07/06/22 07/06/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! vice pres. harris: the whole nation should understand and have a level of empathy to understand this can happen anywhere and in any peaceloving community. amy: seven dead in the highland park massacre, including the parents of a two-year-old child shielded by his dad's body.

the high-powered rifle used in the attack was bought eagerly. this despite the fact the gunman, 21 years old, wrote obsessively about violenc online, and one including the parade route he targeted. we will talk about what we know about the shooter with michael edison hayden of the southern poverty law center. he focuses on internet radicalizaon and far rig of stream is him. then we go t boston where about 100 members of t white supremacist patriotront marched through downtown on saturday. a black activist was attacked when he tried to film them. >> i am appalled that even as a healer, i have to get my cup poured into in this incident. i will continue to pour into other people's cup. amy: then a new supreme court case threatens another body blow to our democracy.

that is the headline of "washington post" op-ed co-authored by carolyn shapiro, former law card to the now retired supreme court justice stephen breyer. >> we know even at the founding, there were constitutions limiting what state legislares could do with respect to federal elections, and that was seen as completely normal. amy: it has been called a judicial coup in process. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in highland park, illinois, the death toll in monday's mass shooting at the city's july 4 parade has risen to seven. the dead include a married couple, irina and kevin mccarthy, who attended the parade with their two year-old son aiden who was found wandering alone after the shooting.

the boy's father died as he tried to protect his son from the rooftop sniper who fired 70 rounds at parade-goers. nine shooting victims remain hospitalized. on tuesday, authorities filed seven counts of first degree murder against the suspected gunman, a 21-year-old resident of highland park named robert crimo. police also acknowledged they visited the man's house twice in 2019, first after he tried to -- his family said he tried to take his own life by suicide and then when he threatened to "kill everyone." this is chris covelli, a spokesperson for the lake county's sheriff's office. >> the police removed 16 knives come a dagger, and a sword from crimo's home.

at that time there was no probable cause to arrest. there were no complaints at were signed by any of the victims. the highland park police department, however, did immediately notify the illinois state police of the incident. amy: police say over the next three years, the gunman legally purchased five firearms even though the illinois state police had been notified about both -- the police visits. on tuesday, vice president kamala harris visited highland park. she also addressed the national education association convention in chicago where she called on congress to renew the assault weapons ban. vice pres. harris: there is no reason that we have weapons of war on the streets of america. we need reasonable gun safety laws. amy: in reproductive rights news, mississippi's near total ban on abortion is set to go into effect on thursday after a judge rejected a challenge by mississippi's only abortion clinic, jackson women's health

organization. meanwhile, florida's 15-week abortion ban has been reinstated after it was temporarily blocked tuesday by a state judge. a grand jury in georgia probing donald trump's attempts to overturn the state's 2020 election has subpoenaed seven trump advisors and allies, including rudy giuliani, senator lindsey graham, and the attorneys john eastman and jenna ellis. the fulton county district attorney launched the probe after "the washington post" reported trump had called georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger on january 2, 2021, and urged him to "find 11,780 votes." meanwhile, the house january 6 committee has announced it will hold its next hearing on tuesday at 10:00 a.m. , july 12 the hearing is expected to look in part at the far-right groups who attacked e capitol at the urging of trump. democracy now! will livestream

that july 12 hearing at democracynow.org. in news from ukraine, the governor of the eastern province of donetsk has urged more than 350,000 residents to evacuate as russian forces attack areas across the region. russia is focusing its assault on donetsk after taking full control of the neighboring luhansk region. the two areas make up what's known as the donbas region. residents in donetsk have reported coming under intense shelling. >> they are shelling everywhere now but i really don't want to leave my home behind. i have a child. i hope someday this will stop. i hope for peace. i hope they stop shelling so we can move around the city calmly, go to the sea one day. amy: in other news from ukraine, "the wall street journal" reports the russian military is turning ukraine's largest nuclear power plant, zaporizhzhia, into a military base by deploying heavy

artillery batteries and laying anti-personnel land mines. officials says russia is using the nuclear plant as a base for its artillery knowing that ukraine can't attack a nuclear power plant without risking a nuclear disaster. zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power plant in europe. british prime minister boris johnson suffered another major political setback on tuesday when two senior cabinet ministers resigned, finance minister rishi sunak and health secretary sajid javid. the resignations came as johnson faces increasing criticism for promoting a member of the conservative party who was accused of groping two men. on tuesday, a downing street spokesperson admitted that johnson had been briefed in 2019 about the sexual abuse allegations but claimed that he had forgotten about the complaints. a growing economic crisis and gas shortage in sri lanka has forced the nation to keep its schools shut for another week because there is not enough gas for students and teachers to travel to school. authorities have also announced plans to cut electricity for up

to three hours a day because the country does not have enough fuel. sri lanka is also facing a dire shortage of food and medicine. on tuesday, sri lanka announced it will stop printing money as inflation is expected to reach 60% this year. the israeli military has conducted large scale raids across the west bank today detaining at least 42 palestinians. israeli forces shot dead a 20-year-old man during a raid in the village of jaba near jenin. this comes just three days after israeli forces shot dead 18-year-old palestinian kamel alawnah in the same village. in europe, police in at least five countries have arrested about 130 suspects accused of being involved in smuggling people across the english channel to the united kingdom. raids were conducted on tuesday in germany, france, belgium, the netherlands, and the u.k. this is marco ellerman, a police

spokesperson in the german city of osnabrück. >> hundreds of police and special forces have been in action this morning in many countries, not just in germany, also belum, fran, the netherlands,nd great britain. the aim was to contract the international human trafficking ring and to disrupt it. amy: in turkiye, police fired teargas and pepper spray at a gay pride march tuesday in ankara. 36 people were arrested. last week, turkish authorities broke up a larger pride march detaining more than 300 people. in news from ecuador, president guillermo lasso has accepted the resignation of four cabinet ministers in the latest fallout from last month's indigenous led-protests decrying lasso's economic policies. the resignations include lasso's economic and health ministers. in washington, d.c., the justice department has agreed to a $98,000 settlement with a group of six muslim, arab, and south asian men who were rounded up after the september 11 attacks

and held in federal custody at the metropolitan detention center in brooklyn. as part of the settlement, the director of the bureau of prisons wrote a letter to the men acknowledging they were "held in excessively restrictive and unduly harsh conditions of confinement." the letter also admitted that a number of the men were physically and verbally abused by officers at the jail. the agreement settles a lawsuit brought by the center for constitutional rights. and a federal judge in california has thrown out trump-era changes that weakened the endangered species act in -- by allowing regulators to factor in economic considerations when granting endangered status. the ruling came in a case brought by earthjustice, the sierra club, and conservation groups. an attorney for the sierra club said -- "in the midst of a global extinction crisis, the court's decision to vacate the rules will help ensure that imperiled species receive the protections they desperately need." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman. residents of highland park, illinois, are mourning the now seven victims of the july 4 parade mass shooting when a gunman climbed onto a rooftop and opened fire with an assault rifle similar to an ar-15, spewing more than 70 rounds at people watching the parade. the dead include a married couple, irina and kevin mccarthy, who attended the parade with their two-year-old son aiden who was found walking alone and smeared in blood after -- and later reunited with his grandparents who will now care for him. he was protected under the body of his father. on tuesday, county coroner jennifer banek shared the names of those who were killed. >> it is with a heavy heart that i bring to you the names of the victims of that tragedy.

64-year-old catherine goldstein of highland park, 35-year-old irina mccarthy of highland park, 37-year-old kevin mccarthy of highland park, 63-year-old jacquelyn sundheim of highland park, 88-year-old stephen straus of highland park, 78-year-old nicholas toledo of mexico. we have also been notified that there is a seventh victim that died at a hospital located outside of lake county. amy: some 40 others were injured in the attack. the suspected gunman, 21-year-old robert crimo, surrendered to police hours after the attack and had another rifle in his car. on tuesday, he was charged with seven counts of murder and is appearing in court today. vice president kamala harris visited highland park tuesday

and called for an assault weapons ban. vice pres. harris: there is no question this experience is something that is going to linger in terms of the trauma. i would like to urge all of the families and individuals to do, seek the support you so really deserve and we will deal with what we need to deal with in terms of also as we move forward, all agreeing that we've got to be smarter as a country in terms of who has access to what. in particular, assault weapons. we have to take this stuff seriously. as siously as you are because you have been forced to take it seriously. the whole nation should understand and have a level of empathy to understand that this can happen anywhere and in any peaceloving community and we should stand together and speak

out about why it has got to stop. amy: officials say the rifle the killer used in his attack was purchased legally. during a news conference, the spokesperson for the lake country sheriff's department, chris covelli, acknowledged the suspect had come under previous police attention in 2019. >> april 2019, an individual contacted highland park police departments a week after learning of mr. crimo attempting suicide. this was a delayed report. they spoke with crimo, spoke with his parents, and the matter was being handled by mental health professionals at that time. there was no law enforcement action to be taken. it was a mental health issue and handled by those professionals. the second occurred in september 2019. a family member reported crimo said he was going to kill

everyone and crimoad a collection of knives. the police reonded to his residence. the police removed 16 knives, dagger, and a sword from crimo's home. at that time there was no probable cause to arrest. there were no complaints that were signed by any of the victims. amy: months later, the suspected gunman acquired 5 -- bought five guns, two of them high-powered long guns, legally. meanwhile, nbc news reports the suspected killer had a youtube channel where he "post clips that telegraphed violence, including one that appears t show the parade route that was targeted and ather showing an animated shooting." at least two other videos show him supporting former president donald trump. the non-profit media group unicorn riot also reports he had a discord chat channel where he and others discussed graphic violence. he was obsessed with mass

shootings. at a news conference tuesday in highland park, the lake county sheriff's office spokesperson chris covelli addressed the role of social media in the shooting. >> so the question is essentially, social media, if we had known some of the post, would we have investigated, and we encourage the community to report those? the answer is absolutely. if the public sees something concerning online with anybody, they should notify the social media network posted on, notify local law enforcement. amy: for more, we are joined by michael edison hayden, senior investigative reporter with southern poverty law center, where he focuses on internet radicalization and also far-right extremism. i am actually sorry you are back on the show that we need to have you to talk about yet another shooting, well over 300 mass shootings this year in united states, the u.s. alone in the world, and yet in this case, unlike in the uvalde, texas,

case, it was so clear that shooter's obsession with violence, with school shootings, with mass murder. michael edison hayden, take us through this life online. he had thousands of followers on youtube. explain what discord is, etc. >> thank you so much, amy. this highland park massacre presents a kind of different opportunity for us because it doesn't involve white supremacist ideology that drove, for example, the buffalo shooter, and we are able to look at it in a sort of different way. it gives us a different angle on it. there are these fringe communities online, whether they are whites of premises -- supremacists. people use the word"meme" where you don't need the deep state to

come in and radicalize you and put you on psychedelic drugs and get you in a state where you're going to commit mass murder. people are volunteering. they're subjecting themselves to people who are certainly already -- subjecng themselves to the same imagery over and over again, talking themselves into doing violence. some people go through with it and some people don't. the bottom line is we are seeing the horrific tragedy that comes when people do. amy: usual or maybe not unusual is that you have the police at his house twice. once because he had threatened to take his own life and then very soon after because he threatened to "kill everyone." they take his knife collection come a dagger, a sword, many knives, but he is not red

flagged. so there is no notice of this in any system in illinois. his father sponsors him for guns and he gets one after another after another after another. he gets five guns. >> yeah. the center does not have a position to advocate here but this is some basic common sense stop. i mean, do you want someone in a fragile mental state who is been subjecting themselves to murder memes online every day for months owning weapons -- i mean, i am a father. i have two sons. stephen miller, for example, is a father of a child. does he really want somebody like this in his neighborhood owning weapons of war? he may say he does and that is

the policy of the republican party, but when it comes to practicality, do you want someone who has been subjecting themselves to this kind of, you know, this kind of coaxing repeatedly, owning a weapon of war? i don't understand what society would tolerate. it is obviously very frustrating . as you talk about freedom, what is the freedom of the people who lost their lives in highland park where the people who lost their lives at the supermarket in buffalo? amy: let me ask you about the report on nbc news that the shooter did not frequently post about major political figures on his websites except for two posts about former president donald trump. there's a picture of him at a rally in iso wrapped in a cash also wrapped in a trump flag. video january 2021 appears to show him among the throng of

protesters cheering for terms presidential motorcade outside an airport and then he also posted what he called a manifesto as an amazon e-book which consisted of 28 pages of numbers seemingly meant to be decoded. it was published in 2021, no longer available on amazon. the numbers 47 and 23 seem to be important to him, some of them tattooed on his face. >> yeah, ok. regarding the trump thing, it is interesting to me in some ways because it sort of lays bare the attraction of the hard right authoritarian movement that is brewing in the united states. this person, according to all his friends or people who worked with him or knew him, he was not like a particular political person yet he appears around these trump events, right? the parkland shoer was also kind of attracted to right-wing

stuff online but was not particularly political. the vaguest shooter also has some kind of murky connection to the right wing but he did not seem to be motivated by it. yet these people who are -- program themselves to kill, hyped up on killing who are also attracted to hard right authoritarianism in the united states. it is not coincidental there are these memes of death and things around fascism. i find it fascinating because this is not a political shooting at all but yet here he is with this trump flag. it is interesting because all these apolitical shooters also have -- seem to have some sort of connection. amy: let me ask you about this

report, after monday shooting, 4chan trolls posts memes about the attack post the discord channel was shot down around 6:00 p.m. eastern just hours after he was named as a person of interest. he also posted frequently to message board that discussed graphic depictions of murder-suicide and death and most recent post last week when you posted a video of a beheading. i am saying he, he, he, though we did name him in the show so far. what about that, the celebration of the mass murderers, using their names, showing their pictures? how do you feel about showing them or not? they put out his picture and am constantly on monday because they were looking for him. apparently, he was dressed as a woman to disguise especially his facial tattoos when he actually carried out the shooting, blended in with the crowd, went to his moms house.

his mom and dad lived separately and he lives with his father. got in the car, went to wisconsin, came back, and was found in the next community because of an alert person who called the police. talk about all of this and specifically whether the picture and the name should be repeated. >> i am not using his name. or using it sparingly. and we are going to report as anything we have from the highland park murders into reports we do carefully because we don't want to add to his celebrity he so often -- privately sought just the way the buffalo shooter sought to be accepted and treated as a celebrity inside white supremacist communities for example regarding the 4chan stuff, these are in a colloquial sense just internet fascists.

whether they are conscious of that -- some of them are -- or whether they are not, they are fascists. what attracts them to shooters -- and they have been all over shooters for many years on 4chan, sadly -- they seek disrupt the country, to create chaos and division in the country and shootings give us all a sense of grief and anxiety. we worry about our children. we worry about our loved ones. we feel horror for those who died and we mourn. they love those emotions because they can feast on them because they can use it to try to tilt the country toward fascism. that is sort of just the way 4chan has worked since the obama

years. it is horrible. these type of people are going to be online for a long time. the question is, what are we going to do about it in terms of mitigating this kind of -- these sporadic ash not really sporadic, these frequent shootings? amy: michael, we want to ask you to stay with us. we are going to move from the online presence of the shooter to what happened in boston. we are speaking with michael edison hayden, senior investigative reporter with southern poverty law center, where he focuses on internet radicalization and far-right extremism. next up, we're going to go to boston where about 100 members of the white supremacist patriot front marched through downtown on saturday. a black activist, artist was attacked when he simply put up his phone to film them. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "freedom" from moon cricket songs by boston-based composer and musician charles murrell at boston center of the arts' cyclorama on world aids day last year. charles murrell was attacked saturday by a patriot front, which we're going to talk about now. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn to boston, where mayor michelle wu joined federal officials tuesday to respond to

a march through downtown boston saturday led by 100 members of the white supremacist patriot front caring shields and banners that claimed "reclaim america." mayor wu said the boston police of a rights unit is investigating how members of the group were seen attacking a local black artist and musician named charles murrell as police looked on. charles murrell posted online about the attack, writing -- "just another day in the office. yesterday as i was walking to work, a group of white men wearing masks and holding military weapons were marching on the sidewalk. i was walking past the historic copley hotel. i thought it was odd that a protest was happening on the sidewalk and not the street. when i tried to get my phone to record the masked mob, this happened. now fake bot accounts are in my dm and on my social media pages trying to instill fear into

myself and community. i assume these are the same masked white men. i share this to first say, things have not changed much. secondly, this is why i do the work that i do with passion." charles is not doing interviews while he seeks legal advice, but he did speak out monday. >> i am appalled that even as a healer, i have to get my cup poured into in this incident. but i will continue to pour into other people's cup. amy: for more, in boston, reverend kevin peterson, longtime civil rights activist, founder of the new democracy coalition. advisor to charles murrell. in cambridge phillip martin is , an award-winning journalist and a senior investigative reporter for the gbh news center for investigative reporting. he recently wrote a piece headlined "it is happening here." still with us is michael edison

hayden, senior investigative reporter with southern poverty law center, where he focuses on internet radicalization and far-right extremism. we welcome you all to democracy now! reverend peterson, explain cash am sorry we can't have charles murrell on today but you are his and advisor. to do tell us more about what happened on saturday? >> i'm not sure if i can tell you more about what happened other than what you already said, but we do knomr. murrell is currently traumatized. he has a focus around racial healing in this city. he uses it through the arts. he believes this is an opportunity where he can redirect the trauma that he experienced in terms of engaging these children of the kkk on saturday, use that experience to engage the city, particularly

mayor wu, in terms of changing things around, changing the narrative the city. boston is not unlike other places acrs the ited states with regdo endemic racism. boston wa founded during the slave trade. th legacy of slavery and systemic oppression toward black people persists even into 202 just two weeks ago, the boston's city council apologized for its complicity in the slave trade and ongoing systemic oppression. mr. murrell experience is a of that oppression that this and varmint in boston i believe ovided a way through which or rationale throughhich the children of the k came into boston to try to spew their

toxins and their hate. america reverend peterson, how did the police respond? where were they when charles was being attacked? >> mr. murrell's narrative is the police were in close proximity to him. in fact, heuggests that he engaged the police for help but that help at that point was not forthcoming. we have at this point in different narrative coming from the administration, from police, from mayor wu and mr. murrell's account. i am confident -- i've had a number of conversations with mr. murrell and he is clear the police were present come he asked for help, the police officer or one of them claimed they were overwhelmed and they could not respond to the assault that took place on him. that is disturbing. even more disturbing is the fact

such an organized group of white supremacists, the children of the kkk, descended on the city and marched through the streets with brazen activity, unmonitored for the most part by law enforcement. left thousands of black citizens vulnerable to any kind of racial violence that they would have fostered. in fact, mr. murrell became a victim of that racial violence. amy: we are showing video from twitter of these people who have on khaki pants, which reminds me of the university of virginia, and rk shirts. then white masks over tir faces and baseball caps. phillip martin, you're with gbh news. you wrote an extended piece in may called "it is happening

here: massachusetts has grown neo-nazi movement." the mayor michelle wu said they had no idea these people were coming this weekend. but this is the third march this year. explain how you see this movement growing. what is happening? why boston? >> first of all, thank you for having me, amy. i find it incredulous that the boston -- the mayor was taken by surprise [inaudible] they should not have been surprised -- taking part in my freeways, holding banners on freeways. graffiti everywhere, defacing black lives matter signs. across the state, there have

been reported assaults by this group and a similar group for a long time. and so i can see this, without question, they did not know about this is seems but to be taken by surprise, i mean, i am incredulous over that given the growing activity of these organizations over the past few years. and you have cited it correctly with the unite the right rally that you mentioned, that is where the patriotront again b this individual. what is happening and boston is not dissimilar from what is happening around the country. a treasure trove of documents revealed in massachusetts, new

england, are the areas they consider prime recruiting grounds despite their regions reputation for liberalism, as reverend peters was pointing out, there are multiple contradictions that make their presence here -- so i should also point out there is massive pushback against these groups, against patriot front, by people on the ground. jewish organizations, black organizations, academics. so they are not getting a warm reception. that is the reason i believe they decided to descend on the area over the weekend and gave them the attention they wanted. they are in competition with the nsc31 but also inclusion with them. nsc31 has not had a presence.

they took part in a demonstration in january in the st. patrick's day parade in march with a displayed return boston to the irish sign or something to that effect. again, amy, this is something that has been taking place. it is a growing movement ascertained by observations by those studying fascism that these are groups that had two or three people at rallies maybe a year ago, and able to get 30 people at rallies, people largely from this area. so this over the weekend, without question, came from various parts of the country. amy: which brings me back to michael edison hayden. michael, you're with the sohern poverty law center. we last had you on giving as

background of the patriot front. talk more about who rousseau is, how this group was founded, what it is doing, why in boston and before that, what, protests in philadelphia, these historic american cities. >> i like that phrase children of the kkk. that was great. they are not the kkk yet but -- in i heyday, but, boy, do they want to be. there was a group called vanguard america that marched at unite the right and yo remember james fields who murdered heather heyer. she marched with that group. they kind of rebranded under this veil of patriotism and kind of to try to pull from the republican party schtick and

make a more marketable version of what is essentially young nazi-ism -- neo-naziism. they have been successful in doing these marches where there are anywhere between 30 and 100 people marching on the street. they did something also july 4 last year or the july 4 weekend regarding, in philadelphia for example, they are picking these places that have historical importance in the united states. their slogan is "reclaim america." it is this idea of restoring amica to their imagined past. well, certainly america does have a deeply racist past, but they envision it as perfect version of united states that is going to come from their

activism that is going to be essentially a white supremacist ethno-state stop amy: how do they organize online? >> they are all over telegram. they were using discord. they are essentially building it'll cells across the country and communicating with each othe they don't often reveal the names to one another until they get to know each other in person. they are trying to lock down their communitions but quite frankly, they have been poor radically because they are frequently -- poor at it because they are frugally getting id. amy: their connection to january 6, patriot front members marching part of the president trump's insurrection? >> no -- so they are superficially anti-trump. they are into republican party but they work kind of in tangent

with the republican party in the sense they run parallel to them. people that believe trump is too cozy with jewish people, the patriot front is there to recruit you. they do essentially the same things. you see sphen miller's america first legal is going to be attacking all kinds of things he describes as woke. lgbtq+ rights, stuff like this critical race theory bogeyman they keep trotting out. it is sort of the same stuff patriot front is talking about but this is for people who are further along the line of radicalization and don't to associate themselves with the republican party. but the absolutely work in parallel to them. amy: you report members were

represented in d.c. during the insurrection. >> that'sight. this is before they brennan -- rebranded themselves as the patriot front. good members of nsc131 present. amy: what does that stand for? nationalist socialist club and 131 stands for anti-communism. they consider anyone communists whether th be liberal, moderate, so-called rhino within the republican party. the notion of communism -- have incorporated into the talking points in which they see me come again, who opposed fascism as communists. they own -- they are neo-nazis.

they started off in charlottesville. thomas russo has attempted to grow this movement based on some of the grievances that my colleague was talking about that have been amplified by the republican party. they have been amplified and animated by the -- theory, believing that is something people are in fact reacting to. you can see some of the comments on social media where in fact here in boston, you found individuals who were condemning the patriot front but you also found comments on twitter and facebook saying, what about the communists, the democratic party, what about an tivo?

what about black lives matter? they basically try to create this false equivalency that theseroups, the patriot front, simply -- thus -- it is mythical. the whole notion of both sides in relation to fascism. amy: the role of the police, the reverend describing or actually charles murrell saying they did not help him, and that mayor singh they had no idea this was happening -- saying had no idea this was hpening. we will end up there. hooks we have to be iredulous -- if the police were nearby and they did nothing, that is a problem. if the police were not in proximity to where this man was being beaten, then that's a problem also. it means they really are not

monitoring well this procession of neofascists through dowown bost on the fourth of july weekend. amy: reverend kevin peterson, a news conference was called with black leaders. you were among them. what are you calling for now? >> we are calling f a couple of things. one is as much as the poce department is investigating what crime occurred, what civil rights were violated against mr. murrell, also calling for boston, the police or the mayor, conductn internal investigation in terms of police activities on that day on site. where there police present? we are asking for the release of videotape from starbucks, which captured the incident, perhaps identify horses include with the

police were present weresking for anyone with the body camera visuals that might present. beyond that, amy, we are asking the mayor to take a deep dive into engaging more robust conversations around race in the city that has been dogged by racism for so long. those pictures of mr. murrell are rlective of the racial legacy and it is cy of boston that persists. beyond the conversation we also call for a raise commissio wherthe cityf boston will bring to for the enormous resources in the city of bosto in terms of the academic, legal community to explore the legacy of racism up until 2022, provide information perhaps thrghout the schools but throughout the nehborhoods, the sidence

boston kenmore -- learn more about what racism is and how it is impactful in subtle and most obvious ways and then we ask for the covid -- commission to look into what would constitute repair or reparations inhe city of boston. how do we address the historic wrongs fostered upon black people as it relates to th legacyf slavery and systemic oppression. how do we address those issues of unequal housing situations relations are black, how do we address the unequal health ability, address income inequality in regards to black and white in the city of boston. those things are enormous. they reflect an incredible gap in terms of how black maintain their lives in boston against the privilege of what lives or how whites are privileged.

so we ask for something comprehensive, something carefully thought through. we asked the mayor to move beyond the soothing words and apologies and get to some substantive policies and actions that rin boston into th current situation where we are try to address the issue. amy: reverend peterson, thank you for being with us, founder of the new democracy coalition. phillip martin, investigative reporter with gbh news. we willing to are pieces come "this happening here." and michael edison hayden with the southern poverty law center. coming up, a new supreme court case threatens another body blow to our democracy. we will speak to the former law clerk for the retired supreme court justice stephen breyer. yes, we will speak with carolyn

shapiro, professor. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "house of the rising sun" by the animals. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. supreme court announced it will hear oral arguments this thursday october in a case that could be -- in october, the court will hear moore v. harper, a case that seeks to reinstate gerrymandered congressional maps that were struck down by north carolina's highest court. a ruling in favor of north carolina republicans could strip state courts of their power to strike down state laws, while expanding the power of gop-controlled state legislatures to control federal elections. legal arguments brought forward by plaintiffs in moore v. harper could drastically alter how congressional and presidential elections are conducted. at the heart of the case is a theory known as the "independent state legislature doctrine," which the supreme court has repeatedly rejected for well over a century.

but the theory has gained support in the majority conservative court. justices neil gorsuch, clarence thomas, samuel alito, and brett kavanaugh have all endorsed different versions of this doctrine. the three liberal justices have signaled they will not overrule the supreme court's many precedents rejecting the doctrine, meaning it could rest in the hands of amy coney barrett. just one day before the supreme court agreed to hear moore v. harper, it ruled 6 to 3 to reinstate a republican-drawn congressional map in louisiana struck down by a lower court as a racially motivated violation of the voting rights act. new york democratic congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeted -- "we are witnessing a judicial coup in process. if the president and congress do not restrain the court now, the court is signaling they will come for the presidential election next." four -- for more, we are joined in south haven, michigan, by

carolyn shapiro, professor of law and director of the institute on the supreme court of the united states at chicago-kent college of law. co-authored a recent "washington post" op-ed headlined "a new supreme court case threatens another body blow to our democracy." she is also a former clerk for the now retired justice stephen breyer. welcome to democracy now! can you start off by laying out the significance of the court taking up this case and what you're most concerned about? if you could start again? i think you are muted. if you could start again. no, we don't hear you. i think we do. >> can you hear me now? amy: yes, go ahead. >> sorry for the glitch. the case is very important in 2019 when the supreme court sai

extreme partisan gerrymandering claims could not be heard by federal courts. in a five for decision, isaid that is ok, don't worry, there are other ways to chlenge extreme partisan gerrymandering and one is through state constitutions. that is exactly what happened in moore v. harper and now the republican legislators who drew the map that dramatically skews congressional delegation in favor of republicans are suing and saying in fact the state constitution and the state court don't have the power to limit partisan gerrymandering or, for that matter, in any other way constrain legislatures when they regulate federal election. so this could open the door to a host of problems. it eliminates the kinds of ordinary checks and balances that we expect courts and constitutions to place on legislatures. amy: tell us who moore is.

moore is one of the republican leaders of the north carolina state legislature and north carolina has a law that allows him and some of his colleagues to intervene in this case and to bring this lawsuit, what they want to be able to do is to draw maps for the congressional districts that north carolina supreme court has already said violate the noh carolina constitution. normally, state legislatures can't do things that violate their state constitution. but this islt theory says they do have the power to do that and it comes to regulating federal elections. the reason for that has to do with the language and two classes of the constitution at gives state legislatures the responsibility and the power to regulate federal elections.

but nothing in the federal constitution suggests they get to do that free of the ordinary limitations of state constitutions. amy: slain this in practical terms -- explain this in practical terms. are we talking about federal elections and state elections, have to deal with them separately in each state? how do people vote? >> it is a great question and one of the big problems with the islt. what it suggests is a state legislature can has a single law and that if a state court finds that some aspect or all of that stute to be unconstitutial under the state constitution, it still has to apply to federal elections. so you might find ourselves -- a state might find itself with two registration systems or two different mail and deadlines for

absentee ballots. all depending on the particular state constitutional issues the state court rules on. this makes less than no sense as a matter of separation of powers. it does not make any sense as even imagining what a legislature might have intended when it passes a single law governing both state and federal election. it could cause enormous chaos. it also opens the door to a kind of mischief -- mischief is an understatement. it gives the state legislatures the por to do things they would not otherwise be able to do. so they could pass laws that govern just federal elections that are extremely problemic from the perspective of democracy. they could draw, for example, as inorth carolina, incredibly remaindered districts. -- gerrymandered districts. they could create systems in

which state legislature gets to resolve any disputes over election results in federal elections, which would include presidential elections and we could imagine what that might look like down the road will stop it could be extremely dangerous. much of that, if not all of it, would be unconstitutional if not all state constitutions but under the islt, that would not matter. amy: how does this relate to the voting rights act? >> both the voting rights act and the islt or the movement against the islt are ways of trying to protect voting, protect the power of the people to choose their own representatives. in those cases, as in others, the supreme court, the majority, continues to cut back on protections for voting and protections for democracy. it is extremely dangerous. amy: islt stands for something you'll be hearing much more of with this court, the independent state legislature theory.

we want to thank professor carolyn shapiro, professor of law and director of the institute on the supreme court of the united states at chicago-kent college of law. we will link to your piece in "the washington post" "a newñcññ