district attorney sam sutter is joining us from providence, rhode island.an you talk about your decision to drop these charges? >> i can tell you i started wrestling with exactly how i was going to accomplish various goals i had on this case as we got closer to trial and actually reached the decision over the weekend for several discussions in myome top illegals office. all of whom come up with commissioner mike is on climate change. what just >> about talk more about what you discussed, waiting to decision and why you are so concerned about kind of change. unusual for a, not only to drop the charges like this, but to make such a dramatic announcement as you did you came out of the courthouse. i think very much like the with every activists were about to try. >> cursed about the decision and then about a point of view and whether it was unusual or not. we thought about reporting part of the case to the appeals court because we were not sure that the criminal court had jurisdiction of the motorboat charges. with thewas not met positive reception, really, by

i want to thank you district attorney sam sutter as well as jay and ken.we turn right now on the corner of central park west to sting. that's right, the musician sting. >> nice to be here. >> what are you doing here? >> i'm with the indigenous group here. i've always been at the forefront of the struggle. the message has always been the same, the planet is in danger and you better wise up. very, with very well financed, organized campaign. so complacency at the behest of oil companies and its propaganda. we have to do something. today is the day. >> y march with indigenous people? people certainly know you as a musician, but you are also a major global environmental activist. >> conditioners -- the indigenous peoples message has been consistent from the beginning saying, we are in danger. them in their homeland and dangers as an new york city. it is the same planet. it is a simple message. that is why am with them today. >> you spend time with world leaders who are in awe of you. what do you tell them? >> i don't think -- >> that rock out to you. what do y

. >> that is bristol district attorney sam sutter. outside the courthouse, the protesters also spoke. coaley are still burning over there. they're burning twice as much lasted in the air before. phasingsupposed to be out. that is the problem. isjust found out the i shelf in collapse. nothing we can do about it. in that context, it seems to me the only thing one can do is for yourself in the way. >> that was climate activist ken ward. we will be joined by both the bristol county district attorney sam sutter as well as the activists tomorrow on democracy now! that does it for today's broadcast. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] female announcer: inquisitive about tempeh, that quintessential and versatile meat-free protein? let's check in with the vegan mashup for three essential recipes that will have you reaching for te

sam sutter that came out and said that he was dropping the charges out of concern for the children whoclimate change. he said that there's been a massive failure and he said he would be in new york and he was there yesterday. >> that is an incredible story. >>> it's always a pleasure talking to you. >> that is "all in" for this evening. >> good evening, chris. thank you very much. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. it was four years ago, 1974, february 17th, 1974. and the white house was dark. this was the depths of the energy crisis. everybody was concerning energy and the white house wanted to lead by example. but it was 2:00 in the morning, middle of the night. but because they had the lieblgts extra dimmed, it was even darker than you would expect at the white house. that night, 2:00 in the morning, a warning system kicked in at the white house and 2:00 a.m., these bright search lights came on. and the reason those search lights came on and the alert had been triggered was because somebody was ldi

listen to what sam sutter had to say due to his reasoning of this. >> they were looking for a four world. i do believe that they are right. they were at a crisis point for climate change. james, the big question is, is climate change now a legitimate excuse for breaking the law? >> well, i do not think so. he did reach a settlement that required them to pay $4000 in restitution. the idea, it seems that this is an abuse -- >> i understand that they did give him a little fine. he was influenced by his feelings about climate change. >> or to put it another way, he made his decision not to prosecute. the irony here is we are facing, it has already been a cold summer. god knows how many cold years without getting any warmer. 400,000 tons of coal were being prevented from going to their destination. that is what they were doing when they were breaking the law. >> it was scheduled to close down in 2017. they were going to present what they call a necessities defense. well, okay, even if you buy the claim that it was necessary, it certainly was not sufficient to accomplish anything. the prosecut

his name is district attorney sam sutter. he is a massachusetts district attorney. last year he has been involved environment ng environmentalists. ken ward and jay o'hara, maybe you can describe what it is that you did over a year ago and then while you are standing today with a man who prosecuted you. >> certainly. a year ago we took a 32-foot long wooden lobster boat and anchored it in the path of a tanker, cargo ship carrying 40,000 tons of coal to try to stop it and stop burning coal. >> describe that moment that day. >> it was a beautiful cloudless day. we were in this little white lobster boat in front of a mound of coal. this huge black freighter was coming in. and we were anchored there for most of the day. blocked the coal for the day and ended up working with the coast guard and local police and eventually found ourselves n court two weeks ago where we met mr. sutter here. >> did you just meet outside of the courtroom today? >> no. we met that day. but then we got to know each other over the last couple of days. we are forging an alliance of sorts. their