>>THE GUARDIAN HAS REPORTED THAT CALIFORNIA POLICE WORKED
WITH MEMBERS OF THE ALT-RIGHT AND NEO-NAZIS IN ORDER TO PURSUE
COUNTER PROTESTERS.
THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO WENT AND PROTESTED
AGAINST WHITE NATIONALISM, AND EVEN THOUGH SOME OF THEM WERE
VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIMES, THE POLICE IN THIS CASE ALLEGEDLY
WENT AFTER THE VICTIMS OF THE VIOLENT CRIMES INSTEAD OF THE
PERPETRATORS --
>>THERE IS EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THESE CLAIMS, BECAUSE THERE WERE
THREE INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE THE COUNTER PROTESTERS WHO
APPARENTLY GOT ARRESTED DURING THIS RALLY THAT TOOK PLACE IN
SACRAMENTO IN JUNE 2016.
AS SOON AS THEY GOT ARRESTED AND THEY
WERE DEALING WITH THE LEGAL SYSTEM THEY LAWYERED UP, AND
THEIR LAWYERS WERE ABLE TO FIND AUDIO RECORDINGS INVOLVING A
POLICE OFFICER LITERALLY SPEAKING TO A WHITE NATIONALIST
WHO WAS IN CUSTODY AT THE TIME AND ESSENTIALLY LETTING THAT
WHITE NATIONALIST KNOW WE ARE GOING AFTER THOSE COUNTER
PROTESTERS.
WE WILL GET TO THAT IN JUST A SECOND --
>>NOW, THE COPS ARE ALLEGING THAT THEY WEREN'T COOPERATING
WITH THEM, AND THE WAY THAT SOME OF THEM GOT CHARGED IS
UNBELIEVABLE.
THERE WAS A BLACK PROTESTER WHO WAS STABBED IN HIS
ABDOMEN, AND THEY WERE ATTEMPTING TO PROSECUTE HIM EVEN
THOUGH HE WAS THE VICTIM OF THE VIOLENCE --
>>HERE IS HIS EXACT QUOTE --
>>SO HE DIDN'T KNOW WHO HAD REQUESTED HIS NAME, AND
HE'S LIKE IF I KNEW I WOULD TELL YOU.
>>LET ME BE CLEAR ABOUT THE CONTEXT OF ALL THIS.
IN THAT
CASE THE GUY IS GOING TO ORGANIZE THE RALLY -- AND YOU
CAN DISAGREE WITH ME BUT I'M NOT THAT BOTHERED THAT HE'S SAYING I
GET IT, YOU'RE PART OF THIS WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUP AND
PEOPLE ARE GOING TO WANT TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND YOU ARE
REQUESTING THE PERMIT, WE WILL KEEP YOUR IDENTITY HIDDEN.
I
DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A LEGAL THING OR NOT AND IF IT TURNS OUT
IT'S NOT LEGAL I WITHDRAW WHAT I JUST SAID, BUT HE GOES A LITTLE
EXTRA BY SAYING DON'T WORRY, IF ANYONE TRIES TO FIND OUT YOUR
IDENTITY I WILL GIVE YOU A HEADS UP.
I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE TO DO
A NEO-NAZI THAT FAVOR.
OKAY, BUT IF THAT'S ALL THAT WAS I WOULD
SAY IT'S BAD BUT NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.
BUT THE CASE ANA
MENTIONED EARLIER, AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THESE -- THAT
AFRICAN-AMERICAN PROTESTER WAS STABBED IN THE ABDOMEN, CHEST,
AND HAND.
BUT THEY CONSIDER HIM THE SUSPECT.
>>YES.
>>YOU KNOW WHAT?
MAYBE THEY GOT INTO A KNIFE FIGHT AND HE GOT
STABBED BUT ALSO STAB SOMEONE ELSE, THAT'S POSSIBLE.
AND JUST
BECAUSE THEY ARE NEO-NAZIS DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULDN'T
PROTECT THEM, WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE PEOPLE COMMIT
VIOLENCE AGAINST THEM THEY SHOULD BE ARRESTED.
OKAY, BUT IF
YOU LOOK AT THE FACTS OF WHY DID THEY THINK THE GUY WHO GOT
STABBED WAS THE SUSPECT AND THE COPS WERE TARGETING HIM?
THEIR
EVIDENCE WAS THAT THERE WAS A FACEBOOK PHOTO OF HIM HOLDING UP
HIS FIST, AND THEY SAID THAT WAS, QUOTE, A BLACK POWER SALUTE
AND THAT HE SUPPORTED, QUOTE, ANTIRACIST ACTIVISM, AND IT
DEMONSTRATED, QUOTE, HIS INTENT AND MOTIVATION TO VIOLATE THE
CIVIL RIGHTS OF THE NEO-NAZIS.
OKAY, HE GETS STABBED IN THE
CHEST, HAND, ABDOMEN, ETC., THAT'S NOT GOOD EVIDENCE.
HE
HOLDS UP A BLACK POWER SALUTE, THAT IS GREAT EVIDENCE THAT HE
INTENDED TO VIOLATE THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF THE NEO-NAZIS SO HE'S
THE SUSPECT?
OH MY GOD.
NO, THAT FACT PATTERN IS ATROCIOUS.
>>LUCKILY THE ACTUAL VICTIM IN THIS CASE, THE BLACK MAN WHO WAS
IN THE HOSPITAL, WAS NEVER CHARGED.
HOWEVER THE COPS DID
RECOMMEND 11 CHARGES, AND THE OFFENSES INCLUDED DISTURBING THE
PEACE, CONSPIRACY, ASSAULT, UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY, AND WEARING A
MASK TO EVADE POLICE.
>>THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE THINGS THAT PISSED THEM OFF
THE MOST, BECAUSE WHAT DO I SAY ALL THE TIME ON THE SHOW IN
THESE CASES?
THE BIGGEST CRIME IN AMERICA IS ONE THAT'S NOT
ILLEGAL, DISRESPECTING A POLICE OFFICER.
SO YOU WEAR A MASK,
HEY, YOU ARE TRYING TO EVADE THE POLICE.
THAT MAKES ME ANGRY --
AND I'M GIVING THE COPS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT AND I DON'T
EVEN THINK THEY DESERVE IT.
THE MORE LIKELY EXPLANATION IS THEY
JUST SYMPATHIZE WITH THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS.
BUT IF YOU ARE
GOING TO GIVE THEM THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT, YOU ARE WEARING A
MASK, THAT MAKES ME ANGRY, I DON'T CARE THAT YOU GOT STABBED.
AND THE PROSECUTOR MAKES THE CASE OF WHETHER THE CASE GOES TO
COURT BUT THE COPS MADE THE DECISION TO CHARGE HIM WITH 11
COUNTS FOR HAVING HIS FIST UP IN THE AIR IN A SALUTE AND WEARING
A MASK.
BUT OF ALL THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS THAT BROUGHT
WEAPONS TO THE RALLY -- BY THE WAY THERE WERE FIVE DIFFERENT
GUYS THEY IDENTIFIED AS HAVING KNIVES, AND SEVERAL OF THE
ANTIFASCIST PROTESTERS WERE STABBED -- ONLY ONE WHITE
SUPREMACIST WAS CHARGED.
ALL THE OTHER ONES, THERE WAS A GUY
WHO'S ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE TWP GROUP, THE WHITE SUPREMACIST,
NEO-NAZI GROUP, THE COPS AGREE HE WAS IN THE VICINITY OF
ANOTHER VICTIM AND HE HAD A KNIFE ON HIM.
THE COPS GO TO
TALK TO HIM AFTER HE'S BEEN ARRESTED ON A SEPARATE CHARGE OF
DOMESTIC ABUSE.
NOW, NORMALLY IF A COP GOES INTO A SITUATION
WHERE THIS GUY IS NOW INVOLVED IN ANOTHER ACT OF VIOLENCE HE
MIGHT BE A LITTLE CIRCUMSPECT, LIKE I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS
GUY.
NO, THE COP GOES AND SAYS TO HIM WHILE HE'S IN JAIL, CAN
YOU HELP ME TO IDENTIFY YOUR COUNTER PROTESTERS SO I CAN GET
THEM INSTEAD OF YOU?
AND HE SAYS --
>>WOW.
WOW, WOW.
YOU ALWAYS WANT TO THINK THIS IS ONE OR TWO BAD
ACTORS, BUT THEN YOU SEE HOW THE RANKS OF THE COPS IN THIS CASE
CLOSE.
AND AS YOU SAY, IN KIND OF AN AWFUL, GROTESQUE WAY WHEN
YOU'VE GOT A STABBING VICTIM WHO WAS HOPING THE COPS ARE THERE
ALLIES -- YOU ARE ALREADY IN A VERY INTENSE EXCHANGE WITH THESE
RIGHT WING WHITE SUPREMACISTS, YOU KNOW THERE'S GOING TO BE
TROUBLE, AND YOU FIGURE THAT THE PEACE OFFICERS THERE ARE YOUR
ALLIES.
AND TO SEE THIS GROTESQUE SITUATION UNFOLD -- AS
I SAY, YOU HOPE IT'S A FEW BAD ACTORS BUT THE MORE YOU GET INTO
THE STORY YOU REALIZE, YIKES, IT'S WORSE THAN THAT, IT'S KIND
OF AN INSTITUTIONAL THING.
>>I DON'T KNOW WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THIS POLICE DEPARTMENT
CONSISTS OF THE BAD APPLES, BUT WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT TIME AND
AGAIN WE HAVE THESE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT PEOPLE NOT
TRUSTING THE AUTHORITIES, RUNNING AWAY FROM THE
AUTHORITIES AS SOON AS THEY WANT TO STOP THEM.
WALTER SCOTT IS
THE FIRST PERSON WHO COMES TO MIND, BECAUSE HE RAN AWAY FROM A
COP AND LITERALLY GOT SHOT IN THE BACK SEVERAL TIMES AS HE WAS
RUNNING AWAY.
THIS IS THE REASON WHY THERE IS SOME PORTION OF THE
POPULATION THAT DOESN'T TRUST LOCAL AUTHORITIES, BECAUSE IN
THIS CASE YOU HAVE COUNTER PROTESTERS WHO AREN'T FEELING
PROTECTED, THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE THEIR LOCAL POLICE ARE THERE TO
PROTECT AND SERVE, IN FACT THEY FEEL LIKE THEY ARE
COUNTERPRODUCTIVE MORE THAN ANYTHING, THEY'RE GOING AFTER
THEM WITH POTENTIAL PROSECUTION BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE AUDACITY
TO PRACTICE THEIR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT AND COUNTER
PROTEST THESE WHITE NATIONALISTS.
AGAIN, WHO WERE
THE ONES WITH THE KNIVES, AND WHO GOT STABBED AND SENT TO THE
HOSPITAL?
IT'S INSANE TO SEE THIS HAPPEN, AND BY THE WAY THIS
ISN'T JUST UNIQUE TO CALIFORNIA.
WHAT WE ARE NOTICING WITH
SIMILAR RALLIES AND PROTESTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY IS THAT
COPS WILL WORK WITH THE ALT-RIGHT OR THESE NEO-NAZIS IN
ORDER TO IDENTIFY THE COUNTER PROTESTERS.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS
THIS --
>>SO WE KNOW FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT THEY LIE AND PUT
OUT FABRICATIONS, AND TO KNOW THAT THE COPS RELY ON THAT TO
ARREST PROTESTERS WHO SPOKE OUT DURING THE INAUGURATION IS
SCARY STUFF.
>>AT AN OREGON ON ALT-RIGHT EVENT POLICE ARRESTED
ANTI-FASCIST PROTESTERS.
WE ON THE LEFT DON'T WANT VIOLENCE, SO
PEOPLE SAY IF YOU ARE AN ANTIFASCIST DON'T COMMIT ACTS OF
VIOLENCE, IT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA, AND IF THEY HAD EVIDENCE ON THEM
SHOULD THEY BE ARRESTED?
OF COURSE, YOU CAN'T COMMIT ACTS OF
VIOLENCE.
BUT LOOK AT THE PROPAGANDA, IT MAKES IT SEEM
LIKE THE ANTIFA PEOPLE ARE VIOLENT.
IN CHARLOTTESVILLE IT
WAS THE NEO-NAZI GUY WHO KILLED THE ANTIFASCIST PROTESTER, AND
INJURED DOZENS MORE.
ANOTHER CASE, THE SAME PROTEST WE ARE
TALKING ABOUT, A BERKELEY TEACHER AND ANTIFASCIST
ORGANIZER WAS STABBED AND BLUDGEONED IN THE HEAD AND THEY
WENT AFTER HER AS A SUSPECT.
WHY WOULD YOU MAKE THAT ASSUMPTION?
WHAT A BIZARRE ASSUMPTION.
IF I WAS A COP AND SOMEBODY COMES TO
ME AND YOU ARE BLEEDING, AND YOU HAVE A KNOT ON YOUR HEAD, I
DON'T GO WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?
AND TO ME THE CLINCHER WAS
SOMETHING THEY READ BEFORE, THAT THEIR SO-CALLED "EVIDENCE" WAS
THEY DID A BLACK POWER SALUTE.
EVEN THOUGH HE'S BEEN STABBED
OVER AND OVER AGAIN WE WILL GO AFTER HIM.
BUT THE RIGHT WING
PUTS OUT THE PROPAGANDA THAT ANTIFA ARE THE VIOLENT ONES.
AND
IN THIS PROTEST THEY PUT OUT THE PROPAGANDA THAT ANTIFA WERE THE
VIOLENT ONES.
AND UNFORTUNATELY SOME OF THE COPS BELIEVE IT.
SO
YOU HEAR THAT THE GUYS WHO GOT STABBED WERE THE VIOLENT ONES.
>>AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE NEO-NAZI PROPAGANDA AND THE
PHILOSOPHY UNDERLYING THE NEO-NAZI MOVEMENT, IT'S A
VIOLENT PHILOSOPHY.
SO WHEN YOU PUT THAT UP AGAINST THE ANTIFA
MOVEMENT -- AND AGAIN I UNDERSTAND I'M BIASED AGAINST
NEO-NAZIS, SORRY -- BUT EVEN ON JUST THE MERITS YOU KNOW YOU
HAVE ESSENTIALLY AN UNARMED GROUP, OR CERTAINLY A FAR LESS
COMMITTED TO VIOLENCE THAT GROUP, ON THE LEFT THAN YOU DO
ON THE NEO-NAZI RIGHT.
SO IF YOU ARE JUST GOING IN AND WORKING ON
THE PRESUMPTION, I WOULD PRESUME THAT THE VIOLENCE WILL COME OUT
OF THE NEO-NAZIS.
THEY ARE THE ONES AS IT TURNS OUT WHO ARE
ARMED AND OVERWHELMING NUMBERS VERSUS THE ANTIFAS.
SO
OBJECTIVELY LOOKING AT THIS BEFORE THE GAME BEGINS YOU HAVE
TO KNOW THAT THE VIOLENCE IS LIKELY TO COME FROM THERE.
AND
TO THE BASIC POINT, YOU KNOW VIOLENCE IS UNFORTUNATELY A
LIKELY RESULT, YOU ALWAYS FEEL GOOD WHEN THESE THINGS SETTLE
AND THERE HASN'T BEEN ANY, AND THAT'S WHY THE COPS AND THEIR
NEUTRALITY IS SO IMPORTANT.
SO TO THINK THAT THEY AREN'T, AT
THE END OF THE DAY, NEUTRAL IN ANY WAY, AGAIN IT'S PROFOUNDLY
DISAPPOINTING.
>>AND WE ARE HAVING THESE INSANE CONVERSATIONS IN AMERICA
NOW ABOUT, WELL, THERE ARE VERY GOOD PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES.
LOOK,
IF YOU ARE A NEO-NAZI, YOU SIGNED UP TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH
NAZIS AFTER THEY MURDERED 13 MILLION PEOPLE.
YOU THOUGHT
THAT'S A GOOD THING, I'LL SIGN UP FOR THAT GROUP.
SO TO MARK'S
POINT, YOUR POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY IS PREDICATED ON A NORMAL
VIOLENCE, A HISTORY OF THE WORST VIOLENCE THE WORLD HAS EVER
SEEN.
SO IF THE COPS WERE TO MAKE ANY ASSUMPTION, IT WOULD BE
A FAIR ASSUMPTION TO SAY THAT WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL ABOUT THOSE
GUYS BECAUSE THEY SIGNED UP FOR A GROUP THAT HAS HISTORICALLY
LIVED AND BREATHED VIOLENCE.
BUT WE AREN'T ASKING THE COPS TO
MAKE ASSUMPTIONS.
ALL WE ARE ASKING THEM IS TO BE NEUTRAL,
AND ACTUALLY JUDGE THE FACTS.
AND INSTEAD THEY MAKE THE
ASSUMPTION THAT THE BLACK POWER SALUTE IS SO DANGEROUS THAT EVEN
IF THEY GOT STABBED, THEY ARE THE SUSPECT AND NOT THE NEO-NAZI
WHO SIGNED UP TO BE A NAZI.
AND WHO HAD KNIVES.
I MEAN, THAT'S
CRAZY.