Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20151124 : vimarsana.com

Protesters were calling for the release of the video of the Police Killing of unarmed 24yearold African American justiceark, which the department is not investigating. We will go to minneapolis to speak with commerce member Keith Ellison who is also demanding the videos release. Last week, a photo came out showing the Minneapolis Police officer pointing a gun at his , head. Remiahs you was also protesting. We will go to chicago where a white Police Officer is expected to be charged with firstdegree murder today for shooting africanamerican teenager Laquan Mcdonald over a year ago. The video is expected to be released today. So ordered by a judge. Then we will look at the firestorm of controversy that has erupted over whether the United States should continue to accept Syrian Refugees. I will absolutely take database or the people coming in from syria if we cant stop it, but we are going to. Win, i have made it known, if i win, theyre going back. We cant have them. Theyre going back. We cant have them. We cant have them. Amy as more than half the nations governors say they oppose letting Syrian Refugees into their states, some are drawing historical parallel with a different refugee crisis the country faced, this time in the 1930s when jewish refugees sought refuge from the nazis. Among those denied entry was anne frank. We will speak with for policy editor ilya lozovsky. And with reporter Ishaan Tharoor , who wrote yes, the comparison between jewish and Syrian Refugees matters. And we will get comment from congressmember keys keep ellison, the first muslim member of congress. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Turkish military Officials Say they have shot down a Russian Military aircraft after warning its pilots they were violating turkish airspace. Russia denies the plane violated turkish airspace. Syrian rebels say at least one of the pilots is dead after boat ejected before the crash. The belgian capital brussels remains shut down as soldiers and tanks patrol the streets. Belgian authorities continue to search for salah abdeslam, a suspect in the paris attacks that killed 130 people on november 13. While subways and schools are set to reopen wednesday, brussels is expected to remain on the highest level of alert through the week. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the threat continues, although he did not say exactly what the threat was. What we were facing yesterday, the potential targets are the same as yesterday, too. I remind you, these are highly frequented places such as shopping areas, shopping streets, shopping centers, and public transports. Amy in neighboring france, police have continued a wideranging crackdown, carrying out more than searches and 1000 detaining more than 100 people. The New York Times reports officers broke down the door of a restaurant selling halal burgers and texmex food in the paris suburbs over the weekend, but found nothing. On monday, police said they found a suicide belt in the paris suburb of montrouge which may have been discarded by the fugitive suspect salah abdeslam. French president Francois Hollande meets with president obama in washington today where he is expected to push for an intensified campaign against the socalled Islamic State, which Authorities Say is behind the paris attacks. France has tripled its capacity to conduct strikes against isis by deploying an Aircraft Carrier in the mediterranean. Both france and russia have heavily bombed the syrian city of raqqa, the de facto capital of isis, which is also home to many civilians. Hundreds of thousands of them. Activists in raqqa report the chemical weapon White Phosphorus has been used. The United States, meanwhile, has struck an isis revenue source, hitting nearly 300 tanker trucks used to transport oil out of eastern syria. Russian officials, meanwhile, said their forces killed 14 people accused of smuggling fighters out of the north caucasus to join the Islamic State in syria. In minneapolis, minnesota, a group of five black lives matter protesters have been shot and wounded. They say the shooters were White Supremacists. At least one of them was wearing a mask. The protesters were gathered in an encampment outside a Police Precinct where they have been protesting the Police Killing of unarmed africanamerican jamar clark. Activists say the White Supremacists opened fire after a group of protesters attempted to herd them away from the protest. Jie wronski riley described the shooting to the minneapolis star tribune. Then it was like they turned around, and they started shooting. At first i wasnt sure, i was like, are they shooting firecrackers because it was so loud. And all this sulfur or whatever. Then it was like the person right next to me on my left went down, the person on my right when down. I was like, they are actually shooting at us. Theyre shooting bullets at us. Amy activists said police took a long time to respond to the shooting and then used mace on bystanders. Well have more on the shooting and the Police Killing of jamar clark later in the broadcast with minnesota democratic congressmember Keith Ellison. In oregon, Authorities Say they are treating the assault of an africanamerican College Student by three white students as a possible hate crime. Lewis and clark student tanguy muvuna said he was beaten by three white men who used racial slurs, threatened his life and forced him to drink an unknown liquid. In chicago, illinois, a white Police Officer who shot an africanamerican teenager 16 times last year, killing him, will reportedly be charged with murder today. October 2014, chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke shot and killed 17yearold Laquan Mcdonald. Police have claimed mcdonald lunged at the officer with a small knife. But people who have seen Police Dashcam video say it contradicts the police account, instead showing the officer opening fire on mcdonald while he was walking away and continuing to shoot him even after the teenager was lying on the pavement. Last week a county judge ordered , the city to release the footage of the shooting by wednesday. Well go to chicago for more after headlines. The California City of fullerton has agreed to pay 4. 9 million to settle a civil case over the Police Beating death of a mentally ill homeless man in 2011. Officers manuel ramos and Jay Cicinelli were acquitted last year in the death of kelly thomas, whose injuries included a compressed trachea and broken facial bones. Over the course of nearly 10 minutes, thomas was tackled, hit with a baton, pinned down, punched repeatedly in the ribs, kneed in the head, tasered four times, and then struck in the face with the taser itself eight times. Footage shows him pleading for help. He died days later. Republican president ial contender donald trump has doubled down on his false claim muslims in new jersey celebrated the 9 11 attacks. He said thousands of them did. Trump claimed there were tailgatestyle celebrations after 9 11. Republican rival ben carson has dialed back his initial support for trumps comments, claiming he saw video of people celebrating but, i dont know where they were. Speaking at a rally monday, trump also doubled down on his support for using torture techniques against isis, saying he would approve more than waterboarding. What i approve waterboarding . I said, let me ask you a question. On the other side, they chop off our young peoples heads and they put them on a stick. On the other side, they build these iron cages and they will put 20 people in them and they dropped them in the ocean for 15 minutes and pull them up 15 minutes later. What i approve waterboarding . You bet your ass i would approve it. In a heartbeat. Amy Doctors Without Borders has identified the 14 Staff Members killed in a u. S. Airstrike on its hospital in kunduz, afghanistan october 3. , in a statement, Doctors Without Borders said the hospital was hit by precise and repeated airstrikes for more than an hour. Even as the attack continued, our colleagues fought for their lives and for the lives of their patients with extraordinary determination and courage. Doctors without borders said the Obama Administration still has not revealed its review of the strike, which killed at least 30 people. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin today in chicago where the community is braced for several new developments in the Police Killing of 17yearold Laquan Mcdonald. He was shot and killed over a year ago. Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke remains on desk duty, will reportedly be charged with firstdegree murder today. On thursday, cook county judge Franklin Valderrama ordered the release of the video of mcdonald being shot by chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke on october 20, 2014. Over a year ago. An autopsy report shows he was shot 16 times, including multiple times in the back. Police have said that the teenager lunged at the officer with a small knife. But people who have seen the video from Police Dashcam footage say it contradicts the police account, instead showing officer van dyke opening fire on the teenager while he was walking away and continuing to shoot him even after the teenager was lying on the pavement. Despite the fact that Laquan Mcdonalds familychicago paid the family 5 million. The city fought to conceal the video, even after the wall street journal, the Chicago Tribune and a freelance journalist all filed foia requests for its release. The city of chicago now has until wednesday, thats tomorrow to release the footage. , meanwhile, officer van dyke remains on paid desk duty, as the shooting is investigated by the fbi and the United States Attorneys Office in chicago. On monday, chicago mayor rahm emanuel said officer Jason Van Dykes actions were hideous. He took the law into his own hands. About providing security. At every point, he violated but we can trust him. When you entrust a Police Officer to provide safety, build trust and uphold the law and you violate it, youll be held accountable for that action. The second thing is, whether you see it, hear about it or read about it, in my view, i would it is also a violation [inaudible] and it is wrong. It was hideous. Amy for more, were joined by two guests in chicago. Jamie kalven is the founder of the invisible institute, a nonprofit journalism outlet that recently released tens of thousands of pages of civilian complaints filed against the Chicago Police department 97 of which resulted in absolutely no disciplinary action. Kalven is also the freelance journalist who uncovered the Laquan Mcdonald was shot 16 times by officer Jason Van Dyke. We are also joined by Charlene Carruthers, the National Director of the black Youth Project 100, which declined a meeting with mayor Rahm Emanuels office on monday as the city tries to quell impending protests. Jamie and charlene, we welcome you both to democracy now jamie kalven, this may be the first time people around the country outside of chicago and around the world are hearing this story of a 17 year old africanamerican teenager killed more than a year ago by a white Police Officer in chicago. Can you take us through what actually happened and when you discovered the discrepancies in the reports . So the initial report that came out following the incident on october 20 of last year was erratic, andman, one spokesperson said crazed condition, was trying to break into cars on the southwest side of chicago. Officers confronted him, followed him for a time. Ultimately, he was described as lunging at the officers who defended themselves. It was described as a clearcut case of selfdefense. This is the story that was put out by the Police Department mcdonaldurs of laquan step. It is been a narrative of the city until recently. I was struck by the mayors remarks in the item a moment ago because everything that we now know or that we will know once the video is released was known by the city within hours of this horrible event. What in fact happened is the police got a call, young man breaking into cars in a deserted Industrial Area in the southwest side of the city. Two officers responded. Initially, handled obvious Law Enforcement situation very appropriately. They asked the young man to drop the knife. He didnt. He kind of walked away from them. He seemed in an odd state. It was later learned he had pcp in his system. But the officers handled it really appropriately. So for some minutes, they followed him as he walked along the street. One of them in the car, one of them walking alongside him with a flashlight. They called in that they needed a taser. They perhaps needed a taser, did not have one. That was the extent of force they anticipated using. A couple of blocks into this journey, other Police Officers converge on the scene, a fairly busy intersection in chicago. And this is the moment where everything accelerates and just goes out of control. They have the young man, laquan, essentially corralled. Several police cars, he is up against a construction fence that restricts his movement. They have superior force. A situation that moments ago required attain user, now becomes, as one witness describes it, and execution. So officer van dyke and his partner get out of their vehicle, draw their guns. Laquan sees them, veers away from them, and that is what the video will ultimately show and why it is so important. He veers away, van dyke shoots him once or twice it is not clear because there is no audio on the video. He falls to the ground, lies on the street in what has been described as a fetal position. Clearly, immobilized. There is an extended pause and then a barrage of bullets from van dykes gun. He is ultimately there are 16 independent gunshot wounds front and back. Thatw know definitively that is what happened. Amy have you seen this video . I have not. I have had it described to me almost frame by frame detail by those who have. Amy so describe how you discovered that the police account, in fact, was not correct. So a colleague and i, civil rights lawyer that i worked closely with, we received a tip from some weeks after the event we received a tepid from a City Employee who was concerned that this case was not going to be vigorously investigated. He told us there was video. He told us that it was horrific execution. It gave me enough information to be able to track down a witness to the event, civilian witness. So that was the initial impetus. Piecet point, we wrote a making known the video existed and calling on the city to release it. Some months later, the autopsy became available. Remember, the citys account, the official account was boy lunges at police, police shoot in selfdefense, and he dies some time later in a nearby hospital. When the autopsy became available, there was now definitive information that he was shot 16 times. Autopsy, about this and then what you did. Now, were talking about, for people to understand, today it is expected that the officer will be charged with firstdegree murder and that the video will be released. But talk about just what this youpsy said, the piece wrote, and what has happened over this past year. In the next few months, the city approaches laquans family, they dont sue but they give them 5 million. There couple of context for what unfolds in recent months. One is that there is an Election Campaign going on for mayor, so this incident, imagine the full implications of what happened on october 20th of leicester coming out in the midst of the Election Campaign. There is also and these are legitimate concerns and the whole city is talking about them right now, these events have unfolded against the backdrop of in then last fall or fall of 2014 when ferguson dominated the news. Of