"How colorism haunts dark-skinned immigrant communities" PBS NewsHour 5/19/2021
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SUMMARY: The death of George Floyd last year has shone a spotlight on what it means to be Black, and especially, to be dark-skinned in America. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has our report from Minnesota, home to a growing population of African and other immigrants. It is part of our continuing series "Race Matters", and Fred’s series, "Agents for Change."
"Here’s what happened during closing arguments in the Derek Chauvin trial" PBS NewsHour 4/19/2021
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SUMMARY: Monday saw the closing arguments in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin. The verdict to come is being closely watched in Minnesota and other cities around the country — many of them braced for protests, marches and potential unrest. Special correspondent Fred De Sam Lazaro reports on the final case made Monday by prosecutors and Chauvin's defense.
"Jubilant crowds take to the streets to celebrate guilty verdict in Chauvin trial" PBS NewsHour 4/20/2021
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SUMMARY: Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of murder and manslaughter. A panel of six white and six Black or multi-racial jurors convicted him on all three charges Tuesday afternoon. Floyd's death last May ignited a wave of public protests that rocked the nation -- and Tuesday's verdict set off celebrations outside the courthouse in Minneapolis.
"‘Sigh of relief:’ Saint Paul Mayor says Chauvin verdict a welcome sign of accountability" PBS NewsHour 4/20/2021
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SUMMARY: Amna Nawaz takes a closer look now, at how the nation, and, in particular, how African American communities across the country, are dealing with the jury's decision. Melvin Carter is the Mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, which, along with its neighbor, Minneapolis, form the state's "Twin Cities." He is the first African American to hold that office, and joins us to discuss the verdict.
"How the Chauvin verdict could become a ‘defining moment’ for future policing" PBS NewsHour 4/19/2021
What this SHOULD mean is an end to automatic immunity for law enforcement. If they break the law they should be held accountable.
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SUMMARY: To discuss the trial and verdict of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd, Judy Woodruff is joined by Chuck Wexler the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, and Janai Nelson the Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
"Floyd’s supporters hope to see systemic change emerge from guilty verdict in Chauvin trial" PBS NewsHour 4/20/2021
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SUMMARY: White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor has been following Derek Chauvin's trial in the murder of George Floyd and brings us the reaction on Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C.
"George Floyd’s family vows to ‘keep fighting’ for just policing after Chauvin verdict" PBS NewsHour 4/20/2021
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SUMMARY: After a Minneapolis jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the murder of George Floyd, President Joe Biden spoke with the Floyd family over the phone. While happy with the verdict, the family vowed to continue efforts towards bringing systemic change in policing.
"Philonise Floyd calls for racial solidarity, end to qualified immunity for police" PBS NewsHour 4/21/2021
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SUMMARY: George Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd, as well as the Floyd family attorney, Benjamin Crump, join Yamiche Alcindor to discuss the much-awaited verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, what it means to the family, and what changes they want to see in policing going forward.
"Reimagining public safety: What police reform could look like after Chauvin trial" PBS NewsHour 4/21/2021
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SUMMARY: To discuss what the process of bringing reform to policing could look like, Judy Woodruff is joined by Alexis Karteron, an associate professor of law and Director of the Constitutional Rights Clinic at Rutgers University, and Tracie Keesee a 25-year Denver Police veteran and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity.
"What is the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act? Breaking down the bill and opposition" PBS NewsHour 4/21/2021
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SUMMARY: The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives in February, but has yet to receive a vote in the evenly-split Senate. Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins joins Judy Woodruff with an update on where things stand.
"Examining the police shootings of Black Americans and how leadership plays a role" PBS NewsHour 4/22/2021
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SUMMARY: While the guilty verdict in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin brought celebration to the streets of Minneapolis, people also came together today to mourn Daunte Wright, and demand justice for other recent police shootings involving Black Americans. John Yang speaks to local reporters about the country's reaction to this moment of accountability in a long history of unanswered calls for justice.
"Minnesota enforces curfew, deploys National Guard after new police shooting sparks protest" PBS NewsHour 4/12/2021
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SUMMARY: As the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin went into a third week of testimony Monday, a police killing of a motorist in a neighboring community has once again left the region reeling. Amna Nawaz speaks with Lisa Clemons of A Mother's Love Initiative and Campaign Zero's Sam Sinyangwe about the community's reaction.
"Minnesota on edge following the police killing of Daunte Wright" PBS NewsHour 4/13/2021
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SUMMARY: The death of George Floyd and the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin has kept the state of Minnesota in the national spotlight. Now the death of Daunte Wright near Minneapolis has led to new protests and opened long-standing wounds over policing and race. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports.
"George Floyd’s brother remembers him as a caring ‘leader’ in Chauvin trial testimony" PBS NewsHour 4/12/2021
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SUMMARY: In the Derek Chauvin trial Monday, prosecutors wrapped up their case, with jurors hearing testimony from George Floyd's brother about Floyd's character, and his role as a "leader" in the family. Special correspondent Fred De Sam Lazaro reports.
"George Floyd’s brother: ‘People want to see change, they want to see justice’" PBS NewsHour 4/13/2021
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SUMMARY: The killings of Daunte Wright and George Floyd continue to reverberate, not only in Minnesota but around the U.S., on policing, use of force and race. Philonise Floyd, George Floyd's younger brother who took the stand Monday in former police officer Derek Chauvin's trial, and Ben Crump, an attorney representing the Floyd family and Daunte Wright's mother, join Yamiche Alcindor to discuss.
"Medical witness for defense in Chauvin trial says Floyd’s manner of death ‘undetermined’" PBS NewsHour 4/14/2021
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SUMMARY: The defense team for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been making the case that George Floyd died for other reasons, and that Chauvin's kneeling on Floyd's neck was not the crucial factor. Today, the defense focused on that question with its own expert testimony stating that instead of "homicide," Floyd's manner of death was "undetermined." Yamiche Alcindor has our report.
"Derek Chauvin refuses to testify as murder trial heads into closing arguments" PBS NewsHour 4/15/2021
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SUMMARY: The trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with murder in the death of George Floyd last May, is nearing its conclusion. The trial is being watched closely all around the country and internationally. The defense finished calling its witnesses Thursday, and Chauvin opted not to testify. Special correspondent Fred De Sam Lazaro has our latest update on the case.
CLOSING COMMENT: Our entire justice system is on trail here. The question being, is law enforcement allowed to harm, even kill, citizens without being held to account. Is any person's (especially LEOs) allowed to use deadly force just because they 'fear for their lives' without documented evidence that there was actual danger (i.e. can an unarmed person be a threat). This is specially true when in involves non-white citizens (as historical evidence testifies) are always seen as a threat even while just walking down a street.
"Before George Floyd, Officer Derek Chauvin had a history of using excessive force" PBS NewsHour 2/6/2021
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SUMMARY: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is awaiting trial for the murder of George Floyd. But even before the killing that sparked nationwide protests last summer, Chauvin had a history of using excessive force. Hari Sreenivasan speaks with Jamiles Lartey and Abbie VanSickle of The Marshall Project about their report on civilians who experienced Derek Chauvin up close.
SUMMARY: Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest news, including public opinion of the nationwide protests over police treatment of black Americans, President Trump’s response and use of force to dispel protesters and the reaction of prominent military leaders to his handling of the situation.
Judy Woodruff (NewsHour): To help us make sense of a week that brought protesters to the — into the streets in more than 700 American cities and towns, the analysis of Shields and Brooks.
That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.
So, hello to both of you.
What about these protesters, Mark? I have just been talking with Mayor Garcetti of Los Angeles about it, but, as we said, 700 cities and towns across the country, thousands and thousands of people in the streets. It started out about George Floyd. It's become, I think it's fair to say, something much bigger than that.
What do you make of it?
Mark Shields, syndicated columnist: Judy, it's quite unlike anything I have ever seen.
The — most protests here in Washington involve the usual suspects on both sides. Those are committed partisans, in some cases, zealots, who show up regularly.
This is remarkable in its composition. It's people who are not protesters, who are not political activists. At the same time, even though it's spawned by, inspired by the tragic death of George Floyd, it is not specifically racial. There's a very large white composition in it.
And that, to me, is rather remarkable, the reach of it. It's reached not only the major cities, but small towns worldwide. I think this is of enormous significance. And it can't be of little consolation to George Floyd's family and loved ones, but his death is having — his murder is having an enormous impact on this country. And it will not be just transitory. I think it will be permanent.
Judy Woodruff: You think it will — David, do you think this is a different moment? We have seen moments of protest. We have seen police-involved killings of black men.
What's different this time?
David Brooks, New York Times: I would say it's a combination of things.
I sort of think of it as a hurricane that's happening in an earthquake. The earthquake started in 2014 with Ferguson, with a lot of terrorist killings, then with the election of Donald Trump. And we saw ravines open up in our society. We saw divides in politics. We saw racial divides, economic divides, obviously.
And into this comes first a pandemic, just pouring water and exposing all the divides, and then this killing, this murder, which exposes them more. And then you get this generational turnover. You have had a generation of people under 35 who've seen the financial crisis, who've seen a bit of the war in Iraq maybe, but who've seen nothing on global warming.
And so this is a generation that is fed up. And, frankly, a lot of people in the African-American community are fed up. The word I keep hearing is exhausted.
And so I do think, when you calculate the depth of the ravines that are being exposed, with a generational change, with a sense of America finally turning to race as maybe the central storyline in our history or our story right now, these are just big, epic shifts.
And I do think it's like one of those big shifts that happen periodically in American history, '68 or 1890 or 1830. And I think we're in the middle of something — I agree with Mark. I think it's not just a moment. It's a climactic shift.
Judy Woodruff: Mark, a shift.
Will it lead to something distinctly different, though, from what we have today? Because these protesters, as we have just been discussing, they want police departments defunded, or they want budgets cut. They want real change. They want more African-Americans elected to office, and many, many other demands about — around education, around housing, around communities.
Are those things really going to change?
Mark Shields: Well, Judy, I think there's demands, and there's demands.
I think Mayor Garcetti made a good point that both the African-American community and the police need each other. They truly do. I mean, African-Americans disproportionately live in high-crime areas. And they do want an engaged, principled and activist work — police force working to preserve peace and order in their community.
But I think we're far beyond the prayers and thoughts, reaction. I think there's an awakening in this country to the fact that African-Americans, people of color have been treated — and it's irrefutable — been treated differently in law enforcement, and unfairly.
I don't think there's any question about that.
I do find it encouraging that two institutions that have been sort of sidelined, it seems, in our country that were so much involved in the American civil rights movement and were — played principle roles this week.
I thought Bishop Budde of the Episcopal Church here in Washington spoke up so forcefully about the photo-op using and abusing her church. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, the African-American Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., spoke out strenuously, emphatically against using religious places and symbols to exploit political advantage, especially when the message isn't one of inclusiveness or justice.
So — and the United States military — it's no accident that the United States military, the most integrated institution in our society, that the words of people like General Martin Dempsey and Admiral Mike McMullen — Mike Mullen, to add to Mike Hayden, Stanley McChrystal, and Admiral McRaven, as well as, of course, General Mattis, you know, and the reaction of the military, I think, was encouraging.
And so I'm hopeful.
Judy Woodruff: David, I do want to ask you both about the President and bring in the use of the military.
But, just quickly, do you think there will be real change coming out of what we're seeing?
David Brooks: Yes, I look at the polls.
And we never used to get polls where it was 50 — where it was above 55 percent for anything. We were completely an evenly divided country. And now we had a poll, PBS/Marist poll, 67 percent disapproving of the way Donald Trump is reacting to this moment, 67 percent reaction to the lockdown.
We had 67, 77 percent. Again and over the course of the last three months, we have had polls in the 60s and 70s. It looks to me like we're a less divided country than they were, Joe Biden opening up now an eight-point lead on the average polls.
So, I mean, the dumb thing to say is, we're moving left. And the pandemic and this event have just underlined the inequalities in America. And whether you like it or not, I just think that's the reality, if you look at the evidence.
Judy Woodruff: And, David, let's — let me turn you to what Mark brought up. And that is the President invoking the military, I mean, having the military, armed people out in the streets, troops clearing the streets forcefully to make way, so that he could walk across the area, the — Lafayette Square, to hold the Bible in front of St. John's Church.
A lot of pushback, as Mark reminded us, from former military officials. Even — we're even seeing current military leaders pull back.
Is this a moment of turn for this President, do you think?
David Brooks: I do. I mentioned the polling.
But, listen, he's [Trump] been a bully for a long time, but he was a bully over Twitter, and maybe he was a bully to the press. But now he's using U.S. troops to be a bully.
I think what set General Mattis off was just watching the military, which is a fine, unprofessional and unpoliticized — I mean, professional, but unpoliticized organization, suddenly turned into a prop in a campaign video. And I think that turned his stomach, as it should turn all our stomachs.
But I think what mystifies me — and it goes back to what you were talking about with Mayor Garcetti — is, you have a President who's taken this authoritarian line of domination, be dominant, unleash vicious dogs and dangerous weapons.
And that's not only just talk anymore. And it swings through the Republican Party and Senator Tom Cotton's tweets about no quarter given. We're going to dominate our fellow citizens, as if they are enemy.
And then I think it bleeds down to the police and the videos we have already seen tonight. It's a theme that is coming from the top, from the White House, a theme of brutalism, of mental brutalism. And it affects people.
And what we have seen coming out of the White House has been a more dangerous contagion than even with all the outrages of the past.
Judy Woodruff: Mark, David raised the — it's term, and the President used it again today. We need to dominate, he said, even as they are now announcing they're going to pull uniformed military out of the streets of Washington.
But the orders are there. I mean, we know what happened this week. We know that the President talked about calling out the National Guard. He urged governors to use the National Guard. He said they were weak, would look like fools if they didn't.
And we're left with the reminders of this.
Mark Shields: This is the world of Donald Trump, to be very blunt about it.
Admiral Mattis may have put it best at the Al Smith Dinner in New York last fall, which I'm sure didn't escape the President's attention, when he said, I earned my spurs. 'I, General Mattis, earned my spurs in battle, and Donald Trump earned his spurs in a doctor's letter.'
And that's the toughness, that's sort of the phony toughness of Donald Trump, the swagger. When his number and his chance came up to serve and to get tough, he, of course, ran and scurried personally. But he's somebody who wants to bully other people.
And he does not — I guess what bothers me more than anything else — I saw him today in act that Jack Reed, the senator from Rhode Island, a very respected member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has called pretty and preposterous, pulling 9,500 American troops out of Germany to — why? Out of spite and out of pettiness, because Mrs. Merkel declined his invitation to be part of the photo-op of the G7 at Camp David next month, because — on the very legitimate grounds of coronavirus.
So, I mean this is — the President, he does not understand the military. It's kind of a crazy swagger, John Wayne movie version of it. Most military people — I just miss John McCain so much. If John McCain were alive today, it would be scorching and scalding, the rhetoric he would be directing at this President of his own party.
SUMMARY: Cities across the U.S. are bracing for unrest as protests continue. Outrage over police killings of black victims, most recently that of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police on Memorial Day, has fueled demonstrations, and in some cases, destruction. In response, President Trump called for stricter policing, telling governors they must “dominate” protesters. Yamiche Alcindor reports.
SUMMARY: Peaceful protests around the U.S. continue Monday night, but there will likely also be charged confrontations and more looting and destruction. How can law enforcement defuse these fraught situations and minimize violence while acknowledging protesters’ voices? Judy Woodruff talks to Sheriff Christopher Swanson of Genesee County, Michigan, and Michael Nutter former mayor of Philadelphia.
SUMMARY: For analysis of the deeper systemic issues that are underlying the country’s civic unrest, Judy Woodruff talks to Roxane Gay a noted essayist and author whose work frequently addresses issues of race, identity and privilege; Anna Deavere Smith, award-winning playwright and actor; and Tay Anderson, a Denver school board member and activist who has been leading protests in that city.
SUMMARY: The problems with criminal justice in Minnesota’s Twin Cities extend beyond the George Floyd case. Of the 100 largest metro areas in the country, Minneapolis’ income gap between black and white families is the second largest, at nearly $50,000, and the city has a long history of discriminatory housing practices. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on the context behind this crisis.
SUMMARY: The U.S. has now experienced a full week of protests over police treatment of black Americans. The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has triggered widespread demonstrations, curfews and thousands of arrests. National Guard troops have been called up in states across the country. And President Trump’s rhetoric urging increased use of force is prompting more disagreement. Amna Nawaz reports.
SUMMARY: President Trump has caused new controversy for his handling of a protest near the White House Monday night. Police began clearing people out from a peaceful demonstration in Lafayette Square before the citywide curfew took effect, firing gas with no apparent provocation. Trump then walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photograph. Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.
SUMMARY: With protests taking place in cities across the country, how should the federal government respond? Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota joins Judy Woodruff to discuss President Trump’s rhetoric about the use of force, whether a peaceful protest near the White House Monday should have been interrupted as it was, the role of Congress in addressing racial unrest and federal pandemic aid.
SUMMARY: Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde leads the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C. That includes St. John's Church, across from the White House, which was partially burned during Sunday's unrest and the site of President Trump's Monday night photo op. Budde joins Judy Woodruff to discuss Trump's "extremely inflammatory" remarks and federal law enforcement's violent confrontation with protesters.
SUMMARY: Former senior military officials are criticizing Secretary of Defense Mark Esper for participating in a controversial photo op with President Trump, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley for walking through D.C. in his battle-dress uniform. Nick Schifrin talks to John Yang, and then discusses the increasing militarization of police with Radley Balko, author of “Rise of the Warrior Cop.”
SUMMARY: As protests over the death of George Floyd continue in cities nationwide, there were major developments Wednesday in the legal response to the case. Derek Chauvin, the officer who pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, is now charged with second-degree murder, while three other officers are accused of aiding and abetting a murder. Lisa Desjardins reports.
SUMMARY: Columbia, South Carolina’s capital, is among the many U.S. cities seeing protests and curfews over the past week. Mayor Stephen Benjamin is the city’s first African American mayor, and he joins Judy Woodruff to discuss how he sees “collective pain” emerging during this tumultuous period, what his constituents are asking for and his fears about controlling the spread of COVID-19 amid protests.
SUMMARY: Widespread protests over George Floyd’s death and the treatment of black Americans by police more broadly have dominated the U.S. in recent days. For analysis of the issues at the heart of the unrest, Amna Nawaz talks to Art Acevedo, Houston’s chief of police; Tracey Meares, professor and founder of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School; and Samuel Sinyangwe of the group Campaign Zero.
SUMMARY: Structural racism is now sharing the American cultural spotlight with COVID-19. While solutions to racial disparities in police treatment, health care and education will likely require policy changes, some experts say decisions at the family and individual levels matter just as much. Special correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault talks to Margaret Hagerman of Mississippi State University.
Clarification: This report stated that the majority of Americans who have died of COVID-19 have been identified as African American. The CDC reports that more white Americans have died of coronavirus, but race/ethnicity was available for only 42.3 percent of those tracked. A recent study by the nonpartisan APM Research Lab shows that the latest overall COVID-19 mortality rate for black Americans is 2.4 times as high as the rate for whites and 2.2 times as high as the rate for Asians and Latinos. A second national study by the AIDS research group amfAR found that half of all COVID-19 cases and nearly 60 percent of deaths due to the disease were in counties that are disproportionately black.
SUMMARY: Formal mourning began Thursday for George Floyd, the Minneapolis man whose death has touched off a torrent of national outrage. While overnight protests were largely peaceful, President Trump is now facing a torrent of criticism over his talk of using the military to quell unrest. John Yang reports.
SUMMARY: In New York City, protesters were largely peaceful on Wednesday, but as nighttime fell, police in riot gear moved in to enforce a curfew -- sometimes by force. The NewsHour’s Daniel Bush talks with Judy Woodruff about what protesters there are saying about why they are out in the streets and how leaders there are approaching the demonstrations.
SUMMARY: President Trump's talk of using military force on people protesting police brutality against black Americans has generated a backlash among a number of former senior military officers. Nick Schifrin gets perspective from retired Army Gen. Carter Ham on why these officials, as well as some who are currently serving, are wary of sending active-duty troops into the United States.
SUMMARY: It has been more than 50 years since deadly riots in Newark, New Jersey broke out. But protests taking place there this past week over George Floyd's death have been mostly peaceful. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss what the city has done to prepare for interactions between police and demonstrators, and how that's helped maintain relative calm.
SUMMARY: The threat of a pandemic did not keep New Yorkers home as protesters across the city took to the streets chanting “Black Lives Matter” calling for several police reforms. Largely peaceful, several demonstrators defied the city’s 8 P.M. curfew. Protests continued Saturday. NewsHour Weekend’s Christopher Booker reports on what protesters would like to see changed.
SUMMARY: The demand to reform police departments is causing some local governments to look at new regulations and laws. In San Francisco, the board of supervisors is considering a resolution introduced last week that would urge the civil service commission there to prohibit hiring officers with a history of serious misconduct. San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss.
