FEATURING ALDINA MESIC – A new study conducted at Boston University has lent greater credibility to the Black Lives Matter movement and to a travel advisory that the NAACP issued for African Americans traveling to the state of Missouri last year.

Researchers at BU’s School of Public Health ranked states in the nation by a “racism index” that was based on residential segregation and other markers of structural racism, and found that police killings of unarmed African Americans are correlated with that racism index. In other words, the more racist a state, the more likely black people were to be killed at the hands of police.

Such research makes the case that rather than treating police killings of unarmed black Americans on a case-by-case basis, we have to view them within existing social frameworks.

Aldina Mesic, Research Assistant at the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, lead author of the paper which was published in the Journal of the National Medical Association.

**This interview was originally broadcast on February 13, 2018.

Mass protests continued across the nation on Monday, exactly one week to the day since a 46-year old black man named George Floyd was killed by 4 police officers in Minneapolis in a videotaped incident. Cities around the country have been dominated by thousands of protesters chanting “Black Lives Matter” frustrated with the police killings of unarmed African Americans in their own cities. Police have continued to react with disproportionate force claiming that they are quelling the looting of businesses. But most documented incidents show police coming down with pepper spray, tear gas, flash bang grenades, and rubber bullets on largely peaceful protesters. Meanwhile many media reports and elected officials have fixated on the smashing of store windows. The Washington Post estimated that more than 60 million residents in the US have been placed under curfew, “in more than 200 U.S. cities and at least 27 states.”

On Monday evening President Donald Trump addressed the nation in a brief and provocative speech during which he threatened to invoke the US military to quell the protests. Trump’s threat is based on a rarely used law called the Insurrection Act which allows Presidents to invoke military action internally. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden denounced Trump as “fascist,” and Representative John Yarmuth of Kentucky said the President, “just declared war on millions of Americans and the 1st Amendment.” Just before he spoke law enforcement authorities violently cleared Lafayette Square of peaceful protesters in order to give Trump a photo-op in front of St. John’s Church where Trump had his picture taken holding a Bible. The protesters, who were lawfully assembled half an hour before a curfew went into effect, met the criteria of the kinds of protesters Trump said he supported in his speech.

The White House later released a campaign-style video of Trump walking to the church set to triumphant music. Clergy and other officials affiliated with the church that Trump used as a backdrop denounced his actions. Rector Gini Gerbasi who had worked at St. John’s church and was among the protesters that were dispersed said, “That man turned it into a BATTLE GROUND first, and a cheap political stunt second.” Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington said in response, “I am outraged. The President did not pray when he came to St. John’s, nor… did he acknowledge the agony of our country right now…we distance ourselves from the incendiary language of this President. We follow someone who lived a life of nonviolence and sacrificial lo...

FEATURING ZENOBIA JEFFRIES-WARFIELD – The family of George Floyd has just released the result of a privately conducted autopsy that showed the 46-year old man died of asphyxiation and loss of blood flow to his brain. The finding confirms what much of America has seen with its eyes in the video that captured Floyd’s last moments as an officer’s knee remained lodged on his neck for over 8 minutes. 

The horror of Floyd’s death has sparked a mass uprising across the country today that my next guest says was “inevitable.”

Read Zenobia’s article on Yes! Magazine called “An Uprising Was Inevitable,” HERE.

Zenobia Jeffries-Warfield, Executive Editor of YES! Magazine, author of the new article, “An Uprising Was Inevitable.”

FEATURING PROF. ROBIN D. G. KELLEY – In just one week the news cycle went from being dominated by the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic collapse, to widespread civil unrest and mass protests against racial injustice. The May 25th police killing of a black man named George Floyd by a group of police officers in Minneapolis sparked a new wave of uprisings across the United States, the likes of which we have not seen since the police killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. 

Prof. Robin D. G. Kelley, Professor, Department of African American Studies, Distinguished Professor of History & Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in United States History at University of California in Los Angeles. 

FEATURING ALEX VITALE – The violent police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and countless other black Americans has touched off a nerve in American society and sparked not only an unprecedented nationwide uprising, but also a reevaluation of the role of police in society. 

Meeting protests against state violence with more violence, American police appear tone deaf to the increasingly negative light in which even the American mainstream views them. It is in this context that we are now seeing multiple calls to defund the police – a heretofore unmentionable idea.  

Read Alex Vitale’s latest book is called The End of Policing. He just wrote an article in the Guardian called The answer to police violence is not ‘reform’. It’s defunding. Here’s why. And, he also wrote an article in The Nation called The Only Solution Is to Defund the Police.

Alex Vitale, Professor of Sociology and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College. His writings about policing have appeared in the New York Times, New York Daily News, USA Today, the Nation, and Vice News. His latest book is called The End of Policing.

Protests raged across the United States over the weekend against racist police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. While the Minnesota city was at the center of the massive unrest, across the country tens of thousands of people marched, faced a violent and militarized police response, were arrested, burned down buildings and cars, and raged against what they view as systemic racial injustice. At least 4,400 people were arrested as per an analysis by Associated Press. Numerous US cities devolved into what seemed like war zones as police reacted belligerently, attacking unarmed protesters with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bang grenades, arresting many en masse. The New York Times captured some of the sounds from the streets of Minneapolis and spoke to one protester. Meanwhile a man dangerously drove a massive gas tanker into crowds of 5 to 6,000 protesters on a closed off highway at high speed on Sunday evening. There were no reports of injuries and the truck driver has been arrested.

In Louisville, Kentucky where activists have for months been demanding justice for the police killing of a black woman named Breonna Taylor, police killed one person after firing into a crowd of protesters. The killing took place in the early hours of Monday morning and law enforcement has claimed that they were returning fire. One man at the scene captured this on his phone. Earlier in the week seven people were shot. Meanwhile, the FBI has finally announced an investigation into the killing of Breonna Taylor, underscoring the fact that violent clashes and protests achieved what peaceful protest was unable to. Taylor was killed by police when they entered her apartment looking for another suspect. Her killing has sparked a demand to end such type of police raids that are given “no knock” warrants to enter people’s homes. 

On Sunday the nation’s capitol burned as protests and police violence there unfolded for a third day in a row. Among the actions, more than a thousand people marched to Lafayette Square across from the White House where President Donald Trump remained hunkered down. Trump had earlier made a call for his supporters, who he referred to with the acronym MAGA, to descend upon DC. Protesters clashed with Secret Service members, several of whom were injured. Trump and his immediate family were escorted to a bunker under the White House for a brief period...

FEATURING ROB BOSTON – The Trump administration has updated the CDC’s guidelines on reopening churches and other houses of worship to allow for choirs to sing – this in spite of the documented manner in which the coronavirus can spread through respiratory droplets especially when infected people talk and sing. 

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court is weighing the limits that states like California can place on churches. Although California Governor Gavin Newsom capitulated to demands from evangelical leaders and President Trump to allow limited reopenings of houses of worship, a San Diego church wants to be exempted from all restrictions. 

Rightwing pastors who want an end to the lockdowns say that churches are “essential,” – effectively arguing that their right to congregate under cover of the First Amendment supersedes the threat to public health from the pandemic.

Rob Boston, Senior Adviser at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

FEATURING MATT RICHTEL – Americans have been delving deep into the science of viruses and our own biological defenses during the extraordinary coronavirus lockdowns. We discuss antibody responses, vaccine development, and health statistics on social media, attempting to grasp what is plaguing humanity and how to fight it. A timely new book explores the human immune system in lay person terms. It’s author Matt Richtel now joins me. 

Matt Richtel, Pulitzer Prize Winning reporter at the New York Times and author of the bestselling book, A Deadly Wandering. He joins me to discuss his latest book, “An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System.”

**This segment was originally broadcast on May 1, 2020.

Protests continue to rage in Minneapolis for a third day in a row over the police killing of a black man named George Floyd. On Thursday night, the Minneapolis police department’s third precinct building was once more surrounded by protesters as it is close to where Floyd was killed. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds but eventually protesters broke through and set the entire building on fire along with two other nearby buildings. One reporter who says he was closest to the fire described the scene as the entire building collapsed before his eyes. Police arrested CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew while they were covering the protests. Here is Mr. Jimenez, a black reporter, being arrested by white officers in the middle of his live report on the protests over George Floyd’s killing. Soon after his arrest all members of his TV crew were also arrested as the camera lay on the ground transmitting the view of them being escorted away in handcuffs on live television. The CNN crew was released shortly after, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized for the arrests saying there was “no reason” for it. 

President Donald Trump wasted no time in referring to protesters as “THUGS” on his Twitter feed and then issuing what sounded like a threat of military force. He said, “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” The tweet was so threatening that Twitter, which has for years allowed Trump to violate their community standards, issued a warning saying, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey slammed the President over his tweet saying in an interview, “Weakness is pointing your finger at somebody else, during a time of crisis. Donald Trump knows nothing about the strength of Minneapolis.” House Democrat Rashida Tlaib also responded saying, “When someone tells you who they are, believe them. The Impeached President is a violent white supremacist.” 

Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck was arrested on Friday morning after days of advocates demanding that he be charged. It has now emerged that Chauvin had 18 previous complaints filed against him according to MPD’s Internal Affairs Department. Of the other 3 officers involved one had six complaints filed against him. Now,

FEATURING JODY ARMOUR – The killing of George Floyd has sparked mass protests in Minneapolis with thousands of people turning out onto the streets and police firing stun grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas. America has witnessed through smart phone video documentation, yet another brutal murder of a black man at the hands of police and although there has been a demand for Black Lives to Matter for years now, will Floyd be yet another victim in the deadly toll of racist policing? 

Floyd’s killing came to light at almost the same time as another incident unfolded in New York City’s Central Park which could have turned deadly but didn’t. A liberal white woman named Amy Cooper called police falsely claiming that a black man was threatening her. The man in question, Christian Cooper filmed the incident exposing her lie. 

Tied to both incidents is the recent killing of a black jogger named Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia by a former police officer and his son, also captured on video. It is part of a deadly and disturbing pattern that echoes throughout American history.

Jody Armour, the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Negrophobia and Reasonable Racism: The Hidden Costs of Being Black in America. He is also a Soros Justice Senior Fellow of The Open Society Institute’s Center on Crime, Communities and Culture, and he is the Race and Criminal Justice Correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali.