her two brothers and her sister and now she only has a brother. another massacre happened with a family in one of the densely populated areas. only a six month old baby who survived the massacre out of the

many members of his family. what is happening is crazy and so insane terror. everybody in the gaza strip is a target. we did not initiate -- we have 28 palestinian families and the occupied east jerusalem in the sheikh jarrah neighborhood who face ethnic cleansing. thank called on palestinians -- thank called on students for an active resistance. we heeded the call. [indiscernible]

we are talking about 360 square kilometers with 2 million palestinians. there are people killed and injured. people are maimed. affecting the infrastructure of the gaza strip, affecting water supplies, power plants even the internet connections. the situation and in the gaza strip isery desperate and we don't know when all of this will come to an end. amy: i want to turn to a 10-year-old girl in gaza. the video of her speaking next to a bombed out section of gaza city has gon viral >> i c't anything. what do you expect me to do? i am onl10. i can't even deal with this

anymore. i just want to be a dtorr anytngo helpy people, but i can't. i am jus10. i don't even know what to do. i get scared but noteally at much. o anythi for my opleut i n't owhat to do. i am just 10. i am jt 10. all of this when i see, i cry every day. ying to self, whdo we desee this? what did we do? my famy says, they just hate us. they don't like us because we are musls. amy: that is nadeen abed al

lateef. she is 10 years old, a video of her standing next to this bombed out area of gaza has gone viral. we're not only talking about the bombing of gaza, this is on top of the pandemic that has so seriously devastated palestine even as israel has been hailed as the gold standard for providing vaccines to ease release. you wrote a piece "a quarantine inside the quarantine: a coronavirus diary from gaza." how does this latest bombing of gaza compound the suffering there? >> thank you. as the people have to deal with

the coronavirus pandemic, we have to deal with a different kind of pandemic. mostly israeli pandemic, which we have been suffering the past 73 years and still suffering from the system of oppression. mass killing, genocide it is very much hard for us to continue with the coronavirus and running the medical tests. [indiscernible] stopped running medical tests for the coronavirus because of the current situation and because of the airstrikes happening very close. we don't run tests anymore. we also have more of a situation

here. [indiscernible] we are very much traumatized and can't think about anything else. i did not know if i would still be alive. this is the current situation right now. talking about more than 40,000 palestinians who refuge in unrwa schools. it is very difficult to do the coronavirus was very hard for us to do it. amy: aya al ghazzawi, thank you for being with us palestinian , activist based in gaza who writes for "we are not numbers." she says hopefully we will still be alive when responding to

media requests. coming up, we go to amira hass her latest piece is "gaza ves erased: rael is ping out entirealestinian familieon purpe." ♪♪ [muc break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we continue to look at israel's attack on gaza and we are joined by amira hass, correspondent for ha'aretz. she is the only israeli jewish journalist to have spent over years living in and reporting 25 from gaza and the west bank. her latest piece is headlined "gaza lives erased: israel is wiping out entire palestinian families on purpose." amira hass, welcome back to

democracy now! yesterday there was a general strike, a protest in a gaza inside israel in the west bank, around the world for palestinians -- four palestinians were killed in the west bank where you are. can you talk about the situation overall. >> well, as you described it, over the past 20 minutes or so, it is is one country or the palestinians are being attacked on the one hand but on the other hand, they are rebelling. all over -- and i think we should not underestimate the political and military achievement of hamas to paralyze israeli -- for the past 10 days.

it is terrible because we think about the hell through which people in gaza live because of israeli offensive, but at the same time we have to remember it was a calculated decision by hamas to respond to israeli escalation in jerusalem during the ramadan month. to respond i i military ultimate into and the logic -- by military ultimatum, no launching of rockets, which [indiscernible] in a state of fear. when we think about the balance of power, it is an achievement for hamas and see my many palestinians. it is a way to say to israel, have not listened -- you have not responded to palestinians requests for a just solution for

the palestinian demands in a diplomatic way or unarmed uprising. so we escalate because you escalate and because you don't listen. and i think this puts hamas as the main palestinian political actor in the region and in the world. juan: in writing about the palestinian families obliterated by the israeli almonds. he wrote the numerous incidents of killing entire families and israeli bombings in gaza, parents and children, babies, granarents, siblings, a test these were not mistakes. they follow a decision from higher up backed by military dress. can you elaborate on that? >> israel has all information about every palestinian family,

whether it is in the west bank or jerusalem or gaza, let alone palestinians in israel. so it has control over the palestinian registry of population. actually, no details in this population registry is valid without israeli approval. so palestinians update regularly the israeli authorities abo any new board. so israeli authories and military must know in a certain house there are three children, one of them was born just half a year ago, and there are two women and two elderly women. so all of these details are there. when israel decides or the israeli army decides to bob such a house without bothering to

tell the people to leave it, it means they take into the calculation that they are military targets are more important orac is worth -- excue my language, is worthy of killing 10 children and five women. just an example. this was the characteristic of the war in 2014. there were 142 families@@ betwen three to more people who were eradicated by israeli bombing. so far i think the work 50 acfamilies in this current offensive. 15 families that were killed in a similar way. we could say maybe one family or two were killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. but when it is persisting and we know these people were killed

before dawn in their own homes, it means somebody just decided that this was ok. juan: i want to ask you about the role of the united states on the one hand clearly preventing the u.n. security from centering israel and president biden publicly sank israel has a right to defend itself but then his aides, to the press that privately, he is been a lot tougher with netanyahu, teing him he -- his patience is wearing thin and the attacks have to stop. this has happened so many times in the past where the united stat publicly says one thing that claims to be privately a lot tougher. what is your assessment of the u.s. role right now? >> you know much better than me and i must say this is the last days i hardly followed the international news. most of the time and following

what is happening in gaza. but in principle, and as usual, -- you know, it is very disappointing because we have heard in other terrain, biden administration did manage to cut off from the traditional former government, former administration, and certainly the administration of trump. but here again, this absolute loyalty to israel tells us they have -- that all of this military interest still benefits the israeli occupation machine. we do hope -- we know there has been a change in america public opinion, we say it is not

enough. the power of the israeli or the appeal of israeli know-how and military expertise and military arms is still stronger than the voice of the people with common sense in the united states. amy: biden says he supports the cease-fire but has not demanded one of netanyahu and has actively at the u.n. prevented resolutions from getting past at the u.n. security council. what difference would that make and can you talk about how this conflict serves netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, could not form even a coalition government, keep some in power? that it is in his interest, as he says, to continue the bombing into the future? >> first of all, [indiscernible]

will be saved. every minute is precious. we are all anxious for this to happen. and we all know this will warn the people who might be killed if the delay -- if there is a longer delay. [indiscernible] certainly for netanyahu and the right wing in general, it is usually the war that benefits the right wing and benefits the oppressors. of course it completely erase the possibility that a different gornment will be formed tear. it brought closer the different right wing sections maybe had some disagreement because of netanyahu. i don't know -- you know, some

israeli journalists say was calculated on the part of netanyahu. i doubt it. the big picture is the wle radan, the israeli coalition in jerusalem during ramadan, the regressive policies, are the same threat or the same logic that has been here for so long, which is to repress the palestinians and dislocate them forcibly and not only in sheikh jarrah. we hear about sheikh jarrah, but so many poli communities in the west bank are in danger of being dislocated by israeli authorities and have been dislocated forcibly. yes, but it has benefited so far the israeli right wing. the israeli right-wing settlers

-- i mean, they're all the right wing, but there joining the forces inside israel and intimidate palestinians and posting in cities -- instigate clashes and attack them. palestinians -- some have also expressed their anger in different ways, including vandalism, but for different reasons. they had to express their anger about israeli policies and repression. so far, it has benefited netanyahu. we don't know how he will be in the longer run. but i careless about netanyahu [indiscernible] i care about the strengthening of the israeli chauvinistic and

what i was say the forces in israel that advocate -- how to they say , the repetition of thenakba, expulsion, who see this as an opportunity to promote the policies of ethnic cleansing. this is more worrying. so far, it seems this is what is happening. it is not that the israelis learned the lesson of fear and of having their lives disrupted and say, ok, let's find a political way to get out of it. it seems -- juan: what i wanted to ask you is precisely about this issue, what we're saying is, clearly, in terms of within israel itself

or the palestinian communities within israel, for the first time really expressing clear action and solidarityith the rest of the palestinian people, you don't have a sense that this is giving -- making the regular israeli population feel it is untenable to continue this oppression of the palestinians in general, that in the long term israel cannot be victorious in this? >> i want to believe, but so far -- maybe it is too early. but so far when i listen to the news -- and i must say i this and very little to israeli news because it can drive you mad how one side [indiscernible] from the little that i read and see, people still do not connect

the dots. they do not connect 48 -- 21948. they do not connect it to the ongoing settler colonialism in the west bank mostly. they do not connect it to the fact gaza has been under blockade and sees an closure, not just for the last 14 years as people say, but since the beginning of the 1990's is replaced gaza on the regime of very strict -- restrictions of movement. i don't see this awareness is strong enough. there must be something much stronger like an international intervention, political

intervention, economic intervention to bring more sense to be israeli mind. that is my impression now. i really hope i am wrong. i really hope that once this is over, israelis will understand this is untenable, that the present regime is untenable. but right now it is israelis being attacke not vicversa. thiss the ma messagehat i receiv fm the ttlehat i ow, i mu say, because i am heren the west bank. y: youut out the book of your mother about the sole surviving diary of a holocaust resistance fighter written from inside the nazi concentration comes about your mother. can you talk about what we are seeing on the streets in israel

now where you have jewish mobs attacking palestinians? in one case, unlike tv, they thought the person was a palestinian -- in fact, they attacked a jewish driver. but can you relate this back to -- because so much of this certainly as it is conveyed in the u.s. media, is always going back to the holocaust and the persecution of the jews but similars you the persecution of palestinians? -- similarities the persecution of the palestinians? >> i could think more about afro-americans in the united states or the position the palestinians here are much more -- have agency, much more than the jews during iq said, the concentration camps, that my

mother hadwhen she was -- i mother had when she was in the concentration camps. and much more than jews had in germany in 1934, 1935. i think while we are all shocked by the scenes of attack, let's not underestimate the strength and the power and the unity that palestinians demonstrate and their political awareness. the young palestinians who feel they don't have leadership but nevertheless our united by their common experience. i think this should not be unrestimed and overlked. anyou ve cas. give ces in rael wer palestinianshink jish vilians o did noing wrg to tm. i thinkhere is big

fferenceecause aga, is a cmunityhat habeen repressefor soong -- if iant to s somethi about i family's past, its not ts one-to-one apparel -- ra sten, buthe lesns got om marentsnd t princies tt- peop are ual d shld be equalnd peop's ghts a peopl should enjoy t rightto freedo and elent a to fulfillmt. and any rression,ithout being coared to th oppressions -- i don'tnow, in

south afca or thsoviet uon or wteve everyppression comevery supremacy oppreson is wrg an the perpeators e r enemie this imy lesso amy: ara hass, thankou s mu for bng with , for s corrpondent -- 'etz corrpondent r the ocpied pastine rritorie speakin us fr ramallah. we comeack,ndrew brn, the verdicfrom thea is iwas a police offics who kied him in north carolina wl not be charge we wl speak th the fily attorney bakari sellers in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in north carolina, protesters took to the street after that pasquotank county district attorneys at the debbie's who shot and killed andrew brown, jr. were justified in their actions that brown endangered them by recklessly driving in their direction. the da said the men will not face charges and will be reinstated. the prosecutor showed for the first time a portion of the body camera video to the press but advocates say it was cherry picked and calls are mounting to release all bodycam tape. video seen by brown's family show he did not drive toward

deputies and an autopsy confirmed brown was killed by a shot to the back of his head. for more we go to bakari sellers, one of the attorneys representing the family of andrew brown, jr. he's also author of the memoir "my vanishing country." can you respond to the da's decision not to prosecute the police officers and what we understand exactly happened to andrew brown? close first, thank you for having me this morning. we are disappointed but we are not surprised. just last week we wrote a letter to andrew womble asking him to recuse himself from this matter. we felt the relationship he had with the sheriffs department working incestuous lee for the past nearly decade not going to bring his office literally resides in the sheriffs department, proved he cannot be an impartial and unbiased figure in this case. i want to be clear come the shooting of andrew brown, jr.

was unjustified. at no point was he using his car as a weapon. the two contacts andrew womble points to that were made with the vecle were both initiated by law enforcement was of the rst was an officer reaching out and touching the door handle when andrew brown backed up his car to move away from law enforcement. no officers were behind him. the second is when andrew brown turn his will to the left to evade and get away from officers. if he wanted to use his car like a bowling ball and treat the officers like bowling pins, he would have gone straight for them. instead, he evaded them. an officer reached out and pushed away. he must be noted that officer who pushed away did not even feel like his life was in danger as evident by the fact he did not hire any shots. he was one of four officers who did not firesides. when andrew brown was the only officers -- even if he did pose a threat, when the threat was no more, they fired the killed shot which went through the back of his head.

andrew womble had no explanation. the last thing is, there was a question about whether they violated policy, the answer is yes because the policy clearly states they should not shoot into moving vehicles. are they reckless? the answer is clearly yes because they fired an aar round that when into someone's kitchen come into their crockpot. they fired and in the direction of other officers. last but not least come into schools of at 8:20 and in the morning. andrew brown should be alive today but he is not because of the recklessness and i would dare say the cowardice of the sheriffs department. juan: you and other attorneys representing the family have called for the court to release the full video. why hasn't the video been released? what do you think it wouldhow? >> we stand on the side of justice and truth. to be completely honest, i think -- we know this. all you to do is look at the ma'khia bryant scenario in ohio.

look, if andrew brown, jr. was using his car as a weapon, i think we all know we would've seen all of the video by now. remember, no officer was injured. no officerell to the ground. no officer even sought medical treatment. most people say lawyers, we are games been and we like to hide, we create facts. we're just asking for the video because the video speaks for itself. the recklessness is evident. show people the video and show people the fbi report. we will stand on those facts any day of the week. amy: independent prosecution here, an independent investigation and what would that look like? how would the george floyd legislation in congress affect the case of andrew brown? looks you asked two good questions. they tied together in a nice

bow. the first question about independent investigation or independent prosecutor, we likely will not get that. the reason being because in north carolina, like many states, obstruction is common. we had to literally change legislation and go through heaven and hell to even gain access to the video and we still don't have it. that is because of legislation. we can't get the da to recuse himself from the case. he literally has to recuse himself. there is no manner that we can go about to get him off the case. so the attorney general or another district attorney cannot take the case. therefore, having a special prosecutor something unlikely. we set the expectations for the family. that is one. two, the george floyd justice and policing act does lower the standard whereby you can bring federal civil rights crime against law enforcement that commit crimes such as this. if this bill passes, we do

believe we will have an opportunity for these officers to face justice. changing qualified immunity, although we don't believe that to be a case because they clearly violated their own written policy in this manner and in this case, and i will tell you some of the sausage making when you're doing these civil rights cases, when an individual is shot from the front, can have a reasonable fear or belief my life was in danger -- although we know in many cases that is not accurate. when an individual is shot from behind, going away, that is very difficult to explain. we don't think we will fall in the qualified immunity trap. but if we were -- amy: five seconds. >> the george floyd justice in policing act would change that as well. we want to cnge laws at every level. amy: bakari sellers, thank you for being with us, attorney representing the family of andrew brown, jr. that doesn't for our show -- that does it for our show.

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i've come a long way for this one, to one of the largest, southernmost cities in the world. for the entire time that i've been alive, buenos aires and argentina have suffered under an oppressive and brutal military dictatorship, or faced one massive economic meltdown after another. the international profile of this city is tango, football, latin lifestyle - a south american city with a european feel. but what about the porteños, the nickname for the citizens of buenos aires? how do they roll with it? these politics, economics and growing social inequality. what is it like to struggle to build a more