01/30/23 01/30/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> egypt is like us. the only path to resting resolution and equal measures of democracy, opportunity, and dignity for israelis and palestinians. amy: u.s. secretary of state

tony blinken arrives in israel. israel has killed at least 35 palestinians since the beginning of january. on friday, a palestinian man shot dead seven people at his synagogue in an israeli settlement in occupied east jerusalem. settlers carried out scores of attacks over the weekend. we will speak to columbia professor rashid khalidi and the israeli journalist and activist orly noy. in protests continue in memphis and across the country after the release of police body cam footage showing the fatal police beating of tyre nichols, an unarmed 29-year-old black man who was pulled over in a traffic stop next to his home. >> we want equal justice under the law. tyre deserves it. all of our children.

amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. tensions between israel and the occupied palestinian territories are reaching a boiling point following a spate of recent attacks, which have escalated since israeli forces raided the jenin refugee camp in the west bank thursday, killing 10 people, including two children. on friday, a gunman killed seven people near a jerusalem synagogue at the start of the jewish sabbath. over the weekend, israelis living in illegal settlements in the west bank carried out scores of attacks on palestinians. at least four palestinians have been killed by israeli forces since the jenin attack, bringing the total number of palestinians killed by israeli since the start of the year to 35 -- eight of them children. on saturday, prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he will expedite gun permits for israeli

citizens. this is israeli national security minister itamar ben gvir. >> i want weapons on the streets. i want citizens to be able to protect themselves. the people have weapons, they will protect themselves. amy: meanwhile, another protest right tens of thousands of israelis to the streets of tel aviv this weekend to call out the mounting violence and attempts by the new far-right coalition government to diminish judicial powers. >> what you're trying to tell this government is that the need for democracy, the need for peace, the need for prosperity should be the backbone of what we are here for, and that is what we should strive for, democratic state that strives for peace. amy: this all comes as secretary of state antony blinken is meeting with netanyahu in jerusalem today during an

official visit to the region. he is scheduled to meet with palestinian president mahmoud abbas in ramallah tuesday. blinken already met with egyptian president abdel fattah al-sisi during the first leg of his middle east trip. blinken says he stressed human rights during his talks with egyptian officials. egypt is a major recipient of u.s. military funding despite its suppression of dissent and the press, including the widespread jailing of political prisoners. iran says it foiled an israeli drone attack on a military facility in the western city of isfahan. unnamed u.s. officials confirmed the reports, though the israeli military did not comment on the attack. it would be the first such strike under the new extreme-right government. in pakistan, at least people 34 were killed and some 150 others wounded after a suicide bomber attacked a mosque monday in the city of peshawar.

part of the building collapsed as the bomb ripped through the mosque during noon prayers. authorities fear people may still be trapped in the rubble. the mosque is located inside a high-security compound that includes government buildings, the city's police headquarters, and counter-terrorism department. this comes after government forces and the pakistani taliban ended their ceasefire last noveer. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the worst since last march when a suicide bombing at a shi'ite muslim mosque killed at least 58 people. the islamic state claimed responsibility for that attack. a warning to our audience, this headline contains graphic descriptions of police violence. the memphis police department said saturday it is disbanding its scorpion unit in the wake the brutal police killing of tyre nichols. the announcement came one day after the police department released the video of nichols'

murder, showing five officers relentlessly beating the 29-year-old just blocks from his home. the officers, who now face murder charges, pepper-sprayed, tased, kicked, and beat tyre while shouting threats and a series of commands. nichols died three days later of kidney failure and cardiac arrest. medics failed to administer assistance to nichols for at least 15 minutes after they arrived on the scene. two emt's have been suspended pending an investigation. nichols' stepfather has called for the paramedics to face criminal charges, calling them "just as guilty." protesters took to the streets of memphis and other cities across the country following the video's release. in memphis, organizers welcomed the disbanding of the scorpion unit but said much more is needed. this is amber sherman of the memphis chapter of black lives matter.

>> the organized crime unit all work under the same umbrella is the scorpion and they need to be painted as well. they need to have the same -- assaulting people, over criminalizing of the poor and low income neighborhoods, mostly where black people lived, we are a majority black city. amy: to see our interview with amber sherman, go to democracynow.org. tyre's murder has prompted fresh demands for congress to pass police reform legislation. ben crump, the lawyer for nichols' family, called for passage of the george floyd justice in policing act -- which remains stalled in the senate after the house approved it in 2021. the congressional black caucus is pressing to meet with president biden this week, who also voiced support for enacting the legislation. many activists continue to call for a greater institutional overhaul, arguing the inherently

racist police system in the united states is beyond reform. we will have more on this tory later in the broadcast. ukraine says russian strikes on the southern city of kherson have killed three people and injured six others. those attacks followed a russian air raid on an apartment complex in the northeastern city of kharkiv where at least one person was killed and three others injured. separately, russia said a ukrainian strike in the russian-occupied luhansk region hit a hospital on saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring two dozen. russia's foreign ministry blamed u.s.-made himars rockets for the deaths and accused the united states of direct involvement in the conflict. on saturday, the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy asked allies to send long-range missiles and other high-tech weapons, saying ukraine's military needs to counter russian attacks far from the front lines.

>> russia hopes to drag out the war and exact -- exhaust our forc so we have to make time our weapon and accelerate developmen, speed up to supply and launch of new necessary military options for ukraine. amy: in response, german chancellor olaf scholz ruled out sending german fighter jets to ukraine, warning allies against entering a bidding war to supply weapons. scholz's comments came just days after germany agreed to supply ukraine with leopard 2 battle tanks. the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons has blamed syria's army for killing 43 people and sickening dozens of others in a chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held city of douma in 2018. in a new report, opcw investigators say a syrian army helicopter dropped two yellow cylinders containing toxic chlorine gas on two apartment buildings in a civilian-inhabited area of

douma. the u.s. bombed syria days after the alleged attack. syria's foreign ministry said it totally rejects the opcw report and has accused rescue workers with the white helmets organization of staging the attack at the behest of the united states. in 2019, two former opcw employees leaked internal documents revealing there were conflicting views within the organization about what actually happened in douma, leading some observers to conclude that the chemical attack might have been staged by syrian rebels. in tunisia, voters made their preferences known largely through their absence during weekend parliamentary runoff elections. just 11% of eligible tunisians cast ballots sunday as anger mounts against president kais saied, who last year consolidated his power after winning a constitutional referendum boycotted by most opposition parties.

opponents have accused saied of carrying out a legislative coup. this is nejib chebbi, head of tunisia's main opposition coalition. >> about 90% of the tunisian people turned their back on the latest elections, once again said they do not participate in this coup which does not concern them in anything. amy: in the maldives, former president mohamed nasheed has been defeated in his primary election to challenge the incumbent president ibrahim mohamed solih. elections officials say solih won with 61% of the vote, though nasheed has alleged fraud and has so far refused to concede defeat. nasheed is a longtime climate activist who in 2000 was elected president in first multiparty election in the maldives, a low-lying island nation in the indian ocean.

he was overthrowin a cou d'état in 2012 and survived imprisonment and exile before his return to the maldives in 2018 where he now serves as speaker of the maldives parliament. brazil's government has declared a public health emergency in the yanomami community as severe malnutrition and illness ravage the nation's largest indigenous territory, home to some 30,000 people in the amazon. the crisis is largely due to the disastrous effects of illegal gold mining, which have displaced people, devastated the land, and contaminated rivers with mercury poison. the current president luiz inácio lula da silva and other ficials have accused former president jair bolsonaro of committing genocide by propping up miners and neglecting calls to help the yanomami. this is a yanomami leader. >> for four years we have only been crying most of the

community morning six children and for many times we ask for help and it did not come. amy: back in the united states, utah has become the first state in 2023 to ban potentially life-saving gender-affirming care for transgender youth. republican governor spencer cox signed the bill into law saturday as republican lawmakers in utah and other states push forward more bills targeting transgender rights, including a measure that would bar minors from changing the sex on their birth certificates. the aclu's chase strangio responded -- "claims of protecting our most vulnerable with these laws ring hollow when lawmakers have trans children's greatest protectors -- their parents, providers, and the youth themselves -- pleading in front of them not to cut them off from their care." in los angeles, three people were killed and four others injured in a shooting at a short-term rental home near beverly hills early saturday.

it's the sixth mass shooting in california in less than two weeks. nationwide, there have been 49 mass shootings since the start of the of the year according to the gun violence archive. president biden is calling for an assault weapons ban. and in washington, d.c., a judge sentenced the man who pepper-sprayed the late capitol police officer brian sicknick during the january 6 insurrection to 80 months in prison. sicknick died of a stroke one day after the riot. julian khater, who pepper sprayed three officers that day, had pleaded guilty to the charges. another man, george tanios, who traveled to d.c. with khater and supplied the pepper spray, was sentenced to time served. psalm 950 people have been charged in connection with the january 6 insurrection. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, u.s.

secretary of state tony blinken landed in israel and then will head to the west bank as violence escalates in the region. we will speak with professor rashid khalidi and is really journalist and activist orly noy . stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "elevation by television." guitarist and singer tom verlaine passed away at the age of 73. the influential guitarist once remarked "when i think of 'influence', i think of 'influenza', like somebody's picked up a germ." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. u.s. secretary of state tony blinken has arrived in israel as violence escalates in the region. he is expected to meet with both israeli benjamin netanyahu and president mahmoud abbas. israel has killed at least 35 palestinians is the beginning of the year.

the dead included eight children. the deadliest incident occurred on thursday when israeli forces raided the jenin refugee camp, killing 10 people, including two children. it was the deadliest israeli raid in the west bank into decades. a day later, palestinian gunmen shot dead seven people at a synagogue in an israeli settlement and occupied east jerusalem. it targeted worshipers observing the sabbath. "the new york times" as it was the deadliest attack on civilians since 2008. the new national secured minister, the far right politician itamar ben gvir, vowed to make it easier for israelis to carry guns. israelis living in illegal settlements carried out scores of attacks on palestinians. one palestinian official decried the settler violence saying it marked a "unprecedented increase

in the frequency of terror tacks against palestinian citizens and their property." we're joined now by two guests. rashid khalidi, edward said professor of modern arab studies at columbia university. he's the author of several books, including his latest, "the hundred-years war on palestine." he is joining us from boston today. and in jerusalem, we are joined by orly noy, israeli political activist and editor of the hebrew-language news site local call. she is also the chair of b'tselem's executive board. the israeli human rights group. we welcome you both to democracy now! professor rashid khalidi, why don't we begin with you. can you talk about this escalation of violence? go back to thursday, what happened in jenin -- i know you can go back further -- and then take it from the. >> there has been a wave of israeli military attacks in the

west bank, largely focused on jenin but also including other localities all over the west bank. last year, saw the highest number of fatalities in the west bank iover 15 years. this year, that record looks to be broken. 30 people killed in the west bank come half of them children and other civilians and some locals. this is part of the escalation that has been going on even before this extremist government took office. i think it reflects the intensity of the colonization and more intense israeli control being exerted over the occupied east jerusalem and west bank. it is the response of people to absolutely intolerable violence and the israeli government roof -- response with further attacks

on palestinian lives and property. we are seeing a situation that has been growing in intensity and in which the israeli process of taking over, stealing land, taking it over has pushed the palestinians very close to the brink. where this is going to go, nobody can say. of the pressure being put on in the absence of any reaction from the arab world is terrifying because nothing seems to be able to stop what this move toward completely corporate the entire -- territories and israel. amy: after the jenin attack -- let's remember, the well-known, world-renowned palestinian-american journalist shireen abu jacob was killed right outside the jenin refugee

camp as israeli forces were engaging in rates. talk about what happen the next day, the palestinian gunmen, the attack on the synagogue and interestingly the difference between -- i mean, all of this is terrorizing communities but when the word "terror" is used and "terrorists"? professor? >> i lost the sound for a minute. i think what you're pointing to the fact the much more massive number of palestinian casualties, most of them civilians, are never recognized as a result of israeli tear, whether it is violence or the actions of the israeli military or border guards or police. we are talking about a three to 1, 4 to 1, 5 to one ratio o civilian deaths. we are only told what the

palestinians determines "tear." not "security." it is used to justify not just the murder of civilians, not just attacks on jenin or other cities, but to justify the continued appropriation, expropriation, death of -- theft of palestinian land. it is colonization. israel is systematically colonizing the occupied west bank. in so doing, tear wielded by israeli settlers and the israeli military. we are talking about the use of a term as a bludgeoning against the palestinians in support of

this colonization process. one the constantly refutes. he had president biden talking about the attack on the worshipers outside the synagogue as an attack on civilization. this is the language throughout history, anything occupied by the colonized to resist is terrorism. what the state does is legal violence. amy: orly noy, you are in jerusalem, not that far from where the attack took place, a palestinian gunmen killed seven palestinians after the jenin -israeli raid the day before. talk about what happened there and about the mass protest this weekend.

>> i just want to point out the shooting in the settlement in jerusalem did not occur in a synagogue, it occurred in street weather happens to be many streets, synagogue and -- it had long been finished by the time of the shooting. also referring to your question about terrorism, it is important to mention that the shooter's grandfather was murdered by a jewish settler in 1999, which she was never brought to justice . and his second cousin, a 17-year-old boy, was shot dead recently in a refugee camp while

was holding a toy gun. and later, the policeman who shot dead the 17-year-old boy, was given certification of excellence. the protests are not directly related to this new cycle of violence that we have been witnessing, but of course, it is very much related to the uprise of the most radical, far right government with clear fascist elements that we have right now in israel. i think there are some general notion within the jewish-israeli society that something very dramatic happened, but i think we are still not seeing the soul-searching that this radical shift was supposed to bring about. following the general discourse

in israel, you might get the impression of an unidentified object from the sky, the so-called jewish democratic state, and shifted it from its course, bringing us to the current situation, which is of course not the case. i think what we're seeing now, the rise of the fascist right in the government, is a very natural result outcome of the most fundamental nature of zionism as it has been implemented in the so-called jewish and democratic state. if you take the last mass demonstration, for example, last saturday after the shooting, when you have an ex-general standing on the stage admitting

the supreme court is the only shield protecting him from bringing him to justice in the icc -- so there is a different understanding of what do israel is jews mean when they say they are demonstrating out to protect democracy. unfortunately -- amy: if you can step back for one minute for people who are not following the politics of israel that closely, when you talk about these mass protests against netanyahu's intervention in the supreme court, take it from there. explain what you mean and what they're protesting about. >> this new government, again, with clear fascist, undemocratic elements, has a very clear

agenda in crushing all the obstacles that remain -- the remains of the obstacles that still give israel some pretense of democracy. those includeree journalism, free expression of speech, and of course the judicial system -- which they see as a leftist elite, which is far from true. all the israeli crimes in the west bank have been approved by the israeli supreme court and very rarely did the interview -- the court interfere in order to stop any of the right. right now the attack is on the democracy that the jewish population has been enjoying in

israel and they want to eliminate those expressions of freedom in order to dictate a very radical far right agenda. amy: you also mentioned itamar ben gvir, the national security minister, who awarded the soldier who killed the palestinian. he himself was convicted in israel of inciting racism and hatred against palestinians or israeli arabs. >> he was actually indicted with beinpart of a terrorist organization, which is quite ironic because one of the main articles on their agenda is to exclude the palestinian knesset members from the parliament because of so-called big supporte of terrorism. it actually, the only parliament

member right now in the israeli knesset that was indicted with supporting a terrorist organization is itamar ben gvir himself. amy: professor rashid khalidi, as we speak, secretary of state tony blinken has just left egypt where he met with president sisi and arrived in tel aviv, will be meeting with benjamin netanyahu, and then tomorrow he will be meeting with mahmoud abbas in ramallah. can you talk about the significance of this trip? >> well, blinken was coming to pour more formaldehyde in the corpse of thewo state solution. also to continue the status quo, which seems to be the objective of every american administration, to allow israel

to do whatever it does to the palestinians while poo-pooing excesses. there's been little change from the time the biden administration came into office in foreign policy from the u.s. government, whether that had to do with arming israel to continue its occupation and colonization of palestinian land to the tune of $3.8 billion every year and military aid to israel or endorsement of the trump administration's removal of the u.s. embassy to jerusalem and rognition of israel's capital or cash illegal annexation. none of these trumpcare policies have been changed. blinken's trip is essentially intended to further american policies which also include normalization between a state that is systematically brutalizing arabs with other

arab governments, most of them undemocratic and unrepresentative of the popular feeling in the arab world -- blinken's objectives are to push this normalization process. amy: can you also talk about what is happening right now to the palestinian gunmen's home, this whole idea of collective punishment? they are ceiling at all. explain what takes place >> what israel does is systematically punish not just the perpetrators of attacks but sometimes the extended families. this collective punishment is part of a process of trying to crush the spirit of palestinian society. you don't just put the perpetrator of an attack in jail, you interrogate,

brutalize, and torture members of the family and then seal off and destroy their home. he takes place all over occupied jerusalem. it takes place all the occupied west bag, 6% of the west bank and so-called area c of the oslo accords. they systematically destroy homes. my brother had the house destroyed because they did not have a permit. you cannot get a permit. it is a catch-22 situation. it is intended to humiliate and punish palestinian society. the demolition of the homes is just the peak of a process of systematic demolition of homes all over occupied east jerusalem and the west bank. amy: you had a piece recently in

"the new york times" headlined "will the u.s. embassy in jerusalem be built on confiscated palestinian land?" explain. >> united states has submitted plans for the building of an embassy on a plot, land that was originally for military facility, rented from palestinian land owners and foundations. the owners of this property back when this plan was originally floated in the 1990's put together research that showed the palestinian ownership of this land. the administration at the time, the staff acknowledged this was the case in the plan was shelved. the trump administration reactivated this plan and the

biden administration has gone forward with it. today, the planning commission is looking into the objections by the families against it. this is something put to the state department by secretary blinken and the u.s. ambassador were sent letters by lawyers for these families. many of the jerusalem families, including many who are u.s. citizens, telling u.s. government they're planning to build on property owned by palestinians, illegally confiscated by israel, including the property of u.s. citizens. we have yet test the lawyers have yet to get a response. amy: let me play the response of state department spokesperson ned price who was asked about whether he had read your "new york times" op-ed.

>> i did see it and appreciate the opportunity to comment on it primarily because there has been some misinformation or miss impressions about our plans. to be clear, we have not decided on which site to pursue. a number of factors, including the history of the various sites that are in contention will be part of that process. we are committed to keeping the u.s. embassy in jerusalem. the united states recognizes jerusalem as the capital, and considering two options for our facility in jerusalem. one is the allenby site and the second is the are known aside. no decision has been made on the site selection in accordance with israeli law to amend the town plan for both the central location.

the comment period for the alnby site is open. the comment period is so we can garner a fuller sense of the public response to sites that may be in contention. amy: ned price. professor, your response? >> the state department received full information of the allenby site in 1998, 25 years ago. while they may well be studying what to do, they know perfectly well if they go ahead with the allenby site, building on land that belongs to a number palestinians, including many american citizens, there are -- the plans submitted by the u.s. government, the comet period ends today, includes plans for

embassy on the allenby site. we will see. the lawyers for the families will be holding a panel to discuss this tomorrow. we hope people will tell the congress -- the congress people will tell the u.s. government it should not be building on confiscated palestinian land. and more broadly, this move of the embassy to jerusalem and its recognition of jerusalem as the capital, so-called two -state solution, illegal under international law -- one of the major problems between palestinians and israel is. once again, the united states puts its big thumb on the scale.

the larger question -- as well as why the united states government recognizes illegal israeli expropriations are property of u.s. citizens when the private property concern elsewhere cut u.s. government is more vigilant in protecting. this does not seem to be the case where palestinians are concerned. the big issue is with jerusalem, moving the embassy. amy:n, if you can talk --orly noy, if you can talk about the escalating settler violence in the west bank? the news agency reported there was 140 four settler attacks on palestinians saturday alone. and also, what is understood by israeli society? >> i think very briefly we should mention that 2022 has

been the deadliest year for the palestinians andest bank. over 150 casualties. this is under the so-called change of the israeli government, not the current extreme far right government. yes, this is something -- settler violence is an ongoing ing on a daily basis, but after such events like the shooting friday night, they tend to escalate very severely. i will just mention in one village in the west bank, settlers -- and this is documented on camera -- set fire to a house which my chance was not inhabited by the family at the moment, uprooting trees,

attacking palestinian farmers. the israeli public in general has no idea because the mainstream media does not cover it, which creates the reality in which the israeli and also to a greater extent international public discourse only speak about violence in our area when the jewish-israelis are being targeted. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us orly noy, , israeli jewish political activist and editor of the hebrew heavenly which news site local call. she is also the chair of b'tselem's executive board. and rashid khalidi, edward said professor of modern arab studies at columbia university. we will continue to cover this. step, protest for police accountability continue across the country after the release of

the bodycam footage showing the fatal police killing of tyre nichols, the on 29-year-old lachman pulled over in a traffic stop, beaten right next to his home, dying three days later in the hospital. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "one for dallas" by odd nosdam. the sound served as the soundtrack for tyre nichol's skateboard video which our television audience just saw. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a warning, this segment contains disturbing descriptions and video of police violence. the memphis police department said saturday it is disbanding its scorpion unit in the wake of the brutal police killing of tyre nichols. it is an acronym for street crimes operations to restore peace in our neighborhoods. the announcement came one day after the police department released the video of nichols' murder showing five officers relentlessly beating the 29-year-old african-american man just 80 feet from his home. after they stopped him for an alleged traffic violation on january 7. the officers who now face murder charges pepper-sprayed, tased,

kicked, and beat nichols while shouting threats and a series of commands. nichols died three days later of kidney failure and cardiac arrest. police edited the videos before releasing them. it comes from the officers body cameras and from a surveillance camera on a nearby pole. in the first video, officers pull tyre nichols from his car and push them to the ground. amy: we had to bleep that a lot and those curses are not from tyre. he was sing "you're doing a lot

right now" of course to him. they tased him and tackled him at least five officers who beat him severely with their fists, batons, and kicked him repeatedly. footage then shows tyre in clear medical distress as the officers stand around out of breath and complain about their own injuries. one says nichols appears to be "on something" as he lay's bloodied on the ground. when an officer tries to prop him up against the car, the camera shows him and his bloodied face. it is not clear if he is conscious.

amy: the newly released footage shows medics failing to administer or assist tyre for at least 15 minutes. two emts have been suspended pending investigation. tyre's stepfather has come for the paramedics to face criminal charges, calling them just as guilty. protesters took to the streets across the country following the video's release. on friday, democracy now! spoke to the lawyer ben crump and the mother and stepfather of tyre nichols shortly after the stepdad saw the footage. the mom said she can't watch it. this is rodney, tyre's stepfather, and ben crump describing what they saw. >> what i saw was the police brutalizing my son. they did not have to do that.

he did not deserve that. he was a vy, very good kid and i didot understand why they had to beat him the way that they did. it was very, very horrific. i am glad my wife did not see it because she did not deserve to see that. it was just troubling. amy: tyre was just a few blocks from his home? >> he was a few houses from the home. >> he was about 80 feet from his house. it makes sense why his last words on this earth is, he is yelling out for his mother. gutwrenching cries for his mother. amy: when this video was released, it will be shown, and i'm asking you for direction now, the two of you, do you want us to show it, the video of your

son -- of the beating of your son? >> yes, we do want you to show the video. we want protesters to do it peacefully. we don't need riots or looting. that is not going to bring our son back. he was a peaceful person. were a peaceful family. if you want to riot -- i mn, if you want to protest, just protest peacefully. america that is tyree's stepfather and his -- the family's lawyer ben crump speaking friday on democracynow.org. we also spoke to his mother. amy: tell us more about who your son was, about his skateboarding prowess, working at fedex, coming home for lunch each day to you. just talk about how you want us

to remember him. >> i want you to remember him, he was different. he did not follow everyone. was his own leader. he had a beautiful soul, and he touched everyone. the boy smiled all the time. he loved his mother's cooking. he loved his son. that's why he came to memphis in the first place, to be with his mom, build a better life for him and his son. but memphis took my son away from me. so i have nothing. amy: tyre had a tattoo of you on his arm? >> he had my name on -- a tattoo of my name on his arm.

amy: tyre's parents spoke to president biden over the weekend and plan to join calls for passing police reform legislation. benjamin crump also calling for the george floyd act that remained stalled after the house approved it in 2021. the congressional black caucus is planning to meet with president biden this wee who also voiced support for enacting the legislation. many activists continue to call for a grter instutional overhaul, arguing the inherently racist policing system in the u.s. is beyond reform. we're joined now by two guests. deray mckesson is a civil rights activist and the co-founder and executive director of campaign zero. also with us is larry hamm, chair of the people's organization for progress. it is based in new jersey. we welcome you both to democracy now! larry, when you first saw the video and heard the story of what happened to tyre, your

response? your organization and you have worked on the issue of police brutality not for weeks or months or years, but decades. you ran for senate, essentially come on that platform against police brutality. >> well, amy, it is good to be with you today. after seeing the video, i was very hurt emotionally, i was crushed. what those officers did was abominable. it was heinous. it was hateful. they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. essentially, what they did, was an act of domestic terrorism under the color of law. he just reaffirmed for myself and members of the people's organization for progress and activists around the issue of

police brutality across the country that policing under this country must be totally, totally restructured, reorganized because right now -- since george floyd, the police have not learned any lessons. the number of deaths from police shootings has actually risen. 1176 deaths last year, the highest number of any year since they started counting. what we need, we need civilian oversight of police. we need community control of the police. we need laws in place to make it clear to police that they will suffer consequences when they commit these heinous acts of police brutality. they can lose their license, their badge, their guns, their jobs, and possibly lose their freedom. we have to eliminate qualified

immunity and we have to put in place laws that will make it clear to the police that they will suffer the consequences. that is why these things continue to happen. police act with impunity because they know there's only a 1% chance that they may actually get in trouble, suffer some serious consequences for doing these kinds of things. amy: deray mckesson, if you could explain qualified immunity? and then talk about what happened now in memphis, the disbanding of the street crime unit -- in new york, they disbanded the street crimes unit . there it is called scorpion. you have pointed out that things they have said they have done, your eight can't wait campaign, they have in fact not. >> there are three ways we could

hold officers accountable stuff there's criminal, there is administration of -- terminate them from the force, and civil, which will mostly be monetary damages. quantified damages is -- in most places across the country, when you sue and employ for their actions, actually are suing the employer. an employee at mcdonald's those coffee on you and you sue the employee, you're actually suing mcdonald's because the assume liability for all the actions of their employees at work. it is interesting about memphis, for the last 30 years, they have not assumed by billy for the officers in the police department. -- not assumed liability for officers in the police department. they don't assume liability. there are tons of people who have been harmed by the police in memphis who can't sue the police department for damages.

they would have to sue the individual officer as a citizen. what happens, police officers will just file for bankruptcy. in memphis, have to sue the city itself directly and that is a much harder legal journey to take. we anticipate the city will settle with tyre's family before a lawsuit is even filed because of the and nobody of their press but there are a host of other people victimized by the police department they refuse to assume liability for the wrongdoing of officers. about structural things, police use of force policy, in terms of requiring the escalation, they don't. they required training on de-escalation. there was a law that passed in 2021 that did make the ability to intervene the law indemnity but that is the only thing the have done structurally. i'm hoping they use this moment to restrict the power of the

police and hoping memphis city council and members of the police department merely make the use of force policy better. in memphis in the police union contract, says you have a one year window from the moment a police officer commits harm to hold that officer accountable. if an officer beats 70 any year passes, even if you have proven they be somebody, it is impossible because the contract of discipline after year. that is a random arbitrary deadline and one of the things we track in cities and the memphis city council tomorrow can make that obsolete. amy: larry hamm, today you're holding a news conference about the new jersey state grand jury's decision last week not to indict rod simkins and the fatal shooting of a unarmed black man named carl dorsey new year's day 2020 one. the investigation has dragged that even those families as the facts are clear, say he was shot dead by the officer who was

undercover in an unmarked car, playing close when he arrived at the scene after reportedly hearing gunshots. simkins fired the gun on dorsey. unclear if he announced himself as a police officer. can you talk about why you're holding this news conference today? >> thank you for bling -- bringing that up. we have -- what happened to tyre nichols happens every day and america to a black person somewhere. every community has a tyre nichols. one of the tyre nichols in new jersey is carl dorsey. carl dorsey was unarmed. this is an indisputable fact. no one disputes the fact that carl dorsey was unarmed when he was shot and killed at point-blank range by detective rod simkins. in new jersey, we have this

independent prosecutor bill where if a police -- local police person kills someone, then the state attorney general must take over that investigation. the state attorney general had this case for two years and we did not hear anything publicly posted this week, almost on the same day that the officers that kill tyre nichols were charged, that day the grand jury came back with no bill. no indictment for the officer that killed carl dorsey. so today at 11:00 a.m., together with the family, members of the carl dorsey, their attorney, we're going to have a press conference at 11:00 a.m. in front of the federal building in newark 970 broad st to demand that the u.s. attorneys, the united states attorneys for the district of new jersey launch a

civil rights investigation into the death of carl dorsey. amy: larry hamm, chair of the people's organization for progress and deray mckesson, commit civil rights activist and the co-founder and executive director of campaign zero.

[shouting] ♪♪♪ [firecracker popping] [shouting] [woman shouting] [shouting] [gun fire] [shouting] [woman shouting] [shouting] adam harvey: it's february on the battle-scarred streets