We spoke with Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, about the massive police corruption trial underway in Baltimore and why the national media’s not talking about it. Full interview here.
Democracy Now! is an independent, daily global news hour anchored by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. We air live weekdays 8-9AM ET and rebroadcast throughout the day on nearly 1,400 TV & radio stations in 43 countries. Here we post excerpts from our interviews and key moments from our daily show.
I won’t be surprised if not one officer is convicted of one count, because it’s not illegal to kill black people in America. And that’s what we’re trying to change, and that’s what people are advocating and fighting for.
Baltimore activist Kwame Rose on the acquittal of a Lt. Brian Rice, a third police officer just acquitted in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in police custody. Watch the full interview: Third Officer Acquitted in Freddie Gray Death, But Activists Convicted for Protesting Killing
![“It’s amazing how I can keep [the police] at bay, so to speak, keep them on a leash with just a video camera. It’s almost like live ammunition, almost with like live rounds, live bullets from a gun.”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/27850ff1f769581d78033b334dcfbf4f/tumblr_nuqaxmiFt01s7xc0qo1_1280.jpg)
Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley responds to one of his most vocal critics, David Simon, creator of “The Wire.”
I think the president has a tendency, when it’s convenient for him, to emphasize that he is the president of all America; and then when it comes to issues of morality, to deliver a message that the president of all America has no right to deliver. The president of all America, the bearer of the heritage of America — that for the vast majority of its history has been the plunder of black people — has no right to lecture black people on morality.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, national correspondent at The Atlantic. He writes about culture, politics and social issues. Watch his interview on Democracy Now! today.
For years the government classified details about how former Baltimore resident Majid Khan was tortured at a CIA black site before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay. Now details are finally coming to light that show he was waterboarded and subjected to forced rectal feeding, which his lawyers describe as a form of rape. Democracy Now! talks to Khan’s attorney about his client’s torture. Tune in at democracynow.org.
I wished they had killed me.
Majid Khan, former Baltimore resident and current Guantanamo detainee. Khan was waterboarded, raped, hung on a wooden beam for days on end, and spent much of 2003 in total darkness when he was held at a CIA blacksite. Tune in to Democracy Now! to hear his attorney discuss the case.
The history of unpunished violence against our people clearly indicates that we must be prepared to defend ourselves, or we will continue to be a defenseless people at the mercy of a ruthless and violent, racist mob.
Malcolm X.
Ninety years ago today, on May 19, 1925, Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Tune in to Democracy Now! to hear Malcolm X delivering his famous speech, “By Any Means Necessary.”
Nationally, 98-99% of police killings result in no charges being filed at all — no indictment, no criminal proceedings. Our prosecutor here in Baltimore City has taken a different tack, and she ought to be recognized and applauded for creating an independent investigation.
Douglas Colbert, professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. Watch his interview on Democracy Now! today.
“This is the mural for Freddie Gray, a young boy that was brutally murdered by police officers in Baltimore City,” says Baltimore resident Kae Fields. “We just came out to show our support — not just support, but love. Because this all got to stop.”
Watch today’s special Democracy Now! report from the Gilmore Homes, where Gray lived, as residents respond to the announcement of charges against six officers involved in his death.