Whistleblowers and with a reporter who documented their ordeal in a Major Investigation for the intercept called the code of silence. New york police have fatally shot a 66 euros africanamerican woman who suffered from schizophrenia. In her own home in the bronx after a neighbor called 911. Mayor de blasio has condemned the shooting. 66 years old, known to the nypd as someone who srerereuffed from Mental Illness. In the of Deborah Danner is tragic and it is unacceptable. Amy we will get reaction on this and a number of other issues from shaun king, a black lives matter activist and senior justice writer for the daily news. We always get a lot of talk about holies brutality. In this most recent shooting, the mayor and the Police Commissioner acknowledge it is wrong, even apologize. That is just talk. We need to get to the point where we have justice and accountability. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Republican president ial nominee donald trump campaigned in ohio thursday and announced that he will accept the results of the novembers election under one condition. Mr. Trump i want to make a major announcement today. I would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters and to all of the people of the United States that i will totally accept the results of this great and historic president ial election if i win. Amy Donald Trumps remarks come one day after the final president ial debate when he refused to say if you will accept the relate election results. President obama and other leaders have sharply criticized trumps remarks. Pres. Obama that is dangerous. When you try to sow the seeds of doubt in peoples minds about the legitimacy of election, that undermines our democracy. Amy on thursday night, trump and Hillary Clinton both spoke here in new york at the alfred e. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner in new york to raise money for catholic charities. Trump was repeatedly heckled and booed during the event. Pres. Obama we have learned so much from wikileaks. For example, hillary believes it is vital to deceive the people by having one Public Policies [boos] pres. Obama and a total policy in private. Thats ok. I dont of who they are angry at. For example, here she is tonight in public pretending not to hate catholics [boos] amy Hillary Clinton poked fun at trumps claim that he might not accept the result of the november election. Mrs. Clinton you know, come to think of it, it is amazing i am up here after donald. I did not think he would be ok with a peaceful transition of power. Amy the two candidates sat at the same table during the dinner, separated only by Cardinal Timothy dolan, the archbishop of new york. In other campaign news, a 10th woman has come forward to say she was sexually assaulted by donald trump. Karena virginia said trump approached her in 1998 outside the u. S. Open tennis tournament and grabbed her breast. Virginia said after she initially flinched, trump remarked, dont you know who i am . Virginia spoke out on thursday with a message to the republican nominee. Your random moment of sexual pleasure came at my expense and affected me greatly. Mr. Trump revealed his true character in his own words, which indicated he felt entitled to grab women by their private parts. Amy in news from iraq, at least 16 people have died after isis militants attacked a power station in the oilrich city of kirkuk. This came as u. S. Backed forces continued their assault on mosul which fell to the Islamic State , two years ago. The United Nations has warned it could force up to one Million People to be displaced. On thursday the pentagon announced the first u. S. Soldier had died in the attempt to retake mosul. The top United Nations human rights official has said that the siege and bombing of eastern aleppo in syria has constituted crimes of historic proportions. Zeid Raad Al Hussein spoke earlier today during a special session of the u. N. Human rights council. Armed opposition groups continue to fire mortars and projectiles into civilian neighborhoods of western aleppo, but indiscriminate airstrikes across the eastern part of the city by Government Forces and their allies are responsible for the overwhelming majority of civilian casualties. And these relations constitute war crimes. And of knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians, they constitute crimes against humanity. Amy south africa has begun the formal process to withdraw from the International Criminal court. The news comes just two days after another african nation, burundi, became the first country to ever pull out of the court. Over the years, the court has been accused of disproportionately targeting african leaders. Human rights watch criticized south africas move. The group said south africas proposed withdrawal from the International Criminal court shows startling disregard for justice from a country long seen as a Global Leader on accountability for victims of the gravest crimes. In news from latin america, Honduran Security Forces fired Water Cannons and tear gas at protesters thursday in the honduran capital of tegucigalpa. The protest was led by copinh, the Civic Council of popular and indigenous organizations of honduras. The leader of copinh, berta caceres, was assassinated in march. Thursdays protest came just days after two honduran campesino leaders were also assassinated. Tension is escalating between washington and manila after newly elected filipino president Rodrigo Duterte announced a separation from the United States and realignment with beijing. And will realign myself maybe i will also [indiscernible] there are three of us against the world. [applause] only way. Amy the philippines is a former u. S. Colony and longtime military ally. Meanwhile, in other news from the philippines, dozens of protesters were injured during a demonstration wednesday outside the u. S. Embassy in manila when a police van repeatedly rammed into the crowd. The protesters were calling for an end to the u. S. Military presence in the philippines. For the first time in two decades a new Nuclear Reactor , has gone online in the United States. The Tennessee Valley authority announced watts bar unit 2 began Generating Energy on wednesday. Construction on the 4. 7 billion reactor began in 1973. Four other reactors are being constructed in georgia in rhode island, two activists from the fang collective were arrested thursday when they chained themselves to a concrete device inside a td bank in providence. They were protesting the banks Financial Support of the Dakota Access pipeline. Federal prosecutors have announced they plan to charge a former National SecurityAgency Contractor with violating the espionage act in whats being described as the largest theft of classified government material ever. Prosecutors accuse Harold Thomas martin, an employee of booz allen hamilton, of stealing classified material from the nsa over a 20year period, but there is no evidence he shared the information. Martin is scheduled to appear in court today. A new report from the Environmental Protection agencys Inspector General has concluded the agency took seven months longer than necessary to warn residents of flint water flint, michigan, about lead contamination in their water. The report found the epa had enough information in june 2015 to issue an emergency order under the Safe Drinking Water act but the agency didnt act until january 2016. Flints lead poisoning began when an unelected emergency manager appointed by michigan Governor Rick Snyder switched the source of the citys Drinking Water to the corrosive flint river in 2014. And britain has announced it will pardon up to 15,000 gay and bisexual men who were convicted under old laws that criminalized homosexuality. The pardons are being done under the socalled turing law, named after alan turing, who cracked nazi germanys big name of code, but was prosecuted for being gay. He committed suicide in 1954 at the age of 41. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show with an explosive story of two Chicago Police officers who blew the whistle on a gang of their colleagues after they discovered they were demanding bribes from drug dealers in the Housing Projects of chicago, arresting their rivals and blocking any internal investigations into their actions. The whistleblowers, shannon ,palding and Danny Echeverria spent five years working with the Chicago Police department and the a the i in their case only to be sidelined outted as informants, threatened, and eventually forced out of the Police Department. In contrast, the named senior officials and cops who helped cover for their fellow officers were able to retire from the force with their pensions intact and faced no punishment for the role in the coverup. Spalding said she is even received death threats. She and her partner both took stressrelated medical leave and she is been diagnosed with post dramatic stress disorder. Amy their ordeal is chronicled in a fourpart investigation published by the intercept called the code of silence. Part one is headlined in the Chicago Police department, if the bosses say it didnt happen, it didnt happen. It is written by the awardwinning chicago journalist, jamie kalven, who has made a career out of exposing Police Misconduct in the city. He spent three years interviewing spalding for the report. He is also known for uncovering the autopsy report that showed Laquan Mcdonald was shot 16 times by Chicago Police in 2014 and was the first to report the existence of the video of the shooting, which was released 400 days after mcdonald was killed. Thursday marked the second anniversary of the killing. Kalven is now working with spalding on a project called the invisible institute, which has set up an encrypted drop box for Chicago Police officers to anonymously upload evidence of corruption. They also offer to link whistleblowing cops to mentalhealth and legal resources. For more we go to chicago where jamie kalven joins us to discuss investigation. And we are joined by the whistleblower at the center of his story, shannon spalding. We welcome you both to democracy now jamie, we begin with you. Lay out the story. This is a server coast saga serpicotime saga of our time. This in the last decade. The scene of the crime has essentially disappeared. They make conscientious efforts to bring this criminal activity to the attention of their superiors. They are blown off. Ultimately, go to the fbi and provide information it is not conclusive information, but grounds for investigation. They then are detailed to work undercover with the fbi and pursue this investigation for a number of years. Are at the point of breaking the case wide open when they are outted within the department and have since suffered constant retaliation. I think part of what is really important about this story is what it illustrates about the nature of the code of silence. I think the common understanding of the code of silence is it is a kind of peertopeer phenomena of the rankandfile, were in the foxhole together, you got my back, nobody likes a tattletale. There is that dimension with the police culture, but what is so striking about this story is the retaliation against these officers is ordered by highranking supervisory officials within the department. So it is really a story in great detail of how the code of silence operates at the center of the Chicago Police department. Juan jamie, about the issue of retaliation being ordered at high levels. How was that documented in the lawsuit . Also, the city settled for 2 million before there was a trial. Could you talk about the tactic of the city of settling the suit . Right. So in the midst of this ordeal, the two officers, shannon and danny, brought a whistleblower lawsuit really, and employment suit, hoping above all to be protected from further retaliation. It only compounded and intensified the retaliation at that point. There are a number of allegations in the lawsuit. The intercept keys links to all of the underlying legal documents. , the commander of narcotics, the chief of organized crime, made it clear they did not want these officers working in unit they controlled. They went so far in one instance of really delivering a threat, paradoxically, it was conveyed by the chief of internal affairs who is charged with investigating this sort of thing, a threat against the personal safety. Theyieve the quote was, if call for backup, it is not coming. This was not just a matter of being ostracized were shunned within the department, although, it certainly was that. As shannon says, at one point in the article, i quoted her saying, we were officers without a department. They are left out on the streets in this really dangerous investigation, investigating a team of officers who are thought twoave been implicated in murders. It has not been proven yet, but it scarcely has been investigated apart from shannon and dennys work. There left wholly exposed. They are left wholly exposed. This is coming from the top. This was not some are more in behavior, this is the machinery of how the Chicago Police department controls the narrative. Theoted the line about bosses say didnt happen, didnt ppen. That is really at the center of this tour he. Amy lets go to shannon spalding, former Chicago Police officer. Agrees to chicago settle a whistleblower lawsuit brought by spalding and her colleague Daniel Echeverria who allege they suffered retaliation for reporting and investigating criminal activity by fellow officers. Shannon spalding, tell us, what was it that you were investigating . When did it happen . When did the coverup, you feel, and the retaliation against you start . My partner danny and i started investigating allegations that kept surfacing there was a sergeant, ronald watts, and members of his team who work directly underneath them that were imposing what they called on the streets a watch tax. He was receiving money from drug dealers that ran different drug president in a Housing Project in the surrounding area. In exchange for that money, they were guarantee protection from prosecution an arrest. In addition to that, the allegations were that this crew of rogues officers under the command of ronald watts were also planting narcotics on innocent individuals and falsifying police reports, falsely arresting them, putting them in prison for false allegations. Ofre is also the allegations physical violence, of being beaten if they did not want to comply and pay this tax, as well as warrantless seizures, kicking in doors, and going through peoples apartments, stealing everything that wasnt nailed down. And the allegations kept being repeated over and over again from every individual we would do intelligence with along with our confidential informants. I think you said, when to the retaliation begin on this investigation . We began to investigate it and brought it to the fbi in 2006. We were not officially assigned with our department to work with the fbi that time. We were doing this on our own time. 2007, we were assigned by the Chicago Police department to work with the fbi solely on what was dubbed operation brass tacks. Brass meaning the top officials in the Police Department. Brass refers to a boss. Tax, because that is what they were and limiting. I believe it was 2010, august 2010, when i realized that our identity had been compromised and that we were now out. This was supposed to be a strictly confidential investigation. It was imperative our identities not be revealed because the targets of this investigation were officers and bosses, and we did not know how far up the chain it would go. Which meant they had access to all of our personal information where we lived, our children, anything that they wanted which made us very vulnerable. To expose our identity is basically throwing us to the walls. These targets could now know who we are, what we were investigating. You have to remember, these are Police Officers. They know what they did. And now they know that we know. And with that comes the implication of federal prison time, losing your job, losing your livelihood. And makes us targets it very dangerous for us to work. Juan i want to turn to janet hanna, a 20 year veteran of the Chicago Police d