03/09/23 03/09/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we are encouraged by the department of justice findings toda however, it is unfortunate it took the murder of breonna taylor and protest after protest after protest through 2020 to come to this point. amy: the u.s. department of justice accuses the louisville police department of unlawfully

discriminating against the city's black population and using excessive force. the doj probe began after louisville police fatally shot breonna taylor in her own home during a no-knock raid three years ago. then "apartheid american-style." we go to jackson, mississippi, where white republican state lawmakers want to set up an unelected superstructure to oversee the black majority city. we will speak to jackson mayor chokwe lumumba who has accused state lawmakers of colonizing jackson. then atlanta and the fight to stop the construction of cop city. 23 more protesters have been charged with domestic terrorism. heeality i the ones who are engagi in violce are t poli and theare righere from aanta, orgia. u ha apd, gegia stat poce,bi, ste troers, evybodexcept the marr poli who arengaging in

violennd trorism against the people who are standing against this illegal land swap. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the justice department is issuing a scathing report on the louisville, kentucky, police department, documenting a pattern or practice of excessive force, unlawful stops, discrimination, failure to investigate sexual and domestic violence, and other charges. the findings follow a two-year probe into the louisville metro police department that followed the killing of breonna taylor, a black louisville health care worker who was shot and killed in her own home during a 2020 no-knock police raid. attorney general merrick garland announced the findings of the 90-page report on wednesday. >> the department has concluded there is reasonable cause to believe that louisville metro and lmpd engaged in a pattern or

practice of conduct that violates the first and fourth amendments of the constitution. a mako the findings are likely to lead to a consent decree that would see a federal monitor assigned to oversee the louisville police department. meanwhile, the justice department said wednesday it will review specialized police units around the country, including the memphis police department's now-disbanded scorpion unit after five forme memphis officers were charged with murder and aggravated assault in the beating death of tyre nichols, a 29-year-old black father. that announcement came as a shelby county judge blocked the release of 20 hours of additional video footage and internal documents related to a memphis city investigation into nichols' killing. the u.s. senate voted overwhelmingly wednesday to block an effort by the district of columbia to overhaul the d.c. criminal code. president biden said he would sign the senate resolution, in a

victory for republicans, who led the effort to stop measures such as reducing maximum sentences for carjackings and expanding the right to jury trials for certain misdemeanors. d.c. leaders and activists condemned both parties in congress and biden for interfering in their governance. this is d.c. councilmember janeese lewis george, speaking at a "hands off d.c." rally. >> congressman years back and today have stated geordie black city with black leaders and power cannot lead themselves. that is facts they have put out there time and time again. so statehood is not just a human rights issue and of voting rights issue, it is a racial justice issue. amy: in mississippi, the naacp says it will challenge several gop-led bills making their way through the legislature which threaten residents in the majority-black capital of jackson by handing state police more power and granting the

state control over the city's troubled water system. we'll go to jackson, mississippi, later in the broadcast to speak with mayor chokwe antar lumumba and author and activist makani themba. in ukraine, the international atomic energy agency says the russian-occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has once again lost its connection to external power and is relying on diesel generators as a last line of defense against a nuclear meltdown. the plant's operator said it was the sixth time since russia's invasion the plant has had to turn to emergency backups to maintain critical cooling systems for its six reactors. the nuclear plant's outage came as russia fired a barrage of missiles across 10 regions of ukraine, killing at least nine civilians and knocking out electricity supplies. on uted natis wednesday, secretary-general antonio guterres visited kyiv wednesday for tas with present volodymyr zelenskyy. both leaders said it was critically necessary to global food security that russia extend

an agreement allowing ukraine to export grain from its black sea ports. the pentagon is blocking the biden administration from sharing evidence about russian atrocities in ukraine with the international criminal court in the hague. that's according to "the new york times," citing current and former u.s. officials who say defense secretary lloyd austin objected over concerns that sharing evidence would set a precedent making it more likely the icc would prosecute u.s. military personnel. the 1998 rome statute that established the international criminal court has been ratified by 123 nations but not by united states, russia, or ukraine. a saudi engineer who was locked up at guantanamo bay prison for 21 years without charge has been released and repatriated. 48-year-old ghassan al sharbi was detained in pakistan following the 9/11 attacks, where he says he was tortured before being sent to guantanamo.

31 people remain locked up at the military prison, 17 have been cleared for transfer if a host country can be identified. in the occupied west bank, israeli forces killed three palestinians in another raid in jenin less than 48 hours another -- a previous raid in the city killed six palestinians. meanwhile, u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin arrived in tel aviv after delaying his arrival by one day amidst a spate of violence against palestinians and ongoing mass protests against the government's plan to gut the judiciary. austin is expected to also discuss iran during his visit to israel. the republic of georgia has withdrawn a controversial bill that critics say violated press freedom and civil society after days of protests. the proposed law would have required nongovernmental organizations and independent media outlets that receive over 20% of their funding from international sources to dlare themselves agents of foreign influence.

the european union, which georgia is hoping to join, welcomed the news. the federal reserve has signaled it will hike interest rates higher and faster than expected in order to slow down inflation after recent data showed a stronger economy than forecast. last year, the fed raised interest rates at the fastest pace since the 1980's. during a senate hearing tuesday, democrat elizabeth warren blasted fed chair jerome powell for "gambling with people's lives" by imposing rate hikes that would increase unemployment from 3.4% to 4.6% by the end of the year according to the fed's own projections. >> do you know how many people who are currently working, going about their lives, will lose their jobs? >> i don't have that number in front of me. i will say it is not in intended consequence. >> but it is in that is in your report. that would be about 2 million

people who would be losing their jobs people right now making their mortgages. amy: the white house has criticized fox news personality tucker carlson for portraying the january 6, 2021 insurrection at the u.s. capitol as a mostly peaceful affair. press secretary karine jean-pierre spoke to reporters at the white house wednesday. >> we agree with fox nations own attorneys and executives who have repeatedly stressed and multiple courts of law that tucker carlsen is not critical when it comes to this issue. amy: carlsen made the claims after his program was granted exclusive access to more than 40,000 hours of capitol surveillance footage by republican house speaker kevin mccarthy. meanwhile, new documents from the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against fox news by dominion voting systems revealed tucker carlsen texted an unnamed co-worker two days before the capitol insurrection, writing of trump -- "i hate him passionately. i can't handle much more of this."

he continued about trump -- "what he's good at is destroying things. he's the undisputed world champion of that. he could easily destroy us if we play it wrong." and longtime civil rights activist and south carolina community organizer kevin alexander gray died wednesday after suffering a heart attack. he was 65 years old. in the 1980's, gray served as south carolina campaign manager for jesse jackson's presidential campaign and helped lead protests against south africa's apartheid government. he was a past president of the south carolina aclu and fought for years to get the confederate battle flag removed from south carolina's state capitol grounds. the flag was ultimately moved to a museum in 2015 following the massacre of nine black worshipers by a racist gunman at mother emanuel ame church in charleston. kevin gray spoke to democracy now! after the killings. >> when you talk about white

supremacy as a structure, you have to talk about what supremacy as a structure that permeates america, that the foundation of our politics in this country is white supremacy. what supremacy is not merely the ku klux klan and race hate groups. it is a structure which keeps people down based on race, that keeps people in power. racism is about power. amy: to see our many interviews with kevin alexander gray over the years, 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. we begin today's show in louisville, kentucky. on wednesday, the u.s. justice department released a scathing report accusing the louisville police of unlawfully discriminating against the city's black population as well as people with behavioral health disabilities. attorney general merrick garland laid out the doj's findings on wednesday. >> report finds that lmpd uses

excessive force including unjustified neck restraints and the unreasonable use of police dogs and tailored servers -- tasers, and valid warrants, unlawfully executes words without knocking and announcing. unlawfully stops, searches, detains, and arrests people. unlawfully discriminates against black in enforcement activities, violates the rights of people engaged in protected speech critical of policing and along with oval metro, discriminates against people with behavioral health disabilities when responding to them in crisis. the justice department has also identified deficiencies in lmpd's response to an investigation of domestic violence and sexual assault.

lmpd has relied heavily on pretextual traffic stops in black neighborhoods. in the stops, officers use the pretense of making a stop for a minor traffic incident -- offense in order to investigate for other crimes. some officers have demonstrated disrespect for the people they are sworn to protect. some have videotaped themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars, assaulted people with disabilities, and called black people monkeys, imal, and boy. amy: kristen clarke, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the justice department, detailed more of the doj's findings about the louisville police department. >> officers also routinely conduct stops, searches, and arrest without required constitutional justification. these tools are essential to enhance public safety but when

used without restraint, they turn into weapons of oppression, submission, and fear. we found that lmpd officers used excessive and dangerous tactics such as neck restraints, canines, and tasers even against people who opposed no imminent threat to the officer or others. we also found that officers misdirect their resources and violate fundamental principles of equal justice by collectively targeting and disproportionately subjecting black residents to unlawful policing. amy: the justice department began investigating the louisville police department after the police killing of breonna taylor, who was shot dead in her own home during a no-knock raid on march 13, 2020. on wednesday, breonna's mother tamika palmer spoke to reporters about the doj's findings.

>> it is heartbreaking to know everything you have been saying from day one has to be said again through this manner. that it took this to have somebody look into the department. >> specifically talked about the warrant in breonna's apartment. when he heard that today, what went through your mind? he essentially said this should not have happened. >> heartbreak all over again because i knew that to begin with. i said that from the very beginning. we have asked that question over and over for noah to ever give you a direct answer. amy: lonita baker, an attorney for breonna taylor's family, also spoke at the news conference. >> we are encouraged to the department of justice findings today. however, it is unfortunate that it took the murder of breonna taylor and protest after protest

after protest through 2020 two come to this point. as you saw, this was a pattern and practice investigation and the findings relate to patterns and practice. it is not one particular case. amy: we are joined now by sadiqa reynolds, the former president and ceo of louisville urban league. we welcome you back to democracy now! talk about the significance of the justice department's two-year investigation, this whole issue of finng patte and practice. i know this is not a surprise to you. >> thank you so muchor having me again. it is not a surprise to me or anyoneho has been paying attention in louisville, kentucky. i think breonna taylor's mother said it best, it is sad this had be on the back of her daughter. it is sad because we have been complaining about things with our police department. thiseport, is scathing.

excessive force, search based on invid warnts. i want tfocus on the fact this is patterns and practice. this is not one-off. this ithe way ey do business. unlawfully detned in unlawfully discriminating against black specifically. i think th is a really sching indictment on this police department. their conduct is illegal and black people are sproportionatelyxperiencing the illal activity in losville this report -- even talking out behavioral health d what is happening with people who have behavioral health issues in our community. again, something we have been talking about, something we have been asking for support on. there are a lot of reasons for louisville civilians to be very concerned today. for those who did not believe the protesters, for those who did not think people should have been in the streets -- i mean,

when you hear in fact police are engaging in illegal activity related to people who are using protected speech because they are critical of policing, you ould be concerned. so i hope this report will generate theonversation that has toappen in my city in order to really change the way policing happens in every community. i hope this louisville can step up and be some sort of example of how you can make change because right now, we are doing a horrible job of policing. amy: if you can talk about what is going to come of this? the whole discussion of an independent monitor and a consent decree with the louisville police dertment. what does that mean? >> they will have an independent organization, in that will monitor the work of the police department. they will complete aorrective action plan and then that

organizaonill work to make sure lmpd is doing what they said they're suppod to do. i think for community -- there was a nversati last night with the doj post of the next apps be for us to learn about what organization has been chosen, what arthe steps -- obviously, there are about 36 steps the doj has recmended, but there could be more. we have to think about the timeline. there are a lot of things that need to happen was not i think the thing that no one really talks about is an acknowledgment. this is somewhat vindication, quite frankly, for a lot of people in louisville who have been traumatized by what we have experienced over the last couple of years. what makes me hopeful is i not through my work with perception institute that -- these police officers have been trained in this way. it is poor training, not following policy and procedures where they do have it, there's

been no accountability. so we do have to go back and look at officers who have violated the law to see how they have been handled. i don't think the community just wants to push that under the rug. i think we need to see for those officers -- there are some we know what happened. they were throwing drinks at people who were experiencing mental health issues on the street. those officers have been arrested. but there are other things outlined in the report. we don't know what happen with those officers. we don't know what happened with the officers who called black animals. we don't know what happened with the supervisor who made jokes when he got to the scene on the officer told him he had be the woman in the face with a flashlight. we don't know if there was ever any discipline. we have to know about those things. that understand who we are moving forward with in our police department. amy: let's go back to the case breonna taylor, which sparked all of this. as her mother said, ok so now we

know what she knew and what so many people, especially african-americans in louisville, knew three years ago about the pattern and practice. but no officer has been charged in the murder of breonna taylor. is that investigation ongoing? even one of the officers who was charged was not charged for shooting her but for his bullets ending up in the apartment of a white couple next door. >> let me say something else about that case. not only are they not charged with her murr, the officer who was shot, offir mattingly, who went in is actually suing the boyfriend kenny for shooting him. so they went in unannounced -- we see allf this information about the poor way they handled it, the illegal way they handled warrant -- no-knock warrants. not only are they not charged with killing her, they hav an

officer who has the audacity to sue thperson who had every right to defend himself. it is incdible. this police department, the way they operate, their procedures, their practices, the pattern here, it is atrocious. so all of these past investigations really do need to be reopened. if not for the department of justice, we would have no hint of justice in this community. now the coonwealth attorney, not the attorney general -- no one has offered as any sensef justice. but for meick garland a his office, all of this would still be covered up stop all of it. amy: you're talking about kenneth walker the city of louisville settled with him something like $2 million, but he is being sued? for people to understand, what was it, 1:00 in the morning the police barged in? he was terrified and said he did not know they were even police?

>> that's ght. the fact he even called 911 saying, "can you send the poli?" they have a recording of that. we knew something was wrong with kenneth walker's case when he was released from custody after shooting a pole officer. we knethere was more information. that is what pushed peop into the streets in louisvil. the other thing interesting about kenneth walker's case, when you watch the video, they say not exist d we know did, when he comes down the steps, comes out of the apartment, they have the dogs and they threatened to turn the dogs on him. so now that i read this report and i see how often people are being bit by canines, this breonna taylor case is an example of almost everything that was wrong and continues to be wrong with our police department. let msay, i'm nosuggesting they have not attempted to make some changes. we have an interim pole chief. we will see what happens.

but at the end of the day, we have got to have complete honesty, complete disclosure, and we absolutely need investigations into some of these things that have been identified. we want to know who the officers were, what happened, who the supervisors where they did not do their job. we need to be rid of them. we need to go into the weeds on this. it is way too important. amy: is not only louisville, the departmentf justice, and the attorney general but the assistant attorney general kristen clarke is in charge of all of this. we played a clip of her earlier, longtime civil rights attorney. but, for example, said they will be investigating the memphis police department. >> yeah. this is about systems and systemic chang this is what i said yesterday, we know there a some good officers in this cntry, no doubt. there are people signing up to really serve and protect and they believen that. the problem is the system is

corrupt. sometimes people want to say the stem ibroken. i think the system works as it was designed to work stoit was designedo discriminate against black people,oor people. so what we have are systems that absolutely need to be disrupted. if your mind can be trained to be biased, if your mind can be trained to do these things, then we can untrained the mind. but these officers and the people who control them have to be willing to engage. at the core, this is dehumanization that ithe problem across the country. these officers get this power and they don't see my humanity because of my black skin. at has to stop. we had to doomething differt. this is more than just trainin on policy and procedure, this is about how you train your mind, w you se people, h you react to yo own biases.

we have to do something different in america posin louisville we will be doing something different butt will be a long hard road. i will say this, we have a lot of pple in the business community, and i'm sure this doesn'just happen in louisville, a so critical of protesters because it disrupts business, not good for tourism. let me tell you what is not good for people's lives, to be terrorized and in their own homes and not be ablto rest or sleep. when you read this report and understand how bad thipolice department has been, people should actually be thiing protesters for raising their voices and maybe saving their children. amy: sadiqa reynolds, thank you for been with us attorney and , community activist, former president and ceo of louisville urban league. next up, "apartheid american-style." we go to jackson, mississippi, where white republican state lawmakers want to set up an unelected superstructure to oversee the black majority city.

we will speak with jackson mayor chokwe antar lumumba. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: saxophonist and composer who died last week at the age of 89. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we go deeper into the southern united states as we turn to mississippi, where white republican state lawmakers are attempting to essentially create an unelected superstructure to oversee the black which already capital city of jackson. this week the state's majority white republican-led state senate passed its version of a bill by the majority white -- passed last month by the majority white and republican-lighthouse that would allo mississpi's supreme courchief justice, who is white, to handpick local judges

in jackson. prosecuts of public defenders wi be selected by the state attorn general who also is white. jackson has the highest percenge of black residents of any major city in the united states. supporters of house bill 1020 claim it would make jackson per. democratic mississippi senator john horhn disputed this ahead ofuesday's vote on the revised bill. >> it is vastly improved from where it started, but it is still -- he needs to be defeated. senator carter made the point that crime is on the rise in jackson. and he is correct. but to senator baratz point, there is absolutely no empirical data, no evidence that adding these temporary appointed judges will do anything to stem the rise in crime in jackson. there is no data. amy: both versions of house bill

1020 would expand the role of the capitol police, which has no oversight board and has not been transport and reporting officer-involved shootings. last year, the capitol police shot three people in a six week period, including jaylen lewis, in unarmed 25-year-old black man and father of two. his mother arkela lewis testifying at a public hearing this week against expanding the jackson capitol police powers as she explained what happened to her son. >> white man standing outside with his gun drawn. he did not ask jaylen for information. he did not tell jaylen who he was. before he could do anything, the man shot jaylen in the head. i have been doing everything i can to try to get information about what happened. they have not even contacted me, provided me no information.

no dashcam footage. no police report. t even a phone call to acknowledge his death. amy: for more, we go to jackson, mississippi, where we are joined by two guests. makani themba is a volunteer with the jackson undivided coalition chief strategist at , higher ground change strategies. she writes about this in her piece for the nation titled "apartheid american-style." also with us is chokwe lumumba, mayor of jackson, mississippi. is if you state lawmakers have trying to colonize jackson. mayer, please start off by explaining what these bills are about. >> simply put, these bills are an attack on black leadership, a way to seize power of a majority black city which could not be seized democratically through an election.

so state lawmakers are attempting to legiste their way into control of the city. this bill is part and parcel of the larger effort which not only attempts to take over the judicial process but also you seem efforts to take over or water system that we have received over nearly $800 billion in federal funding to contribute towards its repair. former efforts to not only take over our school district, but also to take over our airport. this is what we're cigna only in jackson but in less obvious ways, efforts around the country to do that. i have talked to collects or comments of mine in st. louis and mayor jones and i know a similar effort is afoot in kansas city, missouri. so it is apartheid as we have called it. it is plantation politics. it is used under the trojan horse opublic safety.

first and foremost, statistical analysis has determined that jackson may not even have the highest crime rate in the state of mississippi when you get into it by scale. but beyond that, if there's a true emphasis were concerned over the issues of public safety, and the steak and make investments in areas where we have asked them to. first and foremost, their own state crime love has a backlog that prevents cas from going forward to trial and justice delayed is justice denied come as we have known ito be. they have not supported the request of our police department and ballistic technology that helps them associate guns involved in other crimes. they have not supported our real-time command center that we have asked them, 21st century tool to use to support that, nor have they suorted our eort for credibleessenger or violence intruption trainin we have gone to wells fargo bank, national e-gov cities, who have been the was to get us see

honey so we can make sure we have additional interventions towardhe issueof crime. lastly i will say when you do a truly intensive study of what the crimes of violence and jackson persist ou of,ou find it is largely based o interpersonal conflict, which is difficult to pole. so having an occupying force that abuses community does not make the city saver. over the last six months, there have been at least seven officer have been involved incidents for the capital compex police. and surrounding jurisdictions over theast two to three years have not amounted to that number of officer-involved incidents. amy: this reminds me so much of what happened in michigan when the governor, the white republican governor at the time appointed emergency managers, especially for black cities. we know what happened in flint with the water supply been

disconnected and wholly contaminated. the governor there was rick snyder. can you clarify what you just said about you think this started with the water supply of jackson, which has been so problematic, and now getting this influx of state and federal money that the state wants to grab the money? >> it started even before that. the firstffort orbvious effort wou have be over the takeover of our aiort which we have bee fighting for the bett part of 5, 6 yearnow. but with respect to our water system, we have had decades of defeed mntenance and neglect . this is an area where i had to give my predecessors they're just due in that they have all asked for resources in order to help with jackson's water system and the issues of capital improvement. we have nearly 50% loss in our

system, amongst other capital investments that have to be made. so as we have gone to the state legislature each and every year asking for support and saying it is not a matter of "if" but a matter of "when" these things will fail, they have displayed willful neglect for the city of jackson. we have had to go through extraordinary means to go to the federal government and work with the epa and giving credit where it is due, the biden administration provided collectively nearly $800 million, which now we have a third party administration that we are working with conjunction with on in order to make sure that we can see the prioritization and sustainability of our systems. and now that we have found ways to solve our problems for ourselves, the state has taken a negative outlook on that. and this all comes on the heels of our ability to get those

resources, where they not only attacked to take over our water system but to take over our judicial process. it is not just an attack on the city of jackson, it is an attack on the black judges, the black prosecutors. it is simply stating they want to seize control over all points of governance that we now have control over. i would lastly say the representative who initiated or introduced the bill trademark, when asked what he believed judges should be appointed rather than elected, his response, while, was of the what the best and brightest. that feeds into the notion, to the false narrative of black people being inferior and incapable of choosing the leadership which bests

represents our interest. amy: i want to bring in makani themba, volunteer with the jackson undivided coalition. can you talk about the historical significance of jackson? particularly, go back to mississippi went from having one of the most radical changes, you point out, after the civil war with the black majority legislature, to what we're seeing today with the white majority -- what super majority running the state and what comes up that. >> good morning and thank you. the history is really important. one of the reasons why mississippi had such a progressive constitution and legislature during reconstruction was that there wasn't the kind of interference by the white power structure that sort of came out of slavery. mississippi sort of had the history of havina relationship with its residents -- there is

no pretext around whether they are here for the befit of the residents of the state. it is an attack against jackson as black city, andackson which has been a battleground since reconstruction around controls it. and it was not until the federal government post reconstruction that led up to this sort of shift in 1890 with a different constitution that was so of grounded and rooted in white supremacy was the federal government that action provided arms for the confederacy to recapture the state. it was a body battle. much of which took place in jackson and madison for the control of the state and who would do it. it really has only been sort of the bad reapportionment, racist lines, packing districts -- the only way they are able to rule

as a white super majory is really about illegal, unjust tactics that they have created law around that they e really not just, they're really not providing the folks of mississippi true representation. weould never have a republican supermajority if there was accurate black representation by state diricts. that said, the other issue that we are dealing with that is sort of the part of the legacy of extraction to the ople of mississippi from its legislators -- i should site it is predominantly white legislature that we have had since 1890 -- has been no way in which -- in many ways this is a federal issue because of states rights. states are not really accountable to making sure they spend the dollars they received on need. place like jackson that has a lot of need around

infrastructure because at the lack of investment by the state and not only divestment and lack of investment and neglect, but also literally creating barriers for the expenditures of money that are directly -- directed to the city. jackson was the only city in the state that had an extra layer of rules and approvals, the only city in the state for how he would spend its federal dollars that were allocated directly. and the state has no accountability. when they read these proposals and talk about "we need money because of x this and this thing," oftentimes are talking about incidents, issues that are in black cities and towns but they have no accountability. -- no account ability to spend that money that way. the legislation that seeks to create the so-called regional water authority to take jackson

out of the picture in terms of control over its resources, is not even requiring that authority to fix the problem. it only requireshat authority to receive the dollars and spend the dollars, which is very different. amy: i want to end with governor --mayor lumumba. you can tell us if you're running for governor, but that was just a slip of the tongue. what you demand of the governor of mississippi tate reeves? and also the president of united states, e biden >> we demand equity. we demand fair representation. we demand the ability to govern for ourselves and have home rules. my principal aim in my leadership, one that i personally subscribed to in my life, is oncentered aund self-determination. we what to democratize power in our city.

while we are trying to make efforts to build a vision of public safety, which is rooted in foundation of community trust, these efforts of the bill said to roll that back, set to control a more adverse relatiship between law enforcemenand our police, one which reected what we see around the nation. while i certainly would not report you the jackson police departme is perfect, i will y we are aiming and making strides toward making sure it is more constent withhe relationship that i just shared with you. that we are trying to build. so we simply don't want to see the govement interference that makani themba was speaking that. we simply don't want to see federal funds diverted away from jackson, which systematically

has been a practice in mississippi for some time. the governor even boasted at his time as secretary of state how he was able -- not secretary of state,tate auditor stop how he was able to divert funding from the city of jackson and was proud of that. we are just aimi to get our fair share and the longer be under the thumb of the state of mississippi. amy: we want to thank you both for being with us. the mayor of jackson, mississippi, chokwe antar lumumba. and makani themba, jackson undivided coalition. we will into your piece in the nation "apartheid american-style." next up, we go to atlanta and the fight to stop cop city. 23 war protesters have been charged with domestic terrorism. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "guns of brixton" by the clash. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

as we go to atlanta, where prosecutors have charged another 23 forest defenders with domestic terrorism after their arrests late sunday at a festival near the site of cop city, a massive polictraining facility being built in the weelaunee forest. the arrest followed clashes between police and protesters sunday afternoon. this comes less than two months after atlanta police shot and killed a 26-year-old environmental defender who also went by the name tortuguita. earlier this week, organizers with the faith coalition to stop cop city gathered to condemn the plans to build cop city in the police department's cckdown on protesters. thiss revere keyannaones. . >> reality is the on engagin in vionce are e police d theifromig here inanta gegia. you have apd,eorgia ste lice g, georgia ste

trpers -you got erybod except the martyr police who a engang in violence and terrorisagainst theoe are standinggainst this illegal land swap. amy: on wednesday, a group of activists interrupted original commission meeting and attempted to give an eviction notice to thatlanta yor. >> objtion. objectio wee a lett bei delered on behal of scogee cre leership. >> i camere toeliverhis leer to yofolks. we wanyou tonow that t contempory muscoe peoplare noakg our joneyack to our melands d herebyive noce to mar andrew dickens, let aity counl, the aanta poce deparent, the atlanta police fouation, delb count sheriffsffice, ao-called p city thayou must

immediely vate muogee homela andease vionce and licing of digenousnd black pele imuscee lan also asd for a iependent instigatiointo the assassinion of o relativ tortuguind tt the arges be dropped against weelaunee forest defenders. amy: to talk more about the growing movement to fight cop city, we're joined by two guests. micah herskind is a local community organizer in atlanta, georgia. kamau franklin is the founder of the organization community movement builders. we welcome you both to democracy now! kamau franklin, talk about what happened this weekend. and if the national media, basically domestic terrorists attacked the police -- many of them were arrested. >> the national media is basically forwarding or believing or putting out the media narrative of the police

themselves. nothing can be further from the tree. what we had over the weekend was a festival in weelaunee park with hundreds of people gathered to announce cop city, to celebrate the weelaunee forest. there was a breakaway action in which there was civil disobedience. and there was an attempt to disable property. the police overreacted. they came in, chased people down. they then decided to go a mile away and invade day music festival. they broke up the entire festival. they threatened people's lives. they threw people to the ground. they arrested people randomly and indiscriminately. as you stated, we now have 23 more cases of domestic terrorism file. we had a total of 35 arrested at the rally and demonstration. they continue tout out a narrative to scare people and criminalize the larger movement to stop cop city. amy: i want to go to a forest

defender who is at the peaceful action and concert sunday. they sent this to us from the audio, describing what happened that night, asking to remain anonymous. their voice has been distorted for their safety. >> police rolled armored vehicles onto the field and approached the music festival, brought out riot shields. everyone stood together and demanded we be let go. and only if we went altogether. the police were forced to let that happen. it was really scary and disheartening. people were afraid for their lives after tortuguita was killed in these woods, after the police were threatening to tase.

we all stood together and kept each other say. it was so beautiful. punishment for standing up and exerting our first amendment rights, showing a united front to the power structure of the city. it's possible you're watching the future of protests of our future of protesting as police brutality against climate change, we're seeing a crush right here in front of our eyes. amy: that is a forced defender who we are not identifying. micah herskind, can you talk about the history of the stop cop city as it is known, movement? >> this is a movement that goes back years now. when the proposal to build cop city and destroy after 380 acres of forest land first went public back in 2021, there was immediately a broad community

coalition that formed against cop city. people were canvassing neighborhoods, showing up at city council on the day of the final vote, there were 17 hours of public comment from just local community members saying, we do not want this facility to be built. we need this forest land. it is critical for environmental protection. of course, the city council approved it anyway. since then the movement has continued and it is only grown, especially in the last year, as please have asked related their tactics and -- as police have escalated the raids and tactics. people all of the country have recognize this is an atlanta issue but also an issue that will impact people across the country and the world. amy: kamau franklin, has her any update on the police killing of the forced defender known as tortuguita?

his mother came up from central america. what has happened and what has the further investigation found? >> so far the georgia bureau of investigation has stonewalled releasing further evidence about what happened that day. the family is persisting. they have hired attorneys. they have gotten the release of several videotapes. it other than that, the georgia bureau of investigation -- which has no real legitimate authority or right to investigate this violent crime by the police because they were part of it. so we think that is why the independent investigation is data. the information released so far backs up completely the claim that organizers and activists and forest defenders have made, one, that police gave no warning. there's no videotape whatsoever of the surrounding scenes, which you can hear any warning by the police. two, police claim there was a

warning shot given by tortuguita and return of fire. the blast of fire you can hear on the veto tape that was released, the bodycam is a burst of fire. they themselves commented it sounded like suppressed fire, which is code word for police fire. we continue to protest, to demand an independent investigation that has nothing to do with the authorities that were involved in the murder of tortuguita because we think that is the only way we will find out the truth. amy: i want to go to reverend keyanna jones who we referenced earlier, member of the state coalition to stop cop city, speaking at an atlanta city council meeting monday. >> what will your legacy be, or so-called legacies of black leadersh setting up on this council? let me tell you something. representation is not enough when you don't represent the people who elected you. cool came out and spoke clearly.

t me go to the bible once more and say we are here as clergy to cry loud and spare not. we are opening our mouths and crying with a loud voice t say we don't want cop city city. i live in east atlanta. don't wa cop city. i've got five black children. i don't want cop city. i like breathing cle air. i don't want c city. want to drink clean wat. i don't want cop city. i don't want like talk helicopters lanng around -- lack talk helicopters landing around my corner. i don't want cop city. don't. my neighbors don't. my granny don't. she is been in her house almost 50 years and you suckers will never get gentrification because we knew what to do. amy: that is reverend keyanna jones, a member of the faith coalition to stop cop city. there's also the environmentalists who want to preserve the forest, indigenous people, the muskogee as well.

get those deeply concerned about police misconduct. this facility, this police training facility, would be the largest in the country. has any part of it been built? do you really see yourself stopping this? >> the struggle continues. no part has been built. they have cleaned off some forest lands but to this stage two years later, nothing has been built because of the fortitude, the diversity of that movement, the tactics -- the tactical diversity, strategic diversity, the fact we continue to press forward even when that mayor of atlanta, unlike the mayor of jackson, the mayor of atlanta who teams up with the right wing white supremacist governor of georgia to suppress organizers and activists in the city and to work with the governor to give state terrorism charges. we have a weak mayor. we have a week city council that

gives into right-wing demands. but that has not stopped this movement from moving forward. we will continue to press to stop cop city. we will try to bring economic pain to atlanta by doing what we can to stop the democratic national convention from convening in atlanta. an atlanta is attempting to get the fight for the world cup. we will do with everything in our power to let them know if they come to atlanta, they will be protested against. amy: micah herskind, today's a national action day against police terror. can you talk about the plans for today? >> there have been actions planned throughout the week. today, one of the actions will culminate with a rally at the kings center were folks will be coming out from all over to say the community is not in support of cop city, despite the city's messaging that the entire movement is made up of outside agitators, which is a trope that has been used since the civil

rights movement and before to discredit movements. this is people in atlanta who'd been crying out for years now that we do not want cop city. this is just another show of community support and community opposition to this facility. amy: do you want to comment? >> today is a national day against police violence. you can go to nationaldayofaction.info for a list of cities perella send demonstrations. we must use this time to revive the national movement to stop police violence and terror. we can no longer rely for those that the democrats or policymakers to make changes for us. we have to get back out in the streets and, not only our rights, but stopped the police violence against our communities.

amy: we want to thank you both for being with us, kamau franklin, founder of community movement builders, and micah herskind, local community organizer. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new yoo;o;ó7ó7 o