Beena mistrial has declared in baltimore in the case of the first Police Officer charged in the case of freddie gray. He died in april from injuries sustained in police custody. We will speak with a lawyer and reporter who attended the trial as well as former naacp , president ben jealous. Then the first female mayor of flint makes a stunning declaration. I declare a state of emergency in the city of flint effective december 14, 2015. Amy the mayor of flint declares a state of emergency in response to a manmade disaster lead poisoning in the citys water supply. This comes after the citys unelected emergency manager switched flints water supply from detroits system to the longpolluted flint river. We will speak to the reporter who helped prove the city was being poisoned with its own water as well as a flint , resident who was diagnosed with lead and copper poisoning along with her three children. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In baltimore, a judge has declared a mistrial in the case of the first Police Officer to be charged in the death of freddie gray after jurors were unable to reach a verdict on any of the charges against officer William Porter. Gray died in april from injuries sustained in the back of a police van. Grays family and attorney say his voice box was crushed and his spine was 80 severed at his neck. A preliminary autopsy report showed the 25yearold africanamerican died of a spinal injury. Attorneys are expected to meet this morning to decide if porter should be tried again. Grays death in april sparked large protests. On wednesday, scores of baltimore residents took to the streets again to protest the hung jury. At least two people were arrested. Well go to baltimore for more on the case after headlines. Meanwhile, in chicago, white Police OfficerJason Van Dyke has been formally indicted on six counts of firstdegree murder for the Fatal Shooting of 17yearold Laquan Mcdonald more than a year ago. Dashcam video, only recently released by court order, shows the teenager posing no threat and walking away from the officers at a distance as officer van dyke jumps out of his police car and opens fire, striking mcdonald 16 times. The case has sparked massive protests across chicago, the ouster of former Chicago Police chief garry mccarthy, and increasing calls for chicago mayor Rahm Emanuels resignation. On wednesday, as mayor emanuel was visiting the Boys Charter School urban Prep Charter Academy in the southside neighborhood of englewood, students began chanting, 16 shots, the slogan many protesters have been using in calling for emanuels resignation. [chanting] amy mayor emanuel abruptly left after the assembly. New york has agreed to massively overhaul the system of solitary confinement in state prisons, following a threeyear legal battle by the new york Civil Liberties union. Currently, new york state holds 4000 prisoners in solitary confinement in 6foot by 10foot cells for 23 hours a day, often for years. The new agreement seeks to dramatically reduce the number of people in solitary confinement and the length of their stay. It imposes a maximum sentence of three months in solitary for most disciplinary violations, and bars the use of solitary confinement for firsttime violations for drug use or possession. New york Civil LibertiesUnion Executive director Donna Lieberman wrote no prison system of this size has ever taken on such sweeping and comprehensive reforms to solitary confinement at one time. Today marks the end of the era where incarcerated new yorkers are simply thrown into the box to be forgotten under torturous conditions as a punishment of first resort. Federal prosecutors have announced they will file criminal charges against a friend and former neighbor of one of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the suspects in the San Bernardino shooting massacre, which killed 14 people at the Inland Regional Center on december 2. Officials have accused Enrique Marquez of buying two assault rifles three years ago, which Authorities Say were used in the shooting. Meanwhile, fbi director james comey said suspect Tashfeen Malik did not pledge allegiance to isis on social media, contrary to previous reports. Many news outlets had previously reported that malik had posted on facebook pledging allegiance to isis, citing unnamed government officials. Speaking wednesday, comey said these reports were false, but said suspects Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik had communicated about their plans in private messages. He did not say the messages were encrypted. Speaking at a News Conference in new york city wednesday, comey also said there was no evidence that the suspects had any links to any organized terrorist groups. We still see in San Bernardino, no indication of direct contact with Foreign Terrorist Organization obviously, that would include any direction from foreign tourist organization. So far, we have found no evidence of posting on social media by either of them at that period of time and thereafter reflecting their commitment to jihad or martyrdom. Ive seen some reports on that and that is a garble. We have not found that kind of thing. Amy congress is voting on a 1. 1 trillion budget deal today, which includes a provision to end the decadesold ban on exporting u. S. Produced crude oil. Lifting the crude Oil Export Ban has long been a demand of the oil industry. Companies including bp, exxon mobil, chevron, hess, conocophilips, Chesapeake Energy , and marathon oil have all lobbied for bills to lift the ban within the last few years. Environmental group Oil Change International says lifting the ban will incentivize further Domestic Oil Production and is a disaster for the climate. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve says its lifting Interest Rates for the First Time Since before since the 20072008 financial crisis. Federal reserve president janet yellen said Interest Rate hike s reflects the economic recovery has clearly come a long way. In response, democratic president ial candidate Bernie Sanders disagrees, writing in at a time when real unemployment is nearly 10 and youth unemployment is off the charts, we need to do Everything Possible to create millions of goodpaying jobs and raise the wages of the american people. The fed should act with the same sense of urgency to rebuild the disappearing middle class as it did to bail out wall street banks seven years ago. Bernie sanders, the president ial candidate. In turkey, at least seven people have been killed by Turkish Security forces, as authorities have declared a curfew across the mainly kurdish southeast region. At least two of those killed were protesters who were demonstrating against a police crackdown. The deaths come amid an escalating Turkish Police and military crackdown across kurdish communities in turkeys southeast. A resident of the southeast town who did not give their name for safety reasons spoke out against repression. I find these policies you roni us. The pressure on Kurdish People has become unacceptable. What is it that we cannot share . Enough is enough. We want peace. Amy in nevada, a media mystery may have been revealed. Fortune magazine first reported that Major Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson has bought nevadas largest daily newspaper, the las vegas reviewjournal, for 140 million. Last weeks purchase was reportedly arranged by adelsons soninlaw. Week oflation follows a questions and uncertainty as the adelson family attempted to keep the purchase secret, even from the newspapers own staff. A reporter tweeted last week republican president ial candidates have returned to the campaign trail following tuesdays Republican National president ial debate. In arizona, Maricopa County sheriff joe arpaio, whose office the u. S. Justice department has said holds a systematic disregard for basic constitutional protections, introduced candidate donald trump at a rally by reminding the audience that the two of them are both prominent birthers who question the validity of president obamas u. S. Birth certificate. We have something in common. The birth certificate investigation, which is still immigration,llegal and one more thing we share, birthday. Amy donald trump has been one of the leaders of the birther movement. In 2011, he claimed to have sent investigators to hawaii. In illinois, the private Christian SchoolWheaton College has suspended a tenured professor who has begun wearing a headscarf in solidarity with her muslim neighbors. Political science professor larycia hawkins, who is christian, posted on facebook i stand in religious solidarity with muslims because they, like me, a christian, are people of the book. And as pope francis stated last week, we worship the same god. In response, Wheaton College suspended hawkins, saying she a Chicago Church wednesday, hawkins said that wearing the headscarf is embodied solidarity. Theoretical solidarity is not solidarity. Being with people requires sacrificing our bodies. And that is what im doing. And i want to turn back on that. I wont look back. I will continue to do this until christmas. Amy and five years ago today, tunisian Street Vendor mohamed set himself on fire. On december 17, 2010, the 26yearold protested as he tried to self reason bush doubles. The act led to protests across tunisia. It eventually brought about the ouster of president zine El Abidine Ben ali and inspired activists followed by uprising that became known as the arab spring. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show in baltimore where a mistrial has been declared in the case of a Police Officer charged in the death of freddie gray. Gray died in april from a spinal injury sustained while being transported in the back of a police van. Grays family and attorney say his voice box was crushed and his spine was 80 severed at his neck. Six officers were charged in freddie grays death. Officer William Porter was the first one to go to trial, charged with involuntary manslaughter, seconddegree assault, Reckless Endangerment and misconduct in office. ,amy on wednesday a judge declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict on any of the charges after three days of deliberation. Attorneys are expected to meet this morning to decide if officer porter should be tried again. Grays death in april sparked large protests in baltimore. On scores of baltimore residents wednesday, took to the streets again to protest the hung jury. At least two people were arrested. Billy murphy, an attorney for the gray family, described the mistrial as a temporary bump on the road to justice. The people who say this is not just as simply dont understand how the system works. Sometimes there are lt verdicts. Sometimes there are not guilty verdicts. And sometimes their temporary hung juries where no verdict could be reached in a case that are normally tried again. So this is just a temporary bump on the road to justice. It happens. It is part of how the system works. Amy we are joined by two guests who were inside the courtroom on wednesday. Doug colbert is a professor of law at the university of Maryland School of law. Roberto alejandro is a reporter with on background dot com who onbackground. Com. What does a hung jury mean . It means all 12 jurors could not agree on a verdict for any of the charges. And what is interesting is some of the pundits continue to see this as a victory for the defendant. I dont see it that way, amy. I attended every single day of the trial. I was there for all of the testimony. The prosecution presented a very strong case against freddie gray. In many ways, he is fortunate that he was not convicted of all of the charges. And the jury continues to ask and consider what officer porter left freddie gray in such a dangerous situation when he failed to seatbelt him and when he refused to provide him medical care, even though freddie gray had asked for care and told him he had difficulty breathing . So i think one of the real values that we take from this trial, first of all, if its the prosecution in a much stronger position for a retrial. And i expect that officer porter only received a temporary reprieve and will be tried a second time. But it also allows the public to gain transparency about what happened to freddie gray. In a many ways, provides opportunity to engage in real reform of police practice. Amy just to be clear, they could have they could have convicted him on several of the four charges, is that right and hung on others . But they were hung on all four charges . Yes, and what that suggests to me, and of course this is my educated speculation, is that there were probably a minority, perhaps one or two jurors who were holdouts. I expect at some point we will hear that the majority of the jurors voted to convict. But when you have hardcore people on a jury who refuse to convict on any of the charges, it led the judge to declare a mistrial. Nermeen you were in the court every day, doug. Could you talk about what the response was when the judge declared a mistrial . Well, the media, whom i spent a good deal of time with trying to counter what i considered a strong propolice perspective from other people who are commenting, took off and, of course, wrote their reports. I think what is really important here, though, is the media perspective and i suddenly dont include all of the journalists, but there is always been a very strong criticism prosecutor foral doing something that very few prosecutors do. And that is to bring charges and to be seriously determined to convict each of the officers. More than 98 of the Police Officers involved in the 2700 killings of people over the past 10 years have not had to face criminal charges. So our local prosecutor, marilyn mosby, is one of the very few who decided to bring charges and to be serious about doing so. Amy Roberto Alejandro, you are there as well, reporter with onbackground. Com. What most surprised you about the case presented against porter as well as his overall defense . Think the thing that to me that was most interesting was really more on the defensive side because i feel like their strategy ran on two tracks. One dealt with the factual issue of where mr. Gray was injured along the six stops the wagon may that day when he was arrested, but there was another track where they effectively, i think, for the Baltimore Police department on trial and said, look, this is a department that doesnt prepare its officers well through its training process in the academy, it has sort of a lackadaisical professional culture, and we should not hold a 26 are old officer with about 2. 5 Years Experience when this incident happened responsible for the culture of the entire Police Department. And it was interesting to watch the defense in this case essentially make a sort of ethical structural argument as they were also saying, dont convict this man, show the city that the whole damn system is an guilty as hell. Nermeen roberto, could you talk about what new evidence and testimonies that were introduced that shed more light on what actually happened to freddie gray . I dont know that there was a time of new evidence or anything that was particularly surprising that came up at the trial. You know, the state brought the chief medical examiner, dr. Carol allen who performed the autopsy as well as medical export expert, and they both presented a narrative in which mr. Gray was injured between the second and fourth stops. I think that is more or less the sense that we have had leading up to the trial. He was injured, obviously, somewhere along the way. The state presented its case in the defense presented inside and suggested the injury had two of occurred later, giving officer porter less opportunity to intervene. So do my mind, i dont know that we sell really new facts emerge, that shed light in one direction or the other. We had two competing narratives about where the injury had occurred in light of the facts that were probably largely established. Nermeen doug, i would ask about one of the charges, namely, misconduct in office against officer porter. Judge williams said it was not enough to show that porter failed to follow the apartment regulations. Instead, the jury had to find that he acted with an evil motive in bad faith. When the judge was asked to expand what that meant, he r