06/16/22 06/16/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york this is democracy now! >> i am especially pleased to be able to announce today the united states will provide an additional $1 billion security system package f ukraine. >> we need to stop the killing in ukraine. sending weapons without a diplomatic strategy --

amy: the united states announces an additional $1 billion in military aid to ukraine in a massive arms package announced at nato headquarters. with no end in sight for the war are u.s. spending on military spending in ukraine, we will speak with bill hartung, author of "prophets of war: lockheed martin and the making of the military-industrial complex." then president biden celebrates pride month at the white house. pres. biden: look at what happened in idaho last week and post of 31 white supremacists stopped just before they reached the pride celebration with a plan to unleash violence on people gathering peacefully in a show of their pride. while attacks include ongoing attacks on transgender women of color commit make our nation less safe because the attacks are more than ever last year and are on pace again this year. amy: the recent wave of violent

confrontation comes amidst the escalation of anti-lgbtq rhetoric among far right media figures and politicians. we will spk with ari drennen and michael edison hayden, whose new hatewatch analysis is headlined "far right influencers hyped coeur d'alene pride before patriot front showed up." we will also speak with jennicet gutiérrez. she was invited to the white house pride month celebration but declined to protest the detention and deportation of lgbtq immigrants and asylum-seekers. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the united nations refugee agency says the number of people displaced from their homes

worldwide has reached a new high -- a staggering new new high of over 100 million. that's up from 89 million just a few months ago due in part to russia's invasion of ukraine and growing food crisis. this is united nations high commissioner for refugees filippo grandi. >> will this also because people -- it is difficult to tell, but i cannot imagine how if you have a food crisis on top of everything that i have described, war, human rights, climate, you name it, on top of that you have a food crisis, it will just accelerate the trends that are described in this report and that we have seen exhilarating already in the first few months of the year. amy: the surge in global refugees comes as parts of africa are facing its worst drought in decades at a time when food and energy costs are

soaring. the united nations has warned 350,000 children in somalia could die by the end of the summer. a recent report by two u.n. agencies estimated an all-time high of up to 49 million people in 46 countries could now be at risk of falling into famine or famine-like conditions. earlier this week, congressmember ilhan omar, who is a somali refugee, tweeted, "this should be the biggest story in the world right now." the leaders of germany, france, and italy have arrived in kyiv to meet with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. during a stop in the ukrainian city, french president amanda macron criticized what he called russian barbarism. head of the trip, macron repeated his call for ukraine and russia to hold talks to end the war. >> at some point when we have

helped as much as we can and hope ukraine will have one in for the fighting to have stopped, we will have to negotiate. the ukrainian president and his officials will have to negotiate with russia and we, europeans, will be at the table. amy: on wednesday, chinese president xi jinping spoke by phone with russian president vladimir putin in the second known call between the two leaders since the war began. xi reportedly expressed support r russia's "sovereignty and security" and pledged to increase ties with moscow. he is also said to have called on all parties to push for a "proper settlement of the ukraine crisis." also on wednesday, nato defense leaders met in brussels and pledged to increase military support for ukraine. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin announced a new $1 billion u.s. military package. the nato meeting came as heaving

fighting continues in eastern ukraine. the united nations is warning 10,000 civilians trapped in the ukrainian city of severodonetsk are running out of essential supplies. russia haseized about 80% of the city. meanwhile, ukrainian forces have reportedly shelled a maternity ward and four other health facilities in donetsk, an area controlled by russia. according to the united nations, no one was killed or injured but me pregnant women had to be transferred to other hospitals. in other news from ukraine, two u.s. veterans who volunteered to fight with ukraine have been missing since june 9. this according to their families. the state department has not confirmed the reports. brazilian authorities say a suspect has confessed to killing and dismembering british journalist dom phillips and the brazilian indigenous expert bruno araújo pereira.

brazilian police said the suspect led them to a spot where human remains were found. in a statement, a local indigenous group condemned the murders and praised the work of phillips and pereira saying -- "they were both human rights defenders and died doing work to look after us indigenous people." days before pereira went missing, he portedly received threats for his efforts totop illegal fishing in the area. the two suspects arrested so far are brothers who fish. -- who fish for a living. a number of new revelations have come to light about donald trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election and the january 6 insurrection. on wednesday, the january 6 house select committee released video evidence that republican congressmember barry loudermilk gave a private tour of the capitol to a group of people on january 5, one day before the inection. at the time, the capitol was

closed to the public. in the video, one n on the tour is seeing photographing stairways, tunnels, hallways, and security checkpoin. the committee also released what it says is video from january 6 from outside the capitol of one of the men who was on the tour with south carolina congressmember loudermilk. >> there is no escape, for lucy -- pelosi, schumer, nadler. we are coming for you. we are coming in like white on rice forpelosi, nadler, schumer, even you, aoc. we are coming to take you out. pull you out by your hairs. how about that, pelosi?

you might as well go and make yourself another appointment. when i get down with you, you're going to need a shine up on top of that bald head. amy: correction on the tour that was held the day before, it was conducted by georgia congressman loudermilk. the january 6 committee is holding its third public hearing today beginning at 1:00 p.m. eastern. democracy now! will livestream it at democracynow.org. the hearing is expected to focus on donald trump's efforts to pressure mike pence to block joe biden from becoming president. part of that effort was led by trump legal advisor john eastman, who claimed pence could singlehandedly overturn the election. in related news, "the washington post" reporting ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, exchanged emails with eastman about the election. meanwhile, "the new york times" reports that eastman appeared to have inside knowledge of a

debate within the supreme court over how it should handle trump's election fraud claims. in an email sent in late december 2020, eastman wrote, "i understand that there is a heated fight underway." another pro-trump lawyer responded, writing that the "odds of action before january 6 will become more favorable if the justices start to fear that there will be 'wild' chaos on january 6 unless they rule by then, either way." john eastman is a former law clerk of justice clarence thomas. in more news on the january 6 insurrection, new court filings show the leader of the far-right crowd was received plans to occupy six congressional office buildings as well as the supreme court around the time of january 6. the document was titled "1776 returns." one section of the report was named "storm the winter palace."

part of the document reads, "no trump, no america." new mexico's state supreme court has ordered a republican-led county commission to certify the results of the june 7 primary. the commission has refused to do so citing conspiracy theories about the county's voting machines which were made by the company dominion. one member of the otero county commission is couy griffin who co-founded the group cowboys for trump and once said, "the only good democrat is a dead democrat." griffin faces sentencing on friday for his role in the january 6 insurrection. the standoff in new mexico comes as voting rights activists are expressing increasing alarm as supporters of trump's attempted coup take control of more local election bodies.

an advisory panel to the food and drug administration has unanimously recommended approval of pfizer and moderna vaccines for babies and young children. the fda could authorize the vaccines as soon friday, which means shots could be available beginning next week. states have already ordered millions of shots, but there has been one exception. florida has not pre-ordered any covid shots for kids. in other covid news, the national institutes of health has announced dr. anthony fauci has tested positive for covid-19. the 81-year-old doctor is reportedly experiencing mild symptoms. ineneva,ublic heth activists staged a die-in protest at the world trade organization summit wednesday. they were calling on natio to embrace a broad waiver on intellectual property rules to save lives during the covid paemic.

in economic news, the federal reserve has increased interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point in an attempt to combat rising inflation. it's the largest rate hike since 1994. the rate hike will make it more expensive for people to borrow for homes, cars, and get other loans. the justice department has filed federal hate crimes charges against the 18-year-old gunman who shot dead 10 black people at a buffalo supermarket last month. if convicted, payton gendron could be sentenced death penalty even though the biden administration has imposed a moratorium on federal executions. attorney general merrick garland spoke wednesday. >> the affidavit in support of the complaint, his goal was to "kill as many blacks as possible." the affidavit lines how the defendant prepared for months to carry out this attack.

it alleges he selected a target in this zip code because it has the highest percentage of lack people close enough to where he lives. amy: the attorney general was speaking in buffalo. and in washington, d.c., the street outside the saudi embassy has been officially renamed jamal khashoggi way honor "the washington post" columnist who was dismembered inside the saudi consulate in istanbul almost four years ago. the d.c. city council approved the name change last year. a street-naming ceremony was held wednesday, just weeks before president biden is scheduled to visit sau arabia in an effort to mend ties with the oil-rich kingdom the yemeni-born nobel peace prize winner tawakkol karman spoke at the ceremony in d.c. and criticized biden's trip. >> this means that biden has abandon his commitment to support human rights around the world, that biden has abandoned

his commitment to banish jamal khashoggi's killer. that biden has abandoned his promises to his people that he will be -- fighters around the world. and this is shame. it is shame. shame on the biden administration. amy: she won the nobel peace prize. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show with ukraine as leaders of germany, france, and italy are in kyiv to meet with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. ahead of the trip, french president emmanuel macron voiced his support for ukraine but repeated his call for ukraine and russia to hold talks to end the war.

>> because at some point when we have helped as much as possible, and i hope ukraine -- above all for the fighting to have stopped, we will have to negotiate stop the you -- the ukrainian president and his officials will have to negotiate with russia and we europeans will get the table bringing of the guarantees of security, the element which concern our continent, and that is the realitof things. amy: on wednesday, chinese president xi jinping spoke by phone with russian president vladimir putin in the second known call between the two leaders since the war began. xi reportedly expressed support for russia's "sovereignty and security" and pledged to increase ties with moscow. he is also said to have called on all parties to push for a "proper settlement of the ukraine crisis." also on wednesday, nato defense leaders met in brussels and pledged to increase military support for ukraine. speaking at nato headquarters in

belgium, defense secretary lloyd austin announced a new $1 billion u.s. military package. >> i am especially pleased to be able to announce today the united states will provide an additional $1 billion security assistant package for ukraine. that includes our 12 drawdown from dod inventory since august of 2021. it includes guided munitions, 18 more m777 howitzers, and tactical vehicles to tow them and 36,000 rounds of ammunition. amy: "the washington post" reports the massive arms package includes mobile harpoon anti-ship missile launchers amid concerns russia will target port cities of ukraine. for more, we're joined by bill hartung, national security and foreign policy expert at the

quincy institute for responsible statecraft. author of "prophets of war: lockheed martin and the making of the military-industrial complex." his latest piece in forbes is headlined "hawks' arguments for jacking up pentagon spending make no sense." bill hartung, welcome back to democracy now! explain that piece. >> well, here we have emergency aid to ukraine, $53 billion put which is one of the largest packages ever come about twice the peak levels of aid to the afghan security forces during that 20 year war. then you have members of congress and, oh, that is not enough, you also have to jack up the pentagon's regular budget, which biden has proposed at $813 billion, enormous figure, larger than the peaks of the vietnam war, korean war, hundred million dollars or more to the excess of

the cold war. you already have this huge budget and people like james inhofe, mike rogers of alabama, want to at least 50 billion dollars to that and part of the rationale is to support ukraine, which is stop force for increases that they were pushing anyway before the war started. a mako talk more about this billion dollars on top of the tens of billions the u.s. has pledged and sent ukraine. explain how it works. what is paid for, what is just the ascending weapons? >> some is what they call drawdown authority, which comes out of u.s. stocks. some is from a special assistance fund that is in the pentagon budget. so some of the money comes directly to the contractors, some gets paid later because there are funds to replenish those stocks by giving contracts

to lockheed martin and raytheon and boeing and the other countries that are cashing in on this war. there are multiple ways they're getting paid, but there even kind of crowing about this to their investors that this is going to be a source of revenue for them for some time to come. amy: let's go to the lockheed martin ceo speaking to cbs's "face the nation" last month. >> we are planning for the long run, not just in the javelin. this has highlighted a couple of important things for us. one is when you have superior systems in large enough numbers like advanced cruise missiles, javelin stingers, equipment like that. so we know there's going to be increased demand for those kinds of systems on the u.s. and for our allies as well and beyond into asia pacific, most likely, too. the second valuable lesson, control of the airspace is critical. the ukrainians are managing to control the airspace.

the reason the russians don't have ntrol is ukrainians can still fly their aircraft and have a pretty effective integrated air and missile defense system. products and systems like f-16, f-35, patriot missiles -- we know there's going to be increased demand for those kinds of equipment, too, because the threat between russia and china is just going to increase even after the ukraine war, we hope is over soon, those two nations and regionally around north korea are not going to get less active, probably will get more active. a mako that is the ceo of lockheed martin. >> quite extraordinary. that was a commercial for lockheed martin, run as if it was a news interview. it was grounded in fear

mongering that russia, about china, iran, north korea. many of these issues have to be dealt with diplomatically. there's no way to buy yourself out of these challenges militarily. russia has shown its weakness in ukraine. it cannot possibly threat nato members in europe. china spends one third of what the u.s. spends on its military. the u.s. has a superior air force. ultimately, that problem needs to be solved through diplomacy stuff we need to cooperate on writing the local economy. this kind of military first roach is just going to undermine security of america and the world and companies like lockheed martin are fueling that with the kind of interview that their ceo gave on a national news network. amy: it is not only the networks

brought to you have a break for commercials every however many minutes, five or six minutes and often they are military weapons manufacturers, but they are actually the so-called news itself is now your having analysis of foreign policy by the weapons ceos. >> exactly. after this news commercial, we will bring you another commercial, basically. amy: the stockholm of international peace resurgence institute is warning the risk of nuclear war is higher today than at any time since the height of the cold war. it was in its annual report, saying the global stockpile of nuclear weapons is expected to soon rise for the first time in decades as the u.s., russia, cha, france, and the united kingdom move to expanded or mornize their arsenals. u. and russia possessing about

90% of the world's nuclear warheads. how concerned should people be, bill hartung? >> i think the biggest concern comes with ukraine. if that conflict escalates into u.s.-russian or nato-russian confrontation, the risk of nuclear war will go up significantly. the u.s. modernization program, $2 trillion over three decades, is part of that arms race and should be scaled back as some members of congress have called for. there needs to be discussions about this among the nuclear powers. athe moment, there are no real channels between the u.s. and china. there is only one treaty left between the united states and russia, the new start treaty. as far as we know, there are not ev low-level talks going on about reducing the nuclear dangers going forward. we are at a turning point where the public has to speak up. a majority of americans are concerned about nuclear weapons in a way that probably have not been since the 1980's.

back then it provoked a major nuclear disarmament movement. 19 people in central park. -- one million people in central park. with all people of a deal with, this is another item that should be high on their agenda in terms of making the world a safer place. we have things coming up like the poor people's march on saturday, which will raise a range of issues about things like reducing the military budget and funding human needs, many needs of the port our country and so forth. i think there is movement out there, but it needs to be accelerated. i think all of us need to be thinking about this because we cannot rely on the governments to take care of this problem if they don't feel pressure from the public. amy: in a recent piece you wrote , bill, you say, "there can be no foreign policy for the metal

class without a diplomatic resolution to the ukraine war." you talk about u.s. funding for the ukraine war and a comparative context. explain what you found. >> the big package, the two emergency packages, 53 billion dollars, is more than the biden administration is allocated to deal with climate change and its most recent budget. it is a must as big as the budget of the state department. the military piece, more than twice the peak year of afghan security forces. it is an norma's package at a time when many other progrs are not nearly at theevels they need and defeated the bill back better plan. there has to be other means pursued to fund some of these needs. if it is an open-ended commitment to ukraine without a diplomatic strategy and it is also $800 billion plus pentagon

budget, there is just not a lot of money left to meet things like dealing with the pandemic, climate change, racial economic injustice -- which on a day-to-day bus does, are a greater threat to people's lives that anything we have to face militarily. a mako just on that point about the comparisons of where money is going, you say the pentagon request includes a weapon system, f-35 combat air rep program slated to get as much as the entire discretionary budget of the centers for disease control. the significance? close perfect example of how skewed our priorities are. i million americans have died with the covid pandemic. far more than every war going back probably to world war i. the fact you can't invest their but by aircraft that is overpriced, underperforming, not really necessary as part of a

rational defense strategy, is testament in part to the power of the military gestural complex. there is an f-35 caucus that pushes this in the house. members have gotten pieces in a district. the industry as a whole has 700 lobbyists. they spend millions and millions of dollars on campaign contributions. their voices are heard much more loudly in the halls of congress and the voices of people who are calling for more rational budget priorities to meet our needs. that is why think their march on saturday will be a big used to the national conversation about getting our priorities straight. amy: finally, bill, how could the u.s. push ukraine and possibly russia, if you think that is possible, to engage in peace talks? >> well, ultimately, the government of ukraine will have to decide what kind of

compromises it is going to make. i think the u.s. can ratchet down the rhetoric, stop talking about pushing putin into a corner. i think certainly the sanctions may have to be adjusted in the context of a peace talk. i think there could be a channel of the ascending a signal to both ukraine and russia there needs to be a negotiated end to this war, end to the killing. ultimately, the two parties will have to work it out but the u.s. is a major player and it should not just -- should not just be sending weapons without some sort of diplomatic strategy. a mako do you see that media egging on the military response of the united states? >> well, at different points, the media really has kind of pushed a more hawkish response. there was the whole thing early on, no-fly zone, which would have meant direct u.s. russian military engagements.

sending the weapons more quickly. this is quite an extraordinary arming campaign of the likes we probably have not seen since world war ii just in terms of the volume of weapons and so forth. the idea that just sending more weapons or even escalating to further measures is going to end the war, i think is both misguided and dangerous. a mako bill hartung, thank you for being with us national , security & foreign policy expert at the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. author of "prophets of war: lockheed martin and the making of the military-industrial complex." we will link to your latest piece in forbes headlined "hawks' arguments for jacking up pentagon spending make no sense." next up, as president biden marks pride month at the white house, we look at a wave of violent confrontations amidst an escalation of anti-lgbtq rhetoric among far right media

figures and politicians. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "found my friends" by hayley kiyoko. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in a pride month celebration and address at the white house wednesday, president biden announced several executive actions to address a slew of state-level discriminatory laws in republican-led states that target the rights of lgbtq+ children and adults. the order seeks to discourage so-called conversion therapy, discredited practice to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, and also aimed to promote gender affirming surgery and expand foster care

protections for gay and transgender parents and children. in a ceremony in the east room, president biden said he was moved to take action to prevent what he called "hateful attacks" by republican governors and lawmakers. pres. biden: i don't have to tell you about the ultra maga agenda attacking families and friends. 300 is from the tray bills introduced. in texas, knocking on front doors to investigate parents who are raising transgender children. in florida, going after mickey mouse, for god sake. [laughter] pres. biden: that is hitting close to home. i think about this. these attacks are real inconsequential for real families. real families. just look at what happen in idaho last weekend. 31 white supremacist stopped

just before they reached the pride celebration where they apparently plan to unleash violence people gathering peacefully in a show of their pride. i am grateful of the swift response of law enforcement. they responded. violent attacks on community's including ongoing attacks on transgender women of color make our nation less save. amy: in addition to legislative attacks on the rights of lgbtq+ people, biden mentioned saturday's foiled attack on a pride event in coeur d'alene, idaho. 31 members of the neo-nazi group patriot front were arrested. police said the men were found packed into a u-haul truck armed with riot gear, including a smoke grenade and shields. a tipster had called police

saying they had seen a "little army" being loaded into the truck at a nearby hotel. at a news conference, coeur d'alene police chief lee white said the members of the patriot front were arrested on charges of conspiracy to riot. >> they were wearing arm patches, one said patriot front. the majority had logos on their hats. there were also wearing khaki pants and dressed exactly the same, or similar. if you go online and look at patriot front, that is how these individuals are addressed. amy: police officers in idaho say they've received death threats since arresting the patriot front members, who were released on bail set at $300 per person. also on saturday, the same day of the planned attack on the pride event in coeur d'alene, members of the far-right proud boys interrupted a drag queen story hour for kids at a library at the san lorenzo public library in california.

they confronted the host kyle chu, whose drag name is panda dulce, who recounted the ordeal to kpix tv. >> i have always received death threats, hate now for doing drag queen story hour. this type it felt very close to violence. it was extremely loud. was a cacophony of voices yelling, taunting me, calling me a pedophile, an "it" and interrogating the parents, why are you bringing your kids to this? one child look to their mom and was like, what is going on? who are these people? thesmen were towering over them. one of them was wearing a shirt with an ak-47 on it and it said "kill your local pedophile." amy: leading up to both the attack in idaho and on the drag queen story hour in the bay

area, both events were the focus of a viral right-wing influencer account called "libs of tiktok," which our next guests say helped set the stage white supremacists to target them. for more on all of this, we're joined in berkeley, california, by ari drennen, lgbtq program director for media matters, and michael edison hayden, senior investigative reporter with southern poverty law center where he focuses on internet radicalization and far-right extremism. his latest hatewatch analysis is headlined "far-right influencers hyped coeur d'alene pride before patriot front showed up." we welcome you both to democracy now! michael edison hayden, can you explain what happened in coeur d'alene? a little army packed into a u-haul? what if the police had not found them? >> obviously, of the situation could have been a lot worse. we have seen patriot front use this kind of u-haul tactic where

they rent out a u-haul and pack all of their guys quite uncomfortably into the truck and unleash them at these events where usually people are expressing themselves. women's march, for example, was one target where they try to steal the show and direct attention to their own explicitly fascist agenda. essentially what they do. obviously, whenever there are white supremacists trying to mix it up with people in the lgbtq community, there is always the potential for violence. amy: can you explain to the patriot front is and who the leader is? >> if you recall and charlottesville during unite the right, there's a group called vanguard america. james fields, that the killer of heather heyer, marched wit vanguard america that day and after his murder became

international headline news, the group rebranded as patriot front. they had the slogan reclaim america. it is a lot of garbage about reclaiming this european ancestry in the united states and essentially they are trying to sell people who might be predisposed to conservative propaganda to find this explicly fascist propaganda by using all kinds of conservative trope, patriot front. that is basically who they are. they tend to get anywhere between 30 or so people you saw there and as many as 50 to 80 people marching at an event. that is basically who they are. amy: a mother of one of these men said she realized he was getting radicalized, his first commons work denying the

holocaust and she was trying to figure out how to stop him. she . then you have this proud boys attack, michael, in the bay area. explain for people who are not familiar with who the proud boys are, the group of leaders now just indicted for seditious conspiracy for the january 6 insurrection. >> the proud boys are i neofascist group that is becoming notorious for these street roles and now during the insurrection on january 6, really elevated their game to every coordinated operation we saw that day. so one of the figures is wearing a shirt that says "killed pedophiles" or whatever, and it is important understand the context of that, pedophile doesn't mean pedophile commit means any person who is

lgbtq. we have seen this pushed heavily starting in april online. just using this term "groomer" on social media. twitter lets them do it essentially. basically, constantly equating trans trans any person who is, gay, with being pedophile. in a person comes in and they are part of it neofascist street gang, they're saying kill a person who is lgbtq. amy: in coeur d'alene where the little army was picked up, that is right next to the significance of idaho for the white supremacists. coeur d'alene right next to area nations compound where they used to have it. >> yes. it is -- kind of a home game for

the white supremacist movement in that sense. and a place i probably felt they could exploit. the nature of the location, they could have chosen a lot of different locations. they chose one that influencers, particularly on twitter, which is proving itself to be really the worst of the major sites for me, you know, could direct the attention of their followers t this relatively small event where people are bravely coming out and showing their support for the lgbt to community, to focus on disruption and creating care. amy: ari drennen, who are the libsoftiktok? >> thank you. it is a little confusing it is not been tiktok account.

they were shut down a long time ago. the twitter account that has over the course of the year sort of escalated its attack on lgbtq teachers and has more recently moved into highlighting events featuring drag queens with the allegation, you know, one thread they posted, these events and to "confuse, corrupt, or sexualized kids." amy: talk about how the role of the libsoftiktok, how they talk about lgbtq+ people, what are some of the more troubling things you have found, and this wave of attacks, either the actual violent attacks for attacks in the making because coeur d'alene did not actually play outcome as well as legislation across the country.

>> unfortunately, libs of tiktok has a huge reach. it gets even larger when you consider who they are influencing most of we at media matters have tracked how content motivated by libs of tiktok is often ended up on fox news where the basically used it as a wire service. the podcaster joe rogan, an audience of many million people, has frequently said this is his favorite twitter account and tells his audience to follow this twitter account. governor desantis in florida, his press secretary actually credited the account libs of tiktok with her decision frame the don't say gay bill in florida as a "anti-grooming bill" rather than how it had been originally frame 21st attracted significant public debate. amy: can you talk about that

connection you see between anti-lgbtq attacks and white supremacist gros? >> the two are pretty inextricable. a lot of these were the same groups that were involved or same actors that were involved in charlottesville, involved in the storming of the capitol, and now seeing the lgbtq community as a target and treating them as a threat to children. we are continuing to see violent action there that is escalating the sort of online rhetoric that we have been tracking. in march, for example, libs of tiktok was the top twitter user that was amplifying lgbtq hate attacks. amy: also, fox news recently ran a positive segment on a trans teenager. can you talk about what the

segment covered and the reaction to it and how that fits into the overall fox attack on trans people? >> that was quite a surprising segment to see last friday. fox news one of the more news focused programs, ran a profile of a southern california trans teenager and s support of family, just talking about how transitioning was something that had allowed ryland to develop and grow as a person and having the support of his family. predictably, the right-wing media, especially on twitter, were very upset see this nd of content on fox news. they are used to much more negative spin lgbtq on from fox news. during 13 week stretch earlier this year, fox news aired 170 attacks on trans people

specifically, really focusing on swimmer leah thomas, biden administration officials, and fear mongering about health care, surgery for trans people, and just gerally creating this culture of fear. multiple times this week, fox news host tucker carlsen has lled for physical violence against lgbtq people who he says echoing some of the dangerous etoric we have seen are a threat to children. amy: let me ask you about the pride event. we will be talking more about it in a moment. but on wednesday, president biden signed an executive order banning the use of federal funds to finance conversion therapy. also wednesday, "the new york times" published a piece titled "the battle over gender therapy" which stirred a lot of reaction, much of it negative among many

trans people online. what did you think of the peace? >> it was an interesting a very long piece but i think part of the reason that so many specifically trans people and people have been working in the space for a very long time were frustrated by it is "the new york times" continues to sensationalize trans people around these kind of very long intellectual debate pieces about standards of trans health care while ignoring the reality most trans people don't have access to health care for economic or political reasons. according to a study by the williams institute at ucla, trans people are over four times more likely to experience violence victimization. this fits in with a pattern of coverage that is not connected to the experience many trans

people are having in this country at a time when this is a community that is under direct attack fro right-wing politicians and actors across the country. amy: finally, michael, are you concerned and it is pride month seeing a massive uptick in violent attacks as a gay pride -- as gay pride parades are having across the country, not only this month, but beyond? >> well, the first thing is i don't want to increase alarm among people and the last thing i would like to do is get people pause for going out and celebrating pride. you should do that because it is what is driving these fascist crazy. if you back down from them, that is what they want. that is the first thing. on the other hand, in terms of monitoring, yeah, what concerns

me and has concerned a lot of people who monitor these spaces over the last few months is, again, starting in april and may and right now into pride, there has been a concerted effort to ramp up rhetoric relating lgbtq people to pedophilia. a lot of it is from influencers, many on twitter. this message is being received by people who are potentially violent. yeah, obviously, i am very concerned about it. again, don't be afraid of these people. just be careful, cautious, and alert to what might happen. amy: michael edison hayden, senior investigative reporter with southern poverty law center, and ari drennen, lgbtq program director for media matters.

next up, we speak with someone who declined an invitation to biden's pride celebration. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "libre" by niña dioz. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today show with someone who was invited to the white house on wednesday but did not intend president biden's pride

month celebration. jennicet gutiérrez is a community organizer and advocate with familia: trans queer liberation movement. she declined the invitation to attend in order to protest the biden administration's detention and deportation of lgbtq+ immigrants and asylum seekers. in a letter addressed to president biden and first lady dr. jill biden, she wrote -- "there should be no white house celebration when trans and queer communities are suffering and being detained by your administration. there is no pride in detention." jennicet, welcome back to democracy now! president biden signed executive actions to support the trans community but you felt strongly you wanted to te a stand yesterday. although you are invited. talk more about why you did not go to the white house. >> thank you for having me back. lgbtq people are under attack.

people living with hiv or any medical condition are still being detained and deported. so knowing this, i could join the celebration. amy: you are in phoenix, which, by the way, is extremely hot for people who are not following the news. well over 100 degrees now over the last days. talk about arizona and what is happening to people on the border. >> yes, thank you. arizona is one of the states, along with texas, florida, alabama, who have governors signing bills targeting specifically transgender people. we are mobilizing that it is not ok for our community to be targeted, to be scapegoated

because lives are wrecked. we will continue to do everything we can, amy, in the organizing power committee to make sure our voices are heard in our issues are being centered. amy: we spoke to you in 2015 when he interrupted a speech by president obama. i want to play a clip. this was a gathering celebrating pride month at the white house seven years ago. pres. obama: i told you the civil rights act -- >> president obama -- release all lgbtq detention centers. president obama, stop the torture and abuse of trans women in detention centers. president obama, i am a trans woman. i'm tired of the abuse. i'm tired -- amy: that is jennicet gutiérrez

in 2015. standing next to president obama with vice president biden, who is now president. do you feel he has any better? if you did meet with biden, what would you tell him? >> he has not done better. he has been in power for too long, even before becoming president. he was a senator, vice president coming now the most powerful man in the world and finally he signed an executive order but, you know, it is not enough. it will never be enough. we cannot and will never forget the most vulnerable among us. we cannot just applied and say, yes, have done enough when, no, that is the least you can do. i have not had the opportuty

to meet in person with president biden. amy: can you talk more about president biden and detention centers overall? you have been demanding the release of all people living with hiv and other medical conditions from ice detention. there's the case of oksana hernandez in 2018, trans woman from honduras. if you can talk about her family suing ice and dhs, department of homeland security and what came of that? >> that is correct. there is pending litigation against the department of homeland security, cbp, because roxanne hernandez, a trans immigrant woman from hernandez, she should still be with us. her death caused tremendous

pain. her family was devastated to learn that she died while seeking protection in the country. her nephew, only seven years old or younger, sent a voice recording year ago while many community members -- this administration, demanding accountability and justice for roxsana, victoria, and johana, asking for the release of people living with hiv or any other medical condition. to hear that message from a young family member of roxsana sent all she wanted to do was support and help her family, and she is no longer with us.

amy: we have less than a minute, but if you can talk about lgbtq+ asylum-seekers locked from entering the united states due to title 42, a trump-era policy, many of these expenses recently documented in human rights watch report? >> yeah. title 42 is attacking lgbtq+ people seeking asylum in this country and is not a safe condition they are under and we will continue to do everything we can to make sure this administration gets rid of todd 42 to allow people to come to this country and seek that protection that they deserve. amy: jennicet gutiérrez, thank you for been with us, community organizer and advocate with familia: trans queer liberation movement. speaking to us from phoenix, arizona. also democracy now! is

livestreaming all of the january 6 hearings. today is at 1:00 p.m. eastern time at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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