09/23/22 09/23/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i think it is necessary to support the proposal of the general staff to conduct a partial military mobilization in russia. i repeat, we're only talking about a partial mobilization. amy: russia is facing its largest anti-war protests since the early days of the ukraine invasion after russian president

vladimir putin announced what he called a partial military mobilization. over 1300 people have been arrested. thousands have fled russia. we will go to moscow for the latest. then climate activists are holding a global climate strike. we will speak to mikaela loach . >> climate justiceequires toproot [indisrnible] amy: finally "model america." , we look at a new msnbc documentary series re-examining the killing of phillip pannell, a 16-year-old black teenager shot dead by a white police officer in the city of teaneck, new jersey, in 1990. >> this was mide-clas model

citymerica. a great ace to rse a famy. very diverse >> theact of t matter is, phillipannell w exeted. . >> we li in teeck. ts esn'happen iteaneck. there was no reason for at cop to shoot him in his back. amy: we will speak to phillip pannell's mother and sister, a well as the director of the series "model america." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. russia is holding referendums today can four regions of ukraine as the kremlin seeks to formally annexed territory it seized after the february invasion. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is condemning the vote, which u.n. secretary-general has called a violation of the u.n. charter net international law. on thursday, officials and

separatist held city of donetsk said shells killed a teenager. one person was killed and left several wounded near zaporizhzhia. a prominent russian human rights group says some anti-war protesters arrested this week are being ordered to enlist in the russian military. more than 1300 people have been arrested taking part in street protests after president vladimir putin announced a partial military mobilization to draft 300,000 new troops to fight in ukraine. according to the group ovd-info, authorities threatened one protester wiwith 10 years in jal if he refused to enlist. meanwhile, thousands of russian men are attempting to flee the country in order to avoid being drafted. finland said thursday it is considering barring most russians from entering the country after a surge of order

crossings. this is one russian man speaking to reuters. >> are you afraid you mighget drafted the mobilization in russia? >> yes, i'm afraid. >> why are you afraid? >> because it is very weak mistake for russia, of course for ukraine citizens. >> how old are you? are you an at age that you could get drafted? >> yes., co. we will go to moscow after headlines. at the united nations, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov stormed out of a u.n. security council meeting thursday, after accusing the u.s. and its nato allies of becoming direct parties to the conflict in ukraine. >> we have no confidence in the work of this body. for the past eight months, we were waiting for steps to be taken against impunity in

ukraine and we don't expect anything more from this institution or a whole range of international institutions. amy: foreign minister lavrov arrived 90 minutes late to the u.n. security council chambers and then abandoned the debate after delivering his remarks. that prompted ukrainian foreign minister dmytro kuleba's remark that "russian diplomats flee almost as aptly as russian soldiers." >> today we are mostly focusing on crimes committed by russian soldiers in ukraine. but if anyone thinks they are the only one ready to kill, torture, rape, cut off genitals, they are wrong. russian diplomat are directly complicit because there lies inside these crimes and cover them up. amy: earlier today, united nations commission reported as evidence of war crime committed by russia and ukraine, including widespread torture, sexual

violence, and attacks on civilian populations. hurricane fiona has swept past bermuda after strengening to a powerful category 4 hurricane. overnight, the storm brought high winds and heavy rain to the british territory as its eye passed about 200 miles west of the archipelago. fiona is now heading north and expected to slam into canada's eastern coast on saturday as a large and powerful post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds. meanwhile, most of puerto rico remains without power and clean drinking water five days after fiona overwhelmed the island's fragile electrical grid. president biden on wednesday declared a major disaster in puerto rico. meanwhile, a sweltering heat wave pushed heat indexes in some parts of the island above 110 degrees fahrenheit on thursday. in nigeria, heavy flooding has killed at least 300 people and displaced over 100,000 others since the rainy season began in april.

this week, 13 nigerian states were inundated after cameroon released excess water from a dam on a tributary of the niger river. nigeria's northern food belt has been hit hard, with floodwaters washing over farms and destroying crops. even before the floods, the u.n. predicted nearly 17 million nigerians could be impacted by the global food crisis through the end of the year. in washington, d.c., capitol police arrested 11 environmental and community leaders thursday as they nonviolently blockaded the entrance to the senate office building. the sit-in protest came a day after west virginia democratic senator joe manchin unveiled a permitting reform bill that would speed federal review of energy projects. the legislation would limit environmental and community review of oil, gas, coal, and mining projects, while fast-tracking approval of the mountain valley fracked gas pipeline and other fossil fuel projects. the bill has the support of both

the white house and senate majority leader chuck schumer, who has pledged senate passage ahead of a september 30 deadline to fund the government. on thursday, protesters gathered outside senator schumer's office. this is david galarza santa, leader organizer with emergency action on puerto rico. >> we are sick and tired of chuck schumer, the majority, in cahoots and doing these side deals with one of the most destructive senators in the united states, manchin. the fossil fuel money puts money in their pockets even as they kill people around the world and we say no! amy: we will talk about the global climate strikes later in the broadcast. running a 30's have cut off internet access to the capitol and other regions as protests over the death of a 22-year-old

iranian kurdish woman in police custody continued to spread. iranian state tv reports as many as 26 people have died in the protests since her death last week. she was arrested by so-called morality police for allegedly leaving some of her hair visible and a violation of an iranian law requiring women to cover their heads. to see our coverage of the protest, go to democracynow.org. senate republicans have blocked legislation to expose the names of wealthy donors who give unlimited funds to so-called dark money organizations. on thursday, all 49 republican senators in attendance joined a filibuster of the disclose act. the bi would increase transparency in elections by requiring super pa, and other groups spending money on political ads, to promptly disclose the names of donors who give more than $10,000. a government watchdog reports

the u.s. secret service was tracking at least one neo-nazi group and multiple individuals that planned to engage in violence and occupy the u.s. capitol ahead of the january 6 insurrection. that's according to documents obtained by citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington, which says this is just the latest evidence that the secret service failed to respond to threats ahead of the attempted coup. this comes as former president donald trump is openly embracing the far-right, antisemitic qanon movement. adherents of the conspiracy theory believe trump is secretly at war with a deep state cabal of elite satan-worshiping democrats who run a child sex trafficking operation. last week, trump shared a post on his truth social platform him -- of him wearing a "q" on his lapel and featuring two qanon slogans. and on saturday, trump led a rally for republican senate candidate jd vance in ohio, where he set part of his speech

to music that was almost identical to a theme song adopted by qanon. hundreds of trump supporters responded with a one-fingered salute, a gesture that's drawn comparisons to the infamous salute used in nazi germany. italian voters head to polls for parliamentary elections on when the leader of a neo-fascist sunday party is widely expected to become italy's most far-right leader since benito mussolini. polls show giorgia meloni and her brothers of italy party in first place after a campaign laced with anti-immigrant rhetoric. this week, the party suspended a candidate from sicily after he was discovered to have praised adolf hitler in online posts. that family of slain palestinian-american journalist shireen abu akleh has filed a complaint. she was shot in the head may 11 while covering an israeli raid

on the jineen refugee camp. her family said she was deliberately targeted and killed by israeli forces. her brother anton abu akleh, , spoke with al jazeera from the international criminal court at the hague. >> this is the least we can do for shireen. we have to pursue justice for her. whatever we have to do, we will do it. [indiscernible] amy: and boeing has agreed to pay $200 million to settle charges that it mislead investors over the safety of its 737 max jet, which was involved in two deadly crashes in indonesia and ethiopia that killed all 346 people on board flights. as part of the settlement with the securities and exchange commission, boeing and its former chief executive dennis muilenburg will admit no wrongdoing over the fatal

crashes in 2018 and 2019. michael stumo, the father of ethiopian airlines crash victim samya rose stumo, said in a statement -- "this settlement is protection for boeing rather than justice. it is a continuation of boeing evading accountability and transparency." to see our interview with michael stumo, visit our website democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a prominent human rights group says some anti-war protesters arrested this week are being ordered to enlist in the russian military. more than 1300 people have been arrested taking part in protests after president vladimir putin announced a partial military mobilization to draft 300,000 new troops to fight in ukraine. according to the group ovd-info, authorities threatened one protester with 10 years in jail

if he refused to enlist. meanwhile, thousands of russian men are attempting to flee the country in order to avoid being drafted. many fear russia will actually conduct a full mobilization drafting men who have not ties to the military. we go now to moscow where were joined by anna dobrovolskaya. she worked as the executive director of the memorial human rights center in moscow, which was shut down by the russian government. she is now a freelance ngo consultant and is in the process of establishing her own human rights organization. anna, welcome back to democracy now! under these very difficult circumstances. can you talk about these reports, something like 1300 people have been arrested in these antiwar protests, that a number are being forced to enlist her face long prison sentences?

is that your understanding? >> hello, amy. thank you for having me back. yes, that is my understanding and the understanding of everyone in russia. the detention happened over one day, basically when mobilization was announced. amy: so if you can talk about this level of protest. we haven't seen anything like it in russia since the beginning of russia's invasion of ukraine. >> a lot of people are actually being not very happy about the level of protest. a lot of people are disappointed saying people are not protesting against the special military occupation but protesting against partial mobilizatioand saying russia is too afraid to go ithe streets -- wch is

partially true. but we also have to remember a lot of people are being pushed out from the country. right now all the protests happening, ty are very grassroots, they are immobilized meaning people are just going in the streets when they feel the urge and human need. yeah, a lot of people are just saying it is not enough and calling for more groups going in the streets and saying no to war and no to mobilization. the fact is, we have what we have. people are voting with them leaving the country, which in my mind is a group solution. we see nobody is going to enlist in the army and -- even those supported what was going on. amy: and thursday, one russian man said he was called to enlist

despite having no military experience. this is what he said. >> i am a candidate of economic scientist. i work as an i.t. specialist. yesterday i got this notice according to which today i need to present myself a revision of my military registration. today on september 22, 2022, when i came i was given the notice according to which today at 1500 i need to depart for the army. here you are. i have never served in the army, was never a conscript, have no military possessions, was never a reservist officer training. my health changed the worse aftei got my military document. i was told here my health is subject to call up in a period of war. amy: anna dobrovolskaya, how dangerous is it for this man to fully identify himself, show this conscript call up, this

piece of paper, and talk about his own situation? >> you know, it is a very interesting story because after he made history public, it was declined sis no longer supposed to go to the army because he waso vocal and spoke about it so openly. so he will be kept without military service for a while. i'm afraid this is not the option for many people. right now we see the reports online already dozens of hundreds people deceiving summons to be drafted into the army. even all of them start publishing their stories, it is rather impossible that the military authority will step back and just keep everyone in the positions and in tir homes. a lot of people are trying to protest. the recent information that some guy jumps out of a window from

thmilitary office when he was already there and tried to flee. people will be trying to save their lives with anyway they can. amy: are women drafted? >> there is information about something. mostly nurses, medical doctors, or some women who were already previously in the army because of their military background. but it is not common for women yet.amy: the russian foreign minister lavrov yesterday at the united nations stormed out of the u.n. security meeting after accusing the u.s. and its nato allies becoming direct parties to the conflict in ukraine. this is what he said. >> we have no confidence in the work of this body. for the past eight months, we were waiting for steps to be taken against impunity in ukraine and we don't expe anything more on this

institution or a whole range of other international institutions. everything i've said today simply confirms the decision to conduct special military operation was inevitable. we have said this more than once. we provided a huge number of facts which show how ukraine can paid to play the role of into russia and staging to create threats against russian security and i can assure you we will never accept it. thank you very much. amy: your response to russian foreign minister sergey lavrov who then stormed out of the u.n. security council meeting? >> it is very difficult to respd anything it is really a cutie the -- it is a pity, u.n. losing their power and influence all over the world and it simply looks like they have no truth to deal with

conflicts like this would, like what is happening right now. unfortunately, the consequences will be horrible. amy: i realize it is difficult for you to talk as you speak from moscow. i wanted to ask what happened to memorial, to your human rights center in moscow. >> memorial was shut down by russian government for multiple violations of a foreign agents law which was used back in 2012. it basicly limited the ability of nongovernment organizations to speak o publicly against human rights violations while receiving for donations. it was the case for many human rights ngos. a lot have been shut down or decided to close themselves. so memorial was working for quite a long time but in november last year, it was clear the decision would be not in our

favor and a legal entity and russia finally was called for closure. the organization group continued to work from elsewhere. i'm just no longer with the team. amy: why do you stay in moscow? do you feel personally threatened? >> i don't feel personally threatened yet. i had some security incidents. i realize leaving summer means if i go -- i will be one more russian person there and all those countries ar welcoming so many ukrainian refugees so it is way more important for them to welcome ukrainians first. if they have some spots left even for russians and other political refugees. right now when it is not horrible for me yet and if i can still be helpful to people here, including ukrainian refugees in russia, my decision is to stay here for as long as i can.

amy: are you going out in the streets? >> no. it was my principal decision some years ago because i was responsible for the ngo at the moment, i could not go in the streets because if i were detained, the consequences for me and for the whole orgazation would not be very bright. right now i think i am more helpful if i stay home and continue our journal rather than if i am detained because then immediately my risk will grow because i'm not just some person being detained, i am -- if i go in the streets and get arrested, then i will be harassed even more than i already am. amy: earlier this month, the european union in retaliation against russia's invasion of ukraine, ended privileged access for russian citizens by increasing visa fees and making the application process more difficult. does this worry you as russian

men and women try tolee the mobilization? >> yes, it is very worrisome. and vice versa, i'm hoping the united states will do the opposite and will be giving or visas to russian citizens. we understand the concerns of theuropean union, but it is a mistake to give -- even more isolated. it is crucial for all of us to be able to travel, to meet our colleagues, to meet independent journalists, and be able to speak openly. of course, a lot of people have left already because they are afraidecause ty don't want to go to the army. having a visa in their pockets is somethingeally to be assured that nothing bad will happen to them and they will not and up in russian battlefield, which is much worse. i really hope this decision with

the visasas can be changed to that. amy: what do you make of these voz on the referendum that ar taking place? >> i'm afraid this is already -- what is happening in 2013 with crimea, it was quite predictable and this is quite predictable as well. unfortunately for men in those territories, will be even more dangerous because they consider ukraine their allies and now it will be obliged to go with the russian army and to fight the ukrainian soldiers, basically. amy: anna we want, anna dobrovolskaya as exec of director of memorial human rights center in moscow. she is in the process of establishing her own human rights organization.

coming up, it is climate strike, climate activist holding global climate strike today. we will speak with mikaela loach . she was one of three claimants who took the u.k. to court for giving taxpayers money to oil and gas companies. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "don't cry" by j dilla. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. climate strike. that is the cry of youth climate activists today for urge world leaders to do more to confront the climate emergency. this comes as one third of pakistan is underwater, severe drought in the horn of africa has brought somalia to the brink of famine, and puerto rico remains largely without power after a devastating hurricane. earlier this week, united nations secretary general

blasted fossil fuel companies for the role in the climate emergency. >> the fossil fuel industry, hundreds of billions of dollars of profits, while household budgets shrink and our planet burns. let's tell it like it is. our world is addicted to fossil fuels. it is time for an intervention. we need to remove -- hold fossil fuel companies to account. amy: we are joined by mikaela loach, taking part in today's climate strike, one of three claimant who took the u.k. government to court for giving taxpayers' money to oil and gas companies. she also has helped lead the fightgainst the combo o fields of e coast of scotland. she was born in jamaica, grew up in britain, is a medical student at the university of edinburgh. she is cohost of "the yikes" podcast.

she is joining us today from new york in thmidst of this climate week. welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. if you can start off by talking about the significance of this climate strike today. >> thank you for having me here. today the climate strike in new york [inaudible] a lot of incredible things have happened, incredible addresses at the u.n. calling out how much the rotations are still inflicting control over global self nations. in the first nationstate to ll for international ssil fuel treaty. a treaty means that all countries would be signing i--

the strike can be pressure from outside. i struggle with a lot of the u.n. step because of how it can be less performance anit really be going to the root problems that exist. that is why i think the entire strike -- amy: what about your lawsuit against the u.k.overnment? >> the u.k. government previously, recently changed, but previously [indiscernible] oil and gas companies were being paid to pollute. they were given huge amounts of money from public funds. shell and bp did not pay tax for multiple years. on the operations, they were

being paid more money than they were paying. kind of riculous. [indiscernible] amy: shell announced it was scrapping plans for combo in december 2021. you were one of the leaders of the protest. i was wondering if you could explain what that is, but today's headlight on the website energy voice says "government fast-track five north state villa gas fields, including cambo." >> basically, that was last year we found out the cambo oil field -- it was a general misor is i joe norma's oilfield -- join norma's oilfield. [indiscernible]

not just myself but a wonderful pele came together. [indiscernible] creams the word for shell and now try to push even more oil and gas bills through. it wa [indiscernible] that is why a coalition of groups have bn ting to ce together and take it fm every angle and show we cannohave any more fossil fuels. amy: but it is truly amazing. one of the most powerful oil fields but companies in the world, shall.

do you feel it was your protests, the protest of so many that stopped them in their tracks last december? >>or sure. even in the oil and gas industry -- they said it was because of public pressure and protest that caused him to drop out. they may developing cambo not viable because of how many different insurers were dropping out, how much protester was. so many different tactics used. [indiscernible] greenpeace activist blocked, kayaks blocked the port. it was a ton -- we really try to get them at every angle. it became too much of a nuisance for them. we can be powerful as we come together and put that pressure on. [indiscernible]

amy: a new report finds that are now over 215,000 individuals worldwide who are worth more than $50 million. that's an increase of 46,000 people over the past year, this according to the bank credit suisse. mikaela loach, you recently spoke at the gates foundation's annual event where you surprised many in the audience by saying, "i think billionaires shouldn't exist" and "i think the climate crisis was caused by capitalism." elaborate. >> yeah, it was a big dashed even go in that space. i uslly avoid because i don't believe in them. i think what it means is these people only choose solutions to allow other companies to continue to profit and extract

and continue -- and allow capitalism to continue. i decided to go into the space to challenge it. two spaces rarely get challenged. people think bill gates is great. [indiscernible] i decided to come into the space -- i think people were quite shocked there was some speaking truth to power. secret service agents everywhere protecting gates. i think it was an impacul ment. the amount of people that came up after he spoke to me that said they had been thinking these things but not been able to say them because their work is reliant on the foundation mmit made me feel like it was the right thing to do. amy: if you can talk about your activism and your intersectional

approach to everything from climate to, well, as you put it, the climate crisis intersects with various oppressive systems such as white supremacy, migrant and justice, and the refugee crisis. as you have said, it is not a refugee crisis, it is a crisis of empathy. link all of these different issues. >> would look at how this climate crisis started, we're in this crisis because fossil fuels and nature have been completely extracted and destroyed intimate profit. this process extracting from the earth and process like imperialism and colonialism startewith the project that began and bp original name was -- [indiscernible]

when the u.k. sold nigeria to shell and began exportation there. it is connected to capitalism, colonialism. if are going to tackle this crisis, -- otherwise we are replicating the same repressive systems. maybe we'll look a bit green, but will have not solved the problem. we don't want to just throw a band-aid on it. we have to treat the real things , the illness in the first place. to me it gives hope. if the climate crisis is caused by all of the systems, then we have to treat the systems and we can create a better world for all of us. it is not just about stopping complete disaster, it could be about building things and building a better world for all of us. amy: do you feel like you are winning? >> i think we are.

i have to believe that. i don't know if it is true, but i have to believe we are winning. more and more people are rising up. i was living in colombia during the election [indiscernible] climate activism is incredible. that election was won by grassroots campaigns. it shows if colombia can overthrow its rule of 200 years, they can about what all of us can do we realize we are empowered if we come together. i think more people are realizing that. our pipelines are being blocked. i think we can win but it will require all of us to come together. amy: in 2024, globes -- your named one of the most influential women in the k climate movement. explain who influenced you most, who inspires you today.

>> i think i'm inspired by angela davisork in abolitionist -- people maybe would not see as climate people as such, but i think the abolitionist work has really moved me to be where i am standing. this ia -- that idea, this reality we should challenge absolutely everything. not only be taking things down, but building thing too. i try and hold [indiscernible] i try to hold that in my heart when i'm doing the work i am doing. amy: i want to thank you so much, mikaela loach, for joining us, climate justice activist and co-host of "the yikes" podcast. thank you so much. next up, "model america." we look at a new msnbc documentaries series

re-examining the killing of phillip pannell, a 16-year-old black teenager shot dead by a white police officer in the suburb of teaneck, new jersey, in 1990, more than 30 years ago. the lessons it has for today. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "spread my wings" by troop. we were showing the pictures of phillip pannell growing up into 16 short years of life. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we spend the rest of the hour examining how riots that erupted over a police killing three decades ago offer important lessons for the black lives matter movement today. it was april 10, 1990, when a black 16-year-old phillip

parnell was fatally shot in the back by teaneck, new jersey, white police officer. it had been seen as a city that was a diverse racial utopia. the casemate international headlines with civil leaders including jesse jacon and al sharpton joining in demonstrations calling for justice. in a minute, we will speak with phillip pannell's mother and sister but first this is the opening to a new four part docu-series on msnbc called "model america" that features their story. >> i am natacha pannell. my 16 euro brother was slain 30 years ago in teaneck, new jersey. i'm going to address the united states of america. >> i had no choice. i was forced to take a life. i was a white cop who shot a

black 16-year-old. >> i would like to address all law enforcement across the country and around the world. honor the oath. >> fellow officerkept repeating, you did the right thing, i no choice. it was a good shoot. >> there was confusion in teaneck, new jersey, police shot a 15-year-old suspect to death. >> this was middle-class model city america. amy: we live in teaneck. this doesn't happen in teaneck. >> it was not the utopia i thought it was for many people. >> we have endured the pain for 30 years. and we are back here again. >> i will never betray the

public trust. >> the fact of the matter is, phillip pannell was executed. >> the truth is the truth is the truth. >> it is time we let those in power kn we are not going to take it anymore. >> i have always maintained the highest ethical standards and uphold the values of my community. >> that shooting will never go away. it is with me every single day. [chanting] amy: that is the opening to "model america," the docu-series on msnbc. part one aired this past sunday. part two this sunday. for more, we're joined by two of the people featured, mrs. thelma pannell-dantzler, the mother -- mother of phillip pannell.

and natacha pannell, the sister of phillip. also with us, dani goffstein, codirector and former teaneck resident. natacha, talk about that tragic, traumatic day. i hate to bring it up 32 years later when your brother was killed. and what unfolded after that for your family, for the community, as you sought justice and what it means for this documentary series to come out 32 years later as the black lives movement continues the fight against police brutality and killing, of racism. >> first off, i would like to thank democracy now! for having both my mom and i on. that night was before i learned my brother was shot and killed

by teaneck police officer gary spath, i was really excited and happy. i was expecting my brother to come home. i had the house party take, which is a movie he wanted to see. i was really happy. when i heard a bunch of footsteps running up the stairway, i ran to the doorr excited and thought i was going to swing the door open and see my brother. in fact, i saw of bunch of puzzled faces and people in the hallway were crying. one of the kids kicked the stairwell. i was like, where's my brother? i did not see him. so i called for my mother. then they all came in and said, phillip has been shot. my mother was straightening her hair. she dropped her, and ran in. one yelled out in the crowd, he was shot in the lead. my mother was like, why?

and somebody else said, he has been shot in the back. that is when my mother was like, oh, the back. we rushed to the hospital. we saw a bunch of police officers, budget relatives and my brothers friends and everybody looked distraught and crying. when they brought us inside the er, the doctors came to my mom and i and my mother was like, i just want to see my son, where is he? the doctor said, we tried everything but he did not make it. after that, we saw his body and things like that and to me, it was a bad dream the way everything played out. then a day later, we had a candlelight video and honor by brother. then there was a riot that ensued because it was actually provoked by the police department would not allow us to move. after they barricaded us in, that is when the crowd became

angry and the riot kinda broke out. then days later, that saturday we actually started marching. from 1990, four days after my brother was killed come up until 1992, we marched throughout the trial. here we are 32 years later, and it is still happening. i am still marching in honor my brother and countless others who lost their lives by the hands of police violence. amy: thelma pannell-dantzler, you are phillip's mom most of you called him -- it is now 32 years later. i still offer you both our condolences on the death of your son. when you learned what happened and then you saw the level of response, the protest at the ground level in teaneck, if you

could talk about why he lived in teaneck and while others were saying these are outsiders coming in, you were saying, quiet doesn't work. >> yes. i moved to teaneck because it was a quiet town. i loved teaneck. my son loved teaneck. and my daughter. that is what we bought a house in teaneck, new jersey. when this happened to us, i never thought it was racist in teaneck until this happened to my son. i know there were a lot of people there saying we were destitute, they called us all kinds of names. but i do want to say this to spath, he kept saying "never a doubt" it was a good shooting.

he lied and said my son was reaching for a gun. it is going to be proven to the world how he got on the witness stand and perjured himself and so did blanco, that his hands were clearly in the air when he shot him with a six foot fence around him. once this evidence comes out, i don't care how many years it takes, for a or anyone to lie under oath on the witness stand, they should be prosecuted. they should be punished for what they did, putting that for all of this pain for 32 years of my life. i knew he did not try to shoo back but to prove it, to see with my own eyes, that is believable to me. i hope the world sees it, sees with this man did to my life and my daughter's life and my family's life.

he destroyed me from that. but with god and prayer, i'm here to see this day. it has came and i thank god for that. a lot of my kin people have gone on home and not able to see the truth came out about their family. but i see it. and i am the mother. and i thank god i'm here to see that. amy: i want to turn to a clip from the second episode of msnbc's docu-series "model america." >> teaneck residents came to town council meetings to demand more blacks be added to the police force. no aspect groups the community's emotions more than white teaneck cops were abusing the black youth. . >> what happened to me back in 1989, i was harass by two officers who help me at gunpoint , pushed their gun into my eye.

neatly after i went to the police station to fill out a report but i was denied but that lieutenant in charge. he told me to get the hell out of the police station. >> it was really the first time i heard an african-american couple saved to me, we have to get our kids the talk. they were worried about their children, primarily males, how to deal with the polic these are things i had never heard before. >> as a mother of three young black men raising them as boys, taking them to the mall -- they were going with their friends, their black-and-white friends. always had to make sure i told friends, leave your backpack in the car, don't keep your hands in the pocket, make sure he have your wallet, greet people, look them in the eye so they don't look like shifty or anything. i am sure it wasn't reversed. if a white mom was to the drop off, she did not have to have that conversation. >> amy: that last voice was gervonn romney rice, current teaneck town council member, and -- i went to bring dani goffstein into this conversation.

you are codirector of this docu-series "model america" and you also lived in teaneck. talk about how thiseries come extremely powerful series, came into bng. >> thank you for having me. i grew up in teaneck. i was born a few years after phillip was killed. my mom lived in the northwest quadrant which is predominantly jewish and my dad lived in the north quadrant is predominantly black. i remember walking home with my dad one day and he pointed to the yellow house on the corner and told me the story of what happened right befe i was born. it was a story i was intrigued by. it was something i felt not a lot of people talked about in

teaneck. i always wondered why and wanted to understand. it had been something in the making since i was a kid. i didn't really develop it into a documentary until after mike brown s killed in ferguson in 2015. i noticed a lot of the parallels between those cases and started researching. went back to teaneck to interview anyone i could. i met with the pannells in 2018 anspoke with natacha and selma. think they were initially skeptical. i know they felt mistreated or exploited by the press in the past and they weren't sure about my intentions or motivatio behind it. initially.

but after developing that relationship with them, getting to know them, i think they felt more comfortable with me. in 2020, natacha called me up and after george floyd was killed and told me there was going to be a march and a teaneck that was cosponsored by the phillip pannell foundation and invited me to come film if i wanted. it was sort of just strange how it all came full-circle and george floyd sort of brought it into the present day. i filmed the march a continued following them throughout 2020 202. amy: natacha, if you can talk about here is this white guy, also a teaneck resident, who had approached you. you did not say yes originally.

>> no, i did not say yes because as dani stated, i was kinda blindsided by other press that actually was offering -- wanting to report on the story and things like that, just to shed light on police brutality cases. so when he came to me the first -- my first initial thought was, like, here is a young kid -- i, to have a 20 something-year-old. my son is 23. dani is not that much older than my son and i'm like, you're coming here to do "document" about my brother" but you were not even born. you are not even born 1990, so what could you possibly report about it? so we met a few times out in the community. he just took time and that kind of made me feel like, ok, maybe

has good intentions. maybe has something in him that he really is compelled to the story and once toto get the truh out. so when i started meeting with him where i said, ok, well, this is maybe a new beginning, if you will, to exposing the truth finally after all this time. amy: i want to ask thelma pannell-dantzler, yet gary spath, who was acquitted of manslaughter. you in a civil suit got $200,000. gary spath got $40,000 every year for the rest of his life, which comes out to over a million dollars. i was wondering your response to this? the feds coming in perhaps an investigating, your son's civil rights being violated, not to mention his death? >> yes, because when this happened, i was shocked they got

him off with nothing at all. i was distraught. i feel if anyone gets punished, i don't care how many years it takes, the truth to come through, they should take them and what they did wrong and they should be punished just like anyone else. i work in new jersey. we pay tax. so i'm paying this tax for killing my son? that is terrible. we son, shot him in the back? back in the day, i thought that was murder when you shoot someone in the back with her hands up. he surrendered. but he said he was reaching for a gun? i carried this for 32 years. how could he say he carry this all this time, it was a good shoot?

how could he say things like that? he got children and raised them. he got grandchildren. amy: thelma pannell-dantzler and natacha pannell, we're going to continue this conversation and post it on democracynow.org. o;o;ó7ó7

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