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"Our Time is Now": Baltimore State's Attorney Mosby Charges Six Baltimore Cops in Freddie Gray Death
Baltimore officials have lifted a 10 p.m. curfew and National Guard troops have begun to withdraw as peaceful protests continue over the death of Freddie Gray. On Friday, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced a range of charges against the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transport, including murder and manslaughter. Gray’s family says his voice box was crushed and his spine was "80 percent severed at his neck." Police said they arrested Gray for looking a lieutenant in the eye, then running away. We play excerpts from Mosby’s dramatic announcement, when she acknowledges protests calling for justice in the case and argues officers illegally arrested Gray without probable cause, then ignored his pleas for medical help. "To the youth of this city, I will seek justice on your behalf. This is a moment. This is your moment," Mosby says. "Let’s ensure that we have peaceful and productive rallies that will develop structural and systemic changes for generations to come. You’re at the forefront of this cause. And as young people, our time is now."
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Baltimore, where officials have lifted a 10:00 p.m. curfew and National Guard troops have begun to withdraw as peaceful protests continue over the death of Freddie Gray. Gray’s family and attorney say his voice box was crushed, his spine was "80 percent severed at [his] neck," they say. This comes after Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby dramatically announced Friday she had filed charges against the six officers connected to Gray’s arrest and transport on April 12, saying they illegally arrested Gray without probable cause, then ignored his pleas for medical help.
MARILYN MOSBY: As the city’s chief prosecutor, I’ve been sworn to uphold justice and to treat every individual within the jurisdiction of Baltimore City equally and fairly under the law. I take this oath seriously, and I want the public to know that my administration is committed to creating a fair and equitable justice system for all, no matter what your occupation, your age, your race, your color or your creed. It is my job to examine and investigate the evidence of each case and apply those facts to the elements of a crime in order to make a determination as to whether individuals should be prosecuted. This is a tremendous responsibility, but one that I sought and accepted when the citizens of Baltimore City elected me as the state’s attorney. And it’s precisely what I did in the case of Freddie Gray.
Once alerted about this incident on April 13th, investigators from my police integrity unit were deployed to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr. Gray’s apprehension. Over the course of our independent investigation in the untimely death of Mr. Gray, my team worked around the clock, 12- and 14-hour days, to canvas and interview dozens of witnesses, view numerous hours of video footage, repeatedly reviewed and listened to hours of police videotaped statements, surveyed the route, reviewed voluminous medical records, and we leveraged the information made available to us by the police department, the community and the family of Mr. Gray.
The findings of our comprehensive, thorough and independent investigation, coupled with the medical examiner’s determination that Mr. Gray’s death was a homicide, which we received today, has led us to believe that we have probable cause to file criminal charges. [...]
While each of these officers are presumed innocent until proven guilty, we have brought the following charges:
Officer Caesar Goodson is being charged with second-degree depraved-heart murder, involuntary manslaughter, second-degree negligent assault, manslaughter by vehicle by means of gross negligence, manslaughter by vehicle by means of criminal negligence, misconduct in office for failure to secure a prisoner, failure to render aid.
Officer William Porter is being charged with involuntary manslaughter, assault in the second degree, misconduct in office.
Lieutenant Brian Rice is being charged with involuntary manslaughter, assault in the second degree, assault in the second degree, misconduct in office, false imprisonment.
Officer Edward Nero is being charged with assault in the second degree, intentional; assault in the second degree, negligent; misconduct in office; false imprisonment.
Officer Garrett Miller is being charged with intentional assault in the second degree; assault in the second degree, negligent; misconduct in office; and false imprisonment.
Sergeant Alicia White is being charged with manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office. [...]
To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America, I heard your call for "no justice, no peace." Your peace is sincerely needed, as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man. To those that are angry, hurt or have their own experiences of injustice at the hands of police officers, I urge you to channel the energy peacefully as we prosecute this case. I have heard your calls for "no justice, no peace"; however, your peace is sincerely needed, as I work to deliver justice on behalf of Freddie Gray.
To the rank-and-file officers of the Baltimore City Police Department, please know that these accusations of these six officers are not an indictment on the entire force. I come from five generations of law enforcement. My father was an officer. My mother was an officer, several of my aunts and uncles. My recently departed and beloved grandfather was one of the founding members of the first black police organization in Massachusetts. I can tell you that the actions of these officers will not and should not, in any way, damage the important working relationships between police and prosecutors as we continue to fight together to reduce crime in Baltimore. Thank you for your courage, commitment and sacrifice for the betterment of our communities. [...]
Last, but certainly not least, to the youth of this city, I will seek justice on your behalf. This is a moment. This is your moment. Let’s ensure that we have peaceful and productive rallies that will develop structural and systemic changes for generations to come. You’re at the forefront of this cause. And as young people, our time is now.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby speaking on Friday. She’s the youngest state’s attorney of any major city in the United States. Police union officials are now calling for Mosby to appoint an independent prosecutor, saying her marriage to Baltimore City Councilmember Nick Mosby is a conflict of interest because his district includes the area where Gray was arrested. Marilyn Mosby addressed this during her news conference on Friday.
MARILYN MOSBY: I don’t see an appearance of conflict of interest. My husband is a public servant. He works on the legislative side. I am a prosecutor. I am also a public servant. I uphold the law. He makes the laws. And I will prosecute any case within my jurisdiction.
AMY GOODMAN: All six officers charged in Gray’s death have since posted bonds of $250,000 to $350,000. Meanwhile, Allen Bullock, one of the 18-year-olds who turned himself in for participating in the riots, is facing a bond of $500,000. His stepfather, Maurice Hawkins, and mother, Bobbi Smallwood, reacted to the amount in an interview with The Guardian.
MAURICE HAWKINS: That’s my son on top of the police car with the cone in his hand, hitting the window. We don’t condone that, and we believe in peace. I just want justice to be held and not to be—you know, him looked at as a career criminal or a thug.
BOBBI SMALLWOOD: My son, he’s not a evil child. I mean, he’s not somebody that go around and just hurt people. He’s really not. He was really upset about them police who’s just walking free. You gave my son a half-a-million-dollar bail for breaking a police window, and you gave these cops nothing? Nothing for murder? That’s crazy. That’s crazy. That’s not fair.
MAURICE HAWKINS: That’s not justice.
BOBBI SMALLWOOD: That’s not fair.
AMY GOODMAN: Other protesters in Baltimore have seen their bonds set as high as $100,000 for disorderly conduct.
"The Army Knew": New Investigation Unravels Mexican Govt. Account of How 43 Students Disappeared
An explosive new investigation published today by The Intercept reveals the untold story of how 43 students disappeared in Mexico on the night of September 26, 2014. It is based on more than two dozen interviews with survivors of the attacks and family members of the disappeared, as well as Mexican historians, human rights activists and journalists. The Intercept also reviewed official Mexican state and federal records including communication logs by security forces and sealed testimony from municipal police officers and gang members. The evidence shows repeated inconsistencies and omissions in the government’s account of what happened when the students went missing. We speak with Ryan Devereaux, staff reporter at The Intercept and author of the two-part investigation, "Ghosts of Iguala."
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to an explosive new investigation called "Ghosts of Iguala," which tells the untold story of how 43 students disappeared in Mexico. The six-month investigation by Ryan Devereaux for The Intercept is based on more than two dozen interviews with survivors of the attacks and family members of the disappeared, as well as Mexican historians, human rights activists and journalists. The Intercept also reviewed official Mexican state and federal records, including communication logs by security forces and sealed testimony from municipal police officers and gang members. The evidence apparently shows repeated inconsistencies, obfuscations and omissions in the government’s account of what happened on that night of September 26, 2014, when the students went missing.
For more, we’re joined by Ryan Devereaux, staff reporter for The Intercept, his two-part investigation, "Ghosts of Iguala."
Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Ryan. So you spent last November in Mexico, and you’ve been researching this for many months. What is the latest information on what these parents desperately fear but do not believe at this point that the students, the 43 students, are dead?
RYAN DEVEREAUX: Well, the latest sort of official statement coming out of the federal government in Mexico, the last major sort of turn of events in the case, was in January, when the federal government declared that they had arrived at their legal certainty regarding the students’ fate—namely, that the students were taken by municipal police, handed over to a gang and then incinerated in a trash pit outside of a small town named Cocula. They said that this was the historical truth. And this historical truth was based on testimony provided by detained gangsters, who said that they took part in the events. And there are numerous reasons to question this account that the government has delivered. The Argentine team of investigators that the parents have brought on are continuing their investigation, but the government, the federal government, has worked very hard to effectively say that this case is closed, that they know what happened, but there are all sorts of reasons to question that.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, it has been said that one set of remains were found of one of the students?
RYAN DEVEREAUX: That’s true. One of the students, Alexander Mora Venancio, his remains were recovered, and that was confirmed by the independent Argentine investigators, the team that works with the parents. But it should be pointed out the Argentine team wasn’t present when the federal government recovered those remains in the area near Cocula in the trash pit, where the government says the students were incinerated. In other words, there has been no independent confirmation that the remains were recovered in the area where the government says they were recovered, and, furthermore, that Mora Venancio died in the way that the government described. The government says that because they discovered these remains, that means that the narrative provided by their detainees is true and that the other 42 students shared his supposed fate. And to date, there’s no evidence to indicate that’s true.
AMY GOODMAN: So, take us through the official account of what happened. And what were the key findings in your investigation, Ryan?
RYAN DEVEREAUX: So, according to the government’s account, the students arrived in Iguala on the night of September 26, and there was a confrontation with municipal police. The local mayor, his wife was having an event that night that a lot of people in the area sort of believed was an unofficial kick-off of her campaign to replace him in office, and the mayor supposedly was concerned that the students were going to disrupt this event. The students had been attempting to secure buses. That’s sort of what they do as sort of activist students. They commandeer buses and use them to travel around to observe rural school teachers at work—that’s what they’re all studying to become—and to go to protests. There was a large protest coming up in October, this past year, that the students were preparing for.
AMY GOODMAN: In Mexico City.
RYAN DEVEREAUX: In Mexico City. And this protest was going to sort of commemorate one of the darkest days in Mexican history. Sort of tragically, ironically, this was the massacre of student activists in 1968. So they were trying to get buses to attend this event. They end up in Iguala, and there’s a confrontation with the municipal police. Three of the buses that the students have are traveling through the center of the city, and two are heading out onto the highway. The police attempt to cut them off. There’s gunfire. The students believe initially that the officers are firing warning shots but soon learn that they’re actually shooting at the students. The majority of the students are taken in Iguala off of the third bus trying to make it through the city. The attacks spill over onto the highway. Students are attacked on the highway, removed from their bus. Another group of totally unarmed civilians, totally unrelated to everything that was going on, a team of semi-professional soccer players, is also attacked by gunmen on the highway. A number of people are killed. By the time the sun comes up the next day, you have dead bodies in three locations. You have students killed at the intersection. You have bystanders killed on the highway. And you have one student, Julio César Mondragón, who’s found in a dirt lot not far from the scene of the attacks. His face has been cut off. His ears have been cut off. His eyes have been removed. It’s a truly gruesome crime.
The government says that once the students were taken, they were handed over to local gangsters, where they were driven out to a trash pit outside of a small town near Cocula. The government claims that the remaining students, those who hadn’t suffocated on the way out to the pit, were interrogated about their presence in Iguala that night and then executed one by one. They were thrown into a pit, a pyre was made out of their bodies, and they were incinerated over the course of something between 12 and 15 hours. Their remains were smashed to dust, loaded into trash bags and tossed into a nearby river. The government claims that it recovered remains from those bags. And those remains were sent to experts in Austria and examined. And it was through the examination of those remains that the government was able to announce its positive identification of the one student, Alexander Mora Venancio.
But, as I said, the Argentine investigators weren’t there when the federal government recovered those remains. And the Argentine investigators, in February, after the federal government announced its historical truth and legal certainty, issued a blistering report about the numerous forensic problems with the government’s case—its misidentification of DNA profiles, its breaking of the agreement with the Argentine team in going to the location in Cocula and gathering evidence independently without informing the Argentine team. And it should be said that this Argentine team is one of the most respected forensics teams in the world, and they don’t typically speak out on ongoing investigations. But they had so many problems with what the federal government has done in this case that they broke their silence in February.
AMY GOODMAN: So, the local mayor and his wife are ultimately arrested. They had fled, were found in Mexico City. The government says it was the combination of them working with local drug gangs. What indicates it goes higher?
RYAN DEVEREAUX: Well, the files that we revealed—or, that we reviewed, I should say, detail communications among security forces in the area. And these include communications that were sent to army, federal police, state police working in the area at the time. Through Mexico’s transparency law, earlier this year a small handful of journalists managed to get a hold of military records, logs from—logs and documents pertaining to the night in question. And those records show that the Mexican army knew full well of the students’ presence in the town that night. They were on the street patrolling. They intercepted students at a hospital, a sort of a medical clinic where they were attempting to get care. And so, the army, for sure, knew that the students were there that night. There were records of the students coming into Iguala before they got there, well before the—well before the shots were fired. And so, in cases of enforced disappearance, which is a sort of key question in this case—whether or not this was a case of enforced disappearance—you don’t need to have directly participated in taking students for an investigation to be triggered. State actors that have knowledge of a disappearance happening can be held accountable. And what the records that we have reviewed indicate is that the army certainly had some sense of what was going on that night.
AMY GOODMAN: And why, in this last two minutes that we have—why do you think it’s so important to bring this charge of enforced disappearance? What would it do? Who would be arrested?
RYAN DEVEREAUX: Well, we don’t know who would be arrested. What’s important is that the enforced disappearance investigation is opened, because that will lead us to who we can sort of place blame on. The enforced disappearance charge is key because under Mexican law, government is required to disclose public records of its investigation when evidence of grave human rights abuses, including enforced disappearance, emerges. So, if an enforced disappearance investigation is actually actively pursued, then we would have the possibility of learning more about what actually happened that night and potentially have the ability to understand how this all came to be.
AMY GOODMAN: And how does this relate to the U.S.-Mexico relationship and the enormous amount of money the U.S. gives to the Mexican government?
RYAN DEVEREAUX: Well, in the clips you played earlier, there was discussion about Peña Nieto and President Obama’s meeting in January. That was on January 7th. One day before, in the state of Michoacán neighboring Guerrero, at least 16 people were killed by federal police. It was the third state-sponsored massacre in less than a year. You have that case, you have Iguala, and then you have the Tlatlaya case earlier last year in which the army was accused of killing 22 innocent civilians. Those are three cases in the course of a single year, three different levels of Mexican security forces. The United States has sent billions of dollars to Mexico since the beginning of the so-called war on drugs in Mexico, and we have evidence of just tremendous systemic human rights abuses. And those need to be addressed in a real, substantive way in the United States, and they haven’t been so far.
AMY GOODMAN: Ryan Devereaux, we want to thank you for being with us. Of course, we’re going to link to your piece at The Intercept, new piece, "Ghosts of Iguala," in two parts [part one, part two].
That does it for our show. Congratulations to our director, Becca Staley, on the birth of her daughter, Reese Anne Staley, born May 1st, weighing seven pounds eight ounces. And a very happy birthday to—a landmark birthday for Denis Moynihan.
Baltimore Reacts to Charges in Freddie Gray's Death: "Strange Fruit Still Grows in Our Community"
The six Baltimore police officers charged in Freddie Gray’s death have been released after posting bonds of $250,000 to $350,000. Meanwhile, Allen Bullock, an 18-year-old who turned himself in for participating in riots, is facing a bond of $500,000. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman speaks with residents Sunday as they welcome the charges against the officers but note there is much more work to be done to reduce police brutality and improve accountability.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, on Sunday, I was in Baltimore and spoke to residents about their reaction to the charges against the six officers.
AMY GOODMAN: So we’re walking along the Gilmor houses to a crowd of people. Can you tell me your names?
KAE FIELDS: My name is Kae Fields.
HOOLEY SHELONE: And I’m Hooley Shelone [phon.].
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about what’s behind you right here?
KAE FIELDS: This is the mural for Freddie Gray, a young boy that was brutally murdered by the police officers in Baltimore City. We just came out to show our support, not just support, but love, because this all got to stop, man. If it don’t stop now, it’s just going to be a whole lot worse than what you ever thought you saw.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you think has to happen now?
KAE FIELDS: Justice. Justice.
AMY GOODMAN: What did you feel about the indictments?
KAE FIELDS: That was beautiful.
HOOLEY SHELONE: I mean, it’s a good start. It’s a good start. But it’s just the beginning, you know? That’s why it’s important for us, everybody, to get out here and vote, when it’s time to vote, you know? So we can get people like the Marilyn Mosbys in office, you know what I’m saying?
KAE FIELDS: Should get Blake out of here. Get Blake out of here.
HOOLEY SHELONE: It’s just a good look for the city.
KAE FIELDS: Flat out.
AMY GOODMAN: Why do you say that, the mayor?
KAE FIELDS: Because she’s not a good mayor, period. She should have did what she—she’s supposed to did her job the first day. It don’t take an investigation. If I touch you, and you say—and you tell the police I hit you, they’re going to lock me up. It don’t take an investigation for that. They brutally beat this man to death. It shouldn’t have took a week of chaos for you to indict six police officers that killed this man. That camera right there pretty much see what’s going on from that part of the projects to right here to that corner.
HOOLEY SHELONE: Right.
KAE FIELDS: And it don’t take a rocket scientist to say, "Pull the camera up."
AMY GOODMAN: Where was Freddie taken down by the police?
KAE FIELDS: Well, it must have initially started from North Avenue, where they chased him. So they caught him here. And whatever they did here, from—
AMY GOODMAN: Right here?
KAE FIELDS: —from that point to here—yeah.
HOOLEY SHELONE: Right.
KAE FIELDS: At least so they say.
HOOLEY SHELONE: Rights, so they say. So they say.
KAE FIELDS: So they say. The police—the police, some of them ain’t—all of them ain’t bad, but just the ones. They know who they are.
HOOLEY SHELONE: Right, right, right, right.
KAE FIELDS: So we got six of them off the streets. Probably about 66 more.
HOOLEY SHELONE: Right, we’ve got to get them out of here, one by one. One by one.
PROTESTERS: No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!
AMY GOODMAN: We’re here at the Gilmor Homes, where Freddie Gray lived. You all were just chanting "No justice, no peace."
MARJIA EVANS: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: You’re wearing a shirt that says?
UNIDENTIFIED: "No one cares."
MARJIA EVANS: "No one cares."
AMY GOODMAN: What’s your name?
MARJIA EVANS: Marjia. Marjia Evans.
AMY GOODMAN: And what do you mean, "no one cares"?
MARJIA EVANS: I mean, as far as—and I don’t want to say nothing about the police department. I’m just saying, as far as the ones that were involved in the incident itself, they didn’t care. I mean, sometimes people get put in a situation and in authority, and they take it for granted. They take it for granted, you know? And they’re here to protect us, and that’s what we like. I’m not saying nothing about the police department, but those individuals need to be punished for exactly what happened to Freddie Gray. I have a son myself that’s 20 years old, and every day that he walks outside, I worry about him.
AMY GOODMAN: How do you feel about the indictments?
MARJIA EVANS: I’m going to just say it was justice for the people, but it was kind of like a lesser charge. I thought that they was going to be charged with something more serious. But they were charged.
ASHTON TRUE NICHOLS: My name is Ashton, Ashton True Nichols [phon.]. We got a lot of work ahead of us. I done been brutalized by the police. Police has knocked my teeth out. It’s ridiculous. It’s been like this—
AMY GOODMAN: How did you get your teeth knocked out?
ASHTON TRUE NICHOLS: It’s been like this—being beat up by the police, by being beat severely, and then not arrested. Yeah, that’s how they get down. They—
AMY GOODMAN: Did you complain?
ASHTON TRUE NICHOLS: Oh, I did the whole nine yards. It didn’t mean nothing.
AMY GOODMAN: Was it investigated?
ASHTON TRUE NICHOLS: For a minute.
AMY GOODMAN: When did it happen?
ASHTON TRUE NICHOLS: This was about four years ago. The police right now, they’re on edge.
AMY GOODMAN: What was your reaction to the state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, handing down the indictments?
ASHTON TRUE NICHOLS: I’m going to say like this. It’s been times where as though people get 20 and 30 charges and might end up with one. So, what she said sounds good, but we want to see the work, because you go to court, you can have 20 charges and end up with one or end up free. So, if people on the streets do it, imagine what’s going to happen when the police is involved. Now that the police is involved and the police got to do it, you don’t think they got top-notch lawyers? A lot of them charges going to be dropped. Because I ain’t hear the right charge: first degree. They knew what they was doing. Yeah, they knew.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re here at Penn and North. Across the street, the CVS pharmacy that was burned is boarded up, and people have written on the brick wall, "Freddie Gray. Police, go home." Behind me, there’s a group of people who are making a video, Baltimore rap artists.
CROWD: Freddie! Freddie! Freddie! Freddie!
NATE: It’s about Freddie, man. He didn’t deserve what he got. Didn’t deserve it. We’re fighting a war every day.
AMY GOODMAN: Did you know Freddie?
NATE: I know Freddie Gray. I grew up with Freddie Gray.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s your name?
NATE: My name is Nate. Freddie was a nice man. He was a great man, you know? And it saddens my heart that he’s not here. You don’t know he was a family man. You know, he loved his family. He loved his sister. He had a twin sister. You know, he loved his family. And they arrested him for no reason. They have a no-tolerance law, where you can’t sit on your own steps or you got to be in motion at all times. You know, things—if we live in a neighborhood, why we can’t sit on our own steps? Why do we have to always be in motion at all times? Why can’t I sit here and talk to my friend or my brother? You know, we can’t do that. We’re always constantly being a target.
ROBERT VALENTINE: Look, I’m passing it to y’all.
UNIDENTIFIED: Right.
ROBERT VALENTINE: My time is over. You’ve got to make them better than you, and you’ve got to be better than me. You’ve got to stand up and represent.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell me your name?
ROBERT VALENTINE: Robert Valentine.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what you’ve been doing during the protests?
ROBERT VALENTINE: Intervention. I’m losing my voice, because I got tear-gassed and all. But I’m intervention. I don’t want none of my babies hurt or to ruin their future by getting a crime—you know, a misdemeanor on them. I want them to excel, to be better than me and the generation between me, to where they do something to be held accountable and assume the responsibility to do something with their life.
AMY GOODMAN: How did you feel about the indictments handed down on Friday?
ROBERT VALENTINE: Let freedom ring.
PROTESTERS: No justice, no peace! No racist police!
AMY GOODMAN: A kind of art protest festival has been dancing their way by. Please tell me your name.
DEVROCK: Peace, peace. My name is DevRock. I’m here with Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, representing BmoreUnited. We’re out in all facets in the community. We’re feeding people. We’re protesting. We’re celebrating. We are parading. We’re marching. In every different facet, we’re out here for Freddie Gray.
AMY GOODMAN: One last question: art, how it fits into the protest?
DEVROCK: Art fits in. It’s the way. It’s our voice. But I’ve got to hurry up and get in this car, because I’ve got to follow these people.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell me your name and your baby’s name?
RIKIESHA METZGER: My name is Rikiesha Metzger, and this is Zion Metzger. That’s actually my husband, Chris Metzger.
CHRIS METZGER: Chris Metzger.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about why you’re out here today, as—what is your son’s name?
RIKIESHA METZGER: Zion.
AMY GOODMAN: As Zion tries to grab the microphone?
RIKIESHA METZGER: Well, it’s important for Zion to be out here, even at his young age, because he is biracial and because—
CHRIS METZGER: Come here, buddy.
RIKIESHA METZGER: Because he is biracial, again, just making sure that he understands that black lives matter, his life matters, even as a six-month-old baby. We want to spread the message that, again, we want justice for all people.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you describe his onesie to me?
RIKIESHA METZGER: So, this design actually was made by my husband. And you can actually talk about your—
CHRIS METZGER: So, we put this Black Power fist on the front of his shirt. So this was a design they had from earlier, and we threw it on his shirt this morning when we decided to come out.
AMY GOODMAN: And what’s your name?
CHRIS METZGER: Chris Metzger.
AMY GOODMAN: And the back says?
CHRIS METZGER: And then we put the back. "Black Lives Matter" on the back. So he’s supporting the cause through what he’s wearing, through being out here today.
AMY GOODMAN: And how old is he?
CHRIS METZGER: He’s just turning six months.
MARTINA LYNCH: I guess it’s time to tell it. My generation is headed to being heartless and selfish, and tweeting opinions and [inaudible] of living in Internet, as big as that’s trending [inaudible] are going because we get into that. You can kill through a message so I would think twice before sending that.
GRIM JACKSON: My name is Air Jordan, and I’m the soul of a dead black boy. It’s tradition that African Americans hang the souls of dead black children on wires. This is done so you’ll remember that strange fruit still grows in our community. I’ve witnessed children soar high enough to and-one angels. I’ve also witnessed children catch bullet passes, and in one shot their bodies drop back like fadeaways, not just because of the color of their skin, but because of the color of their soul. And when they see a child moving that much closer to God and touch that kind of freedom in a single bound, the only place they’d rather see the body is on the court, in the court.
MARTINA LYNCH: My name is Martina Lynch. I’m 20 years old. I live here in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore is a very creative place. A lot of people don’t know there’s a lot of talented people here in Baltimore. And there are a lot of different groups, like the group that I’m a part of, Dew More Baltimore. And we use art to advocate for justice. And we use it through poetry, hip-hop, maybe even painting or dance. And everybody can relate to music, or everybody can relate to lyricism, so we use that, because we know that people can connect to it. And we use that to express how we feel and to wake up people who are like not conscious of what’s going on in their communities or what’s going on in the world.
TONY ROME: First off, my name is Tony Rome. I have a picture in my backpack. Every last one of these people on this picture has their life to law enforcement. The youngest person on here is seven years old.
AMY GOODMAN: Aiyana Stanley-Jones, murdered by Detroit police, it says here, 5-16-10.
TONY ROME: Right, right. And the oldest person is a 92-year-old lady who last their lives to an Atlanta police officer.
AMY GOODMAN: 2006.
TONY ROME: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: November 21st.
TONY ROME: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: Kathryn Johnston, 92.
TONY ROME: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: It says murdered by Atlanta police.
TONY ROME: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: It starts with Kimani Gray, unarmed, 16.
TONY ROME: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: Murdered by NYPD March 12, 2013. Ousmane Zongo, Ramarley Graham, James Brissette, Malcolm Ferguson. It goes to John Crawford in Beavercreek, Ohio, to Sean Bell in New York City.
PROTESTERS: No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!
MONIQUE DOVE: I’m Monique Dove. I’m out here today because I run a youth mentorship program. Realistically, I know a little bit about the law, and I know, like, until you get a conviction, it’s not—it doesn’t stick. So, once I see a conviction, then I’ll basically kind of say, "OK, it’s that 1 percent our of 99."
AMY GOODMAN: What does Baltimore need? What do your kids need?
MONIQUE DOVE: Baltimore needs education, suitable education that could connect them to better high schools and colleges, not when they get to school they’re basically in remedial courses because the school system has already disenfranchised them. They need better opportunities to be able to sustain their families and their future.
AMY GOODMAN: Voices from the streets of Baltimore on the day the curfew was lifted. That’s Sunday. Six officers have been charged for the death of Freddie Gray. To see the performances of the spoken word pieces we played excerpts of, you can go to democracynow.org, as well as Marilyn Mosby’s full statement, Baltimore state’s attorney. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, we move from issues of police violence in the United States to Mexico, an explosive Intercept investigation. Stay with us.
Relatives of 43 Missing Students: U.S.-Backed Drug War Fights Organized People, Not Organized Crime
As protesters in Baltimore set fire to buildings and vehicles last Monday to protest the death of Freddie Gray, protesters in the Mexican state of Guerrero drove a burning truck into the congressional building in the capital Chilpancingo. The protesters were marking seven months since the disappearance of 43 students. Relatives have continued to question the Mexican government’s claim the students were attacked by local police and turned over to members of a drug gang, who killed and incinerated them. We speak with three relatives of the missing students: María de Jesús Tlatempa Bello, mother of José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa; Clemente Rodríguez Moreno, father of Christian Alfonso Rodríguez Telumbre; and Cruz Bautista Salbador, uncle of Benjamín Ascencio Bautista. The relatives have criticized U.S. support for the drug war, saying Mexico is using the aid to kill innocent people. "If they were really fighting organized crime, as the United States government says, then the crime rates would have gone down," Bautista Salbador says. "Apparently they are not fighting organized crime; they are fighting organized people."
Click here to see our extended interview with the three relatives of the missing students.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: As protesters in Baltimore set fire to buildings and vehicles last Monday to protest the death of Freddie Gray, protesters in the Mexican state of Guerrero drove a burning truck into the congressional building in the capital Chilpancingo. The protesters were marking seven months since the disappearance of 43 students. It was the night of September 26, 2014, when the Mexican government says municipal police, acting on the orders of the corrupt mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca, attacked the students from Ayotzinapa rural teachers’ college, then turned them over to drug gang members, who killed and incinerated them. Six people were killed in the initial attack. Mexican news reports have pointed to involvement by federal police and found federal authorities likely tortured key witnesses.
Relatives of the missing students have continued to question the Mexican government’s account, particularly since only one of the 43 missing students’ remains have been identified. They recently brought their struggle to the United States, launching a series of caravans which traveled across the country and converged here in New York. One of the mothers, María de Jesús Tlatempa Bello, spoke at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues here in New York City.
MARÍA DE JESÚS TLATEMPA BELLO: [translated] I am María de Jesús Tlatempa Bello, mother to José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa, one of the disappeared students. I’ve come here to testify and represent the 43 families. We are indigenous people, farmers, humble, and from various communities. We taught our children to work and, at the same time, to study. It was a privilege that our students could enter the normal school of Ayotzinapa, for many of them would have otherwise been left without an opportunity to study. And to be left without an opportunity to study means that they immigrate to other countries in search of a better life and other opportunities. In our communities, it’s an honor to be a normal school student. Our children actualize their right to education, and to disappear them is to violate their right of a full life. We are worried by the lack of guarantee in the matters of security, education and healthcare in Mexico, especially for indigenous youth.
AMY GOODMAN: Democracy Now!'s Juan González and I spoke to María de Jesús Tlatempa Bello and two other relatives of missing students who were in New York with the caravans. Cruz Bautista Salbador is a teacher and the uncle of Benjamín Ascencio Bautista; and Clemente Rodríguez Moreno is the father of Christian Alfonso Rodríguez Telumbre. We started by asking María why she doesn't believe the Mexican government’s conclusion that her son and the other students are dead.
MARÍA DE JESÚS TLATEMPA BELLO: [translated] Of course not, because we feel our children are alive, because it was police that took them. And they didn’t take any more, because no more fit in the police car. And the public feels our pain as parents. We need information for our children. And we have received information that we’ve passed to the government; however, they have not helped us, because they don’t want to help us find our children. And because of this, since that day, on the 26th and 27th of September, we have not stopped searching. We will continue to search for them until we find them.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Cruz Bautista Salbador, I wanted to ask you why you have taken this trip, what you’re hoping to accomplish.
CRUZ BAUTISTA SALBADOR: [translated] Well, we’ve been doing diverse activities in our travels through the United States, and we’ve met a lot of people who are misinformed. That is the reason why we are here. That is the principal objective, because many people have confused the information of what really took place that day, and that is why we’re here, to inform the American public and also connect with the people who are supporting us.
AMY GOODMAN: Cruz, you’re a teacher yourself in another normal school, and your nephew is Benjamín, one of the missing students. Can you tell us about Benjamín, why he went to this school, and the role of these schools?
CRUZ BAUTISTA SALBADOR: [translated] It brings hope to students who are that age that want to study, because access to education in Mexico is very difficult, so people of scarce resources just don’t go to the university. So my nephew Benjamín is the exception, because he had worked as a community teacher for a year in a program in Mexico. He worked in the communities most marginalized, where there is no public transportation, where there is no basic services that everyone should have. So that’s what inspired him to become a teacher. And because our family is from scarce resources, that’s why the normal school is—one of the requirements for entering into the normal school is to be from scarce resources and also to be bilingual in Spanish as well as an indigenous language, such as Nahuatl.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Clemente Rodríguez Moreno, I wanted to ask you—the government claims that what happened here was the action of a corrupt mayor conspiring with a drug gang. You don’t believe that. Why not?
CLEMENTE RODRÍGUEZ MORENO: [translated] On September 26, what happened in Iguala, the ex-president, the mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca, and his wife—the mexican government knew that this mayor was involved in organized crime. And it was them who took our 43 students, our children, the 43 normalists. Well, they disappeared them. It was the police. It was the federal police and the Mexican military that knew all about it, and the Mexican government wants to close the case and tell us to get over our pain. We—as a parent, I am not going to accept the government’s version. We are more focused on the Argentine forensics team, who have given us DNA tests, and they have demonstrated scientifically that our children are alive. And now the government is saying as fact that we should not be looking for them further. And that is why we came to the United States, to let the American public know and understand, to not let yourself be fooled by television. Some people are more focused on television, and the television says that the 43 students are dead. And that is just not true.
Also we are here to remind the United States government of agreements with Peña Nieto, the president of Mexico, who has not complied with these agreements. The agreements entailed that all the resources sent to the Mexican government, that was to—well, to combat delinquency, crime, but the Mexican government has done everything backwards. They’ve sent military equipment. They’ve sent intelligence apparatus, trucks, dogs, cavalry. And they have not used these resources as they should have. They’ve disappeared people, killed people, raped people. And so, we want to tell the United States government that they should not send these resources to the Mexican government. And we came here to the United States, because we want you to know that the 43 are alive, because alive they took them, and alive we want them back.
AMY GOODMAN: President Obama hosted Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at the White House in January, amid the political crisis caused by the disappearance of your loved ones, of the 43 students. Peña Nieto praised Obama’s recent executive action on immigration, while President Obama said he backs Mexico’s drug war. Cruz, your response to this?
CRUZ BAUTISTA SALBADOR: [translated] We know that the American government has always supported the effort to fight organized crime; however, we have seen, as Mexicans, that they are not fighting it. On the contrary, they are encouraging organized crime. They are killing innocent people. There has been more extortion in the last 10 years. There have been more than 30,000 people disappeared in Mexico at this point. The NGOs have shown this. And as for the Mexican government, they say there’s 23,600 disappeared people. It’s a wide range, no? The nongovernmental organizations say there are 30,000 disappeared people. And that’s troubling, what is happening in Mexico. If they were really fighting organized crime, as the United States government says, then the crime rates would have gone down—disappearances, extortions, etc. On top of that, there have been more than 150,000 people extrajudicially executed also in the last 10 years. And they keep disappearing our young people to this day. After the 26th and 27th of September, there have continued to be extrajudicial executions. We just saw it happen on the 6th of January in Apatzingán in Michoacán, Mexico. Apparently they are not fighting organized crime; they are fighting organized people, community people who defend their people. There have been citizens in various regions of Guerrero, in various states in Mexico, who have been very concerned about the insecurity in Mexico. And what do they do? What do they do then? Then they send in the Mexican military or the federal police to disarm the citizenry. So we ask: What kind of game is this? The Mexican government, the Mexican military, whose side are you on? On the side of the citizenry or on the side of organized crime? Because what we have seen is that instead of reducing organized crime, they’re making it worse.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: María de Jesús, what has been the impact of this tragedy in the rest of Mexico among the people in terms of how they view the work of the government?
MARÍA DE JESÚS TLATEMPA BELLO: [translated] In Mexico, all the people are very sad because they are in solidarity. As parents, they understand the pain, the suffering. How is it possible that our own government is doing this to us? How is it possible that this still happens to this day, that the government blames organized crime, but they are themselves part of the organized crime? How is this all possible? We know where you work. We know who is your husband. We spend all our time working, and we still don’t have money. They say that our children are throwing stones. How can you compare stones to weapons? How is it possible for the government to be doing this? People tell me, "I’m a mother (or I’m a father), and I feel your pain. I don’t know what I would do if my children disappeared." And I want to tell you that we’ve had a lot of faith, a lot inner strength to continue, because it is very sad to remember the 26th and 27th. We don’t know anything about our children. We don’t know anything. And why did they do this to them? And that is why we’re here, asking for support, urging America to help us find our children.
AMY GOODMAN: María de Jesús Tlatempa Bello, mother of José Eduardo; before that, Cruz Bautista Salbador, uncle of Benjamín; and Clemente Rodríguez Moreno, father of Christian Alfonso—three of the 43 students missing in Mexico since September. To watch the extended interview, you can go to democracynow.org. We also have it in Spanish at our Spanish website. When we come back, The Intercept’s Ryan Devereaux on his explosive two-part investigation, "Ghosts of Iguala," which tells the untold story of how 43 students disappeared in the night in Mexico. Stay with us.
Headlines:
Baltimore Lifts Curfew After 6 Cops Charged for Death of Freddie Gray
In Baltimore officials have lifted a 10 p.m. curfew and National Guard troops have begun to withdraw as peaceful protests continue over the death of Freddie Gray. The curfew had been in place since an uprising last Monday night, which left buildings and cars on fire. But protests took on a cautiously optimistic tone Friday after Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced a range of charges, including murder and manslaughter, against the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transport. Gray’s family says his voice box was crushed and his spine was "80 percent severed at his neck." Police said they arrested Gray for looking a lieutenant in the eye, then running away. Mosby said police had illegally arrested Gray without probable cause, then ignored his pleas for medical help.
Marilyn Mosby: "The findings of our comprehensive, thorough and independent investigation, coupled with the medical examiner’s determination that Mr. Gray’s death was a homicide, which we received today, has led us to believe that we have probable cause to file criminal charges."
We’ll hear more of Marilyn Mosby’s announcement, and voices from the streets of Baltimore, after headlines.
Man Who Filmed Freddie Gray Video Arrested, Alleges Police Harassment
The man who filmed one of the videos of Freddie Gray’s arrest has spoken out after he was arrested and released without charge. Kevin Moore said police have harassed and intimidated him, publicizing his photo and asking him to come forward, even though he says they already knew who he was. Moore was arrested Thursday along with two other "cop watch" activists from Ferguson, Missouri, for what he says police claimed was an illegal turn. He told Vice News he believes the arrest was an attempt to intimidate him.
Kevin Moore: "I was arrested last night on some false, bogus intimidation s—t. Like they really tried to intimidate me. They really tried to intimidate me, and they took me down to precinct for like six, seven hours. I don’t get no charge papers. I don’t get no citations. I don’t get none of that. So what am I being charged for? You know what I mean? What am I being detained for?"
Freddie Gray Honored as May Day Marked Worldwide
The death of Freddie Gray was a central focus Friday as protesters across the United States joined workers around the world to mark May Day. Demonstrators united the calls for immigrant and workers’ rights with calls for an end to police brutality. In Seattle, police said three officers were injured and 16 people arrested amid clashes with protesters who threw objects.
Israel: Thousands Protest Police Violence in Tel Aviv
Protests over police violence have also erupted in Tel Aviv, Israel, where Ethiopian Jews are protesting racial profiling and police harassment. In a situation that’s drawn close comparisons to Baltimore, the protests erupted after security camera footage showed a police officer beating a uniformed Ethiopian-Israeli soldier. Thousands of people took to the streets in peaceful protests Sunday, blocking traffic on major roadways. Israeli police said dozens were injured, including many officers, after some protesters threw stones and overturned a police vehicle, while officers fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon. More than 40 people were arrested.
Father of Missing Mexican Student on Baltimore: "It’s All Government Repression"
Here in New York City, the father of one of the 43 students missing since a police attack seven months ago in Mexico, ran a five-kilometer race to call attention to his son’s case. About 50 supporters ran with him, wearing T-shirts bearing the faces of the missing students. Antonio Tizapa said he saw a parallel between police violence in the U.S. and Mexico.
Antonio Tizapa: "I think it’s all government repression. What happened in Baltimore, to that person, it was one person, and in Mexico, it’s been thousands and thousands. And we haven’t done anything at all, because the government is repressing us so much. So the message I want to give to everyone is, please, let’s open our eyes and not be afraid."
Click here to see our interview with Antonio Tizapa.
Report: Saudi-Led Coalition Used U.S.-Supplied Cluster Bombs in Yemen
Human Rights Watch has accused the Saudi-led coalition of dropping banned cluster bombs manufactured and supplied by the United States near rebel-held villages in Yemen. Cluster bombs contain dozens or even hundreds of smaller munitions designed to fan out over a wide area, often the size of a football field. They have been banned under a 2008 treaty adopted by 116 countries — although not by Saudi Arabia or the United States.
Nigeria: Gov’t Troops Accused of Killing Dozens of Civilians
In Nigeria, community leaders in the central state of Plateau have accused government troops of killing dozens of civilians in order to avenge the deaths of six soldiers. The army has denied the reports, saying it is battling with a tribal militia apparently responsible for the soldiers’ deaths. Meanwhile, the army says it has rescued nearly 700 girls and women from the militant group Boko Haram over the past week. It’s still unclear if any were among the schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok a year ago.
Texas: Police Kill 2 Gunmen Outside Anti-Islam Event
In Texas, police have shot and killed two men they say opened fire outside an anti-Islam event in the city of Garland, wounding a security officer. The event, organized by Pamela Geller, executive director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, included a contest for drawing the best caricature of the Prophet Muhammad. The gunmen have not been identified.
New Jersey: Christie Allies Indicted in "Bridgegate" Scandal
Two former allies of New Jersey governor and possible Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie have been indicted on federal charges over their role in lane closings on the George Washington Bridge. Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and former Port Authority executive director, Bill Baroni, were charged with nine counts, including conspiracy to commit fraud, after prosecutors say they conspired to create a traffic jam to punish the mayor of Fort Lee for failing to endorse Christie’s re-election. David Wildstein, another former Port Authority official and a close ally of Christie’s, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit fraud for his role in the scandal.
Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina Makes GOP Presidential Bid
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has announced her bid for the Republican presidential nomination. She is the second woman to enter the presidential race, after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Fiorina and her husband have claimed a combined net worth of between $30 and $120 million.
Environmentalists: New "Bomb Train" Rules "Virtually Guarantee" More Explosions
Federal regulators have released long-awaited new standards for so-called bomb trains transporting crude oil through communities across the United States. The rules require companies to phase out the oldest model of tank cars within three years and retrofit or replace another model by 2020. Despite protests by local officials, the new rules will not require railroads to notify communities when oil trains pass through. In a statement, environmental groups said, "These industry friendly regulations virtually guarantee more explosive derailments, putting people and the environment at great risk."
Germany: Artist Unveils Statues of Snowden, Assange and Manning
In Germany, an artist has unveiled life-size bronze statues of whistleblowers Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz square. The whistleblowers are shown standing on chairs, with an empty chair next to them, on which artist Davide Dormino encouraged people to stand and speak out.
Davide Dormino: "In these sculptures, what I did is to represent the three icons of contemporary — three contemporary heroes, that they have lost their freedom for the truth. So they remind us how it’s important to know the truth and to have the courage to know the truth."
Puerto Rico Legalizes Medical Marijuana
And the governor of Puerto Rico has signed an executive order legalizing medical marijuana. Governor Alejandro García Padilla said in a statement he believed the move would grant many patients "new hope."
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