FEATURING MICHAEL MCDOWELL – The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota is the epicenter of protests against racist police brutality and this week is in the middle of 6 days of memorials leading up to the funeral of the man’s whose death sparked a national uprising. George Floyd, who was killed by 4 police officers on Memorial Day was honored in a high-profile event on Thursday as protests continued throughout the city and all over the nation. 

Now, the city council has banned chokeholds during arrests and requires officers to intervene when their colleagues are breaking the law. Some members of the Minneapolis City Council are even considering disbanding the police.  All four officers in Floyd’s killing have been charged and are being held in custody.  

Michael McDowell, Community Organizer at West Side Community Organization, involved with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis.

FEATURING KATH ROGERS – The national uprising unfolding in the US for the past two weeks has clarified for many Americans who may have doubted the word of black communities, that police are routinely violating people’s rights. Law Enforcement has spiraled out of control in city after city, tear gassing people in their faces, shooting rubber bullets directly at people, hurling flash bang grenades into bodies, and savagely beating people with their batons. There have been incidents documented of police using the same chokehold on protesters that killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. Meanwhile President Trump claims that it is the protesters that are “terrorizing the innocent,” contrary to all evidence. 

Legal observers with the National Lawyers Guild, wearing bright green hats, are gathering evidence and offering legal support to people whose rights are being violated. Between the police violence, the blanket curfews of cities, the declaration of an anti-fascist idealogy as “terrorist,” the raising of a tall black fence around the White House, are we seeing a new descent into state lawlessness and authoritarianism?

Kath Rogers, Executive Director of National Lawyers Guild Los Angeles.

A video recording of an elderly 75-year old white man being shoved to the ground by police in Buffalo, New York has gone viral in the latest documented instance of police brutality during the protests against police brutality. The man was attempting to speak with police as a large crowd of well-armed officers in riot gear walked by. Police simply shoved him and as he fell backwards onto the curb his began bleeding from his ear lying motionless. The perpetrators mildly acknowledged the victim and continued toward another protester in order to arrest him. Now two officers involved have been suspended without pay while critics are demanding that they be charged and convicted of assault. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted, “This incident is wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful.” The victim, Martin Gugino an activist with People United for Sustainable Housing Buffalo remains in the hospital in critical condition. The police violence aimed at protesters, journalists, passersby, and others appears to be a national phenomenon. Indianapolis police were caught on video violently assaulting a woman while arresting her. Witnesses say their videos show an officer grab the woman’s breast, causing her to instinctively pull away. Several officers then violently ganged up on her striking her with some sort of paint or flash grenades, and beating her relentlessly with batons as she fell to the ground in shock. A second woman nearby was also violently shoved to the ground and arrested. 

More instances of shocking and brutal police savagery were on display in New York City as protesters who remained on the streets past the 8 pm curfew were beaten and arrested. A report by Huffington Post described the scene: “NYPD officers took it as their mandate to arrest everyone in sight, using brutal force to make sure they got the message. Even people walking through the neighborhood who were not participating in the protests found themselves trapped by NYPD officers who blocked exits on both sides of a block.” Here is one disturbing scene from Thursday evening. NYPD officers were also documented arrested food delivery workers who are exempt from the curfew. Meanwhile New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio, who claims to be a liberal leader, and who oversees the police force praised NYPD for showing restraint. In Los Angeles, California, police showed similar barbarity as they struck peaceful demonstrators with batons and rubber bullets. The LAPD have justified their cruelty saying that officers were being attacked with projectiles but so far little video evidence shows such attacks. In Northern California, Vallejo police fatally shot an unarmed 22-year old Latino man who was on his knees with his hands up. The police say they were responding to a call about a Walgreens being looted. 

Aside from the Vallejo police killing, at least 12 people have been killed in protests across the nation, the majority of them black men. According to a Forbes.com roundup of incidents, of the 12 victims 8 were black men including one retired police o...

FEATURING LAWRENCE O. GOSTIN – After months of being cooped up indoors to stop the spread of a deadly virus, hundreds of thousands of Americans have flocked to the streets of US cities over the past 10 days to protest police killings of Black Americans. While many are wearing masks, public health officials worry that the protests may undo the work of curbing Covid-19 infections. Others say the protests are necessary in spite of the pandemic because of the threat of racist and violent policing to public health. 

It has been nearly 4 months since the global coronavirus pandemic was declared. While there has been a glut of data and research, there has also been tremendous misinformation in the public sphere. From time to time we have spoken to Prof. Lawrence Gostin to help us understand the latest reliable information on Covid-19. 

Lawrence O. Gostin is a University Professor, Georgetown University where he directs the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He is also the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law where he has served in numerous high-level capacities. He also co-chairs the Lancet Commission on Global Health Law and served on two global commissions to report on the lessons learned from the 2015 West Africa Ebola epidemic.

FEATURING ADAM COHEN – The United States Supreme Court is supposed to be the ultimate arbiter of the constitution and of justice in the nation. And for decades, it often made rulings that pushed the nation closer to its stated ideals, one ruling at a time. Until President Richard Nixon came along and appointed four conservative justices in the span of just three years. Since then my guest Adam Cohen argues that the Supreme Court has been a leading force of inequality in the US. Now, with President Trump and his accomplice Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, that rightward shift of the Supreme Court remains stronger than ever. 

Adam Cohen, was a member of the New York Times editorial board and senior writer for Time magazine. His earlier book is Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck and Nothing to Fear: FDR’s Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America. His latest book is Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court’s Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America.’

**This segment was originally broadcast on April 28, 2020.

Activists in Minneapolis, Minnesota along with the family and friends of George Floyd gathered for a memorial on Thursday at North Central University with Rev. Al Sharpton scheduled to lead. Thousands of people attended and similar memorials are being held in Raeford, North Carolina where some of Floyd’s relatives live, and in Houston, Texas, where he lived for many years. The memorials kicked off six days of mourning in the 3 cities leading up to Floyd’s funeral next Tuesday. Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar spoke in Minneapolis among crowds of activists.

There have been more than ten thousand arrests over the past ten days of protests in US cities demanding justice for George Floyd and other victims of racist police brutality. Of those, 3,000 arrests were made in Los Angeles County alone, the vast majority of people taken into custody for violating curfew and other non-violent offenses. In New York City violent clashes with police have included shootings, beatings, and stabbings. In Washington DC, where President Donald Trump had ordered a violent clearing of peaceful protesters in order to arrange a church-front photo op, tensions also remained high. On Wednesday thousands of people gathered even in the face of National Guardsmen. In addition to the National Guard, more than ten busloads of active duty Army troops entered DC as commentators denounced the President’s authoritarianism. 

On Wednesday, following Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s open opposition to Trump’s domestic military deployment, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis followed suit. Mattis, who had led the Pentagon for two years, from January 2017 to January 2019 released a scathing statement accusing Trump of using the military to, “violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens… to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief.” He added, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.” 

Attorney General William Barr, who personally ordered the violent clearing of DC’s peaceful protesters on Monday is coming under fire for unleashing armed federal agents on the streets of the capital who are not wearing uniforms that clearly identify which department they represent. Heavily armed agents from the DEA, the FBI,

FEATURING CHENJERAI KUMANYIKA – Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has announced that all four police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis will now be facing charges. State Attorney General Keith Ellison will be increasing charges against Derek Chauvin, the man who pinned down Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes. Initially Chauvin was charged with third degree murder – now his charges will include second degree murder. Two separate autopsies have concluded that the 46-year old Floyd was the victim of homicide. 

As protests continue across the country into a second week, there appears to be a sea change in attitudes around police brutality, prompting deeper discussions about the role of police in society and the excessing funding that law enforcement receives at the expense of public services. Many are also linking to the protests a broader frustration felt by those struggling with deep societal inequality exacerbated and highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic.  

Read Chenjerai’s article on The Intercept, ‘Getting Real About the Job of Police: A Letter to Barack Obama,’ HERE.

Chenjerai Kumanyika, Assistant Professor at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information.

FEATURING REV. GRAYLAN HAGLER – President Donald Trump and his wife Melania on Tuesday visited a Catholic shrine this week as both denounced violence among protesters angry over police killings of black Americans. But on Monday Trump’s desire to have a photo-op in front of a boarded-up church across from the White House resulted in DC authorities forcibly and violently clearing out peaceful protesters gathered in Lafayette Square. 

The actions have been widely denounced by religious leaders, members of Congress, the media and others. 

Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior pastor of Plymouth United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C. and chairperson of Faith Strategies, an interfaith coalition.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday broke with President Donald Trump on the use of active duty US military personnel to quell mass protests against racist police violence. During a Pentagon briefing this is what Esper said: “The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.” Esper was responding to President Trump’s Monday announcement at the White House that he would use the US military to control protesters. Esper is reeling from accusations of participating in the President’s widely denounced photo-op in front of St. John’s church. Just before Trump was photographed holding a Bible in front of the church, authorities used tear gas and other violent tactics to clear Lafayette Square of peaceful protesters so Trump could walk along with officials like Esper from the White House to the church. In an interview with NBC Esper said he had “no idea” about the plan to disperse protesters. On Tuesday a top official with the Defense Science Board, James N. Miller, wrote a scathing resignation letter to Esper in the Washington Post saying, “You may not have been able to stop President Trump from directing this appalling use of force, but you could have chosen to oppose it. Instead, you visibly supported it.” 

It emerged on Tuesday that Attorney General William Barr personally directed the Monday use of force to clear peaceful protesters right as Trump was giving a speech about ostensibly supporting peaceful protesters. It has also emerged that on Monday Trump floated the idea of the federal government taking over the DC police. The Washington Post described the idea as an, “unprecedented request” that, “sent District leaders scrambling to head off what they regarded as tantamount to a government overthrow.” Trump, angry about the extensive news coverage of the violent police actions in DC is now demanding that press outlets retract their claim that police used tear gas on protesters. Except that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a government agency, defines precisely the agents that DC police used on protesters as “tear gas.” Even some Republican Senators have spoken out against Trump’s actions but the President pushed back saying, they got it wrong and accusing the peaceful protesters of violence. 

On Tuesday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continued his uncritical defense of Trump by blocking a resolution condemning the violence aimed at protest...

FEATURING ARUN GUPTA – As protests continue to rage across the country against racist police violence, President Donald Trump has chosen to view the mass dissent as dominated by the violence of protesters rather than by the violence of police. He has threatened to deploy the US military on US soil against those he says are fomenting “anarchy” and “chaos.” 

But there is a growing trend among liberals as well to draw a distinction between “good protesters” – i.e. those who are marching and congregating – and “bad protesters” or those who are setting fire to police cars, smashing store windows, and pilfering products. Many suggest that white extremists have infiltrated progressive movements and are attempting to discredit the demand for black lives to matter.

Read Arun’s latest article with Michelle Faucett called ‘The Food Industry’s Next Covid-19 Victims: Migrant Farmworkers,” HERE.

Arun Gupta, an investigative journalist who has written for dozens of publications including the Washington Post, the Guardian, The Nation, Salon, and Raw Story. He is also author of the forthcoming book, “Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction,” and a regular news correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali.