Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Thur., Apr. 14, 2005
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 4-14-05
PRSS Channel: A67.7
NY Law Enforcement Caught Doctoring Video of RNC Arrests
Tariq Ali on Political Activism from Pakistan to Vietnam
to Iraq
NY Law Enforcement Caught Doctoring Video of RNC
Arrests
New York law enforcement is caught doctoring video of arrests
made during the Republican Convention. We speak with Alexander
Dunlop, whose charges were dropped after the edited video
was exposed, his lawyer Michael Conroy as well as a member
of I-Witness Video who helped find the footage that eventually
vindicated Alexander. And we get response from the NYPD. [includes
rush
transcript]
During last year's Republican National Convention, the city
of New York witnessed some of the largest mass arrests in
the city's history. 1800 people were arrested.
But now the cases against the vast majority of the arrested
have fallen apart. Of the nearly 1700 cases that have run
their full course, 91 percent ended with charges dismissed
or with a verdict of not guilty.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that in some
400 cases charges were dropped because video recordings emerged
showing that the arrested had not committed a crime or that
the charges against them could not be proved.
In at least one case video evidence was doctored. During
court proceedings, the police presented a video of the arrest
of a man named Alexander Dunlop. It turned out that the video
presented by the police was edited in two spots - images that
showed Dunlop acting peacefully were removed.
We interviewed Alexander Dunlop and his lawyer Michael Conroy
in our New York Studio as well as Eileen Clancy, a member
of I-Witness Video. She helped find the footage that eventually
vindicated Alexander.
- Alexander Dunlop, arrested during Republican convention.
He was charged with resisting arrest. The charges were dropped
when videotape was produced that contradicted police.
- Eileen Clancy, a member of I-Witness video, a project
that assembled hundreds of videotapes shot during the RNC.
- Michael Conroy, attorney for Alexander Dunlop.
- Paul Browne, appointed the New York City Police Department's
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information in January 2004.
Tariq Ali on Political Activism from Pakistan to
Vietnam to Iraq
A conversation with writer and activist Tariq Ali on more
than four decades at the forefront of the antiwar movement.
Ali has written more than a dozen books on world history and
politics as well as five novels, and scripts for both stage
and screen. [includes rush
transcript]
We turn to Iraq where back to back suicide car bombings today
killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 30 in central
Baghdad.
The cars blew up nearly simultaneously amid heavy traffic
in a street that passes an interior ministry office. Police
said several children are among the dead. The double bombing
comes a day after another blast in Baghdad killed five Iraqis
and injured Four American contractors.
The latest violence comes just days after the second anniversary
of the fall of Baghdad last weekend. To mark the occasion,
up to 300,000 Shiite Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on Saturday
calling for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, the release
of Iraqis from US-run prisons and for the speedy trial of
Saddam Hussein.
This week, with his popularity rating at one of the lowest
in his presidency, President Bush defended the invasion of
Iraq in an address before thousands of US soldiers at Fort
Hood, Texas. He said, "The toppling of Saddam Hussein's
statue in Baghdad will be recorded, alongside the fall of
the Berlin Wall, as one of the great moments in the history
of liberty."
Joining us today to talk about Iraq and much more is novelist,
historian and political activist, Tariq Ali.
- Tariq Ali, novelist, historian and political activist.
He has written more than a dozen books on world history
and politics, including, "Bush in Babylon: The Recolonization
of Iraq" as well as five novels, and scripts for both
stage and screen. He is one of the editors of New Left Review.
An updated edition of his memoir, "Street-Fighting
Years: An Authobiography of the Sixties," is being
published this month by Verso as well as "A Sultan
in Palermo," the fourth volume of his "Islamic
Quintet," an award-winning collection of historical
novels. A new collection of interviews with David Barsamian
titled "Speaking of Empire and Resistance" was
recently published by The New Press. Website: TariqAli.org
Tariq Ali Profile
Tariq Ali has been a frequent guest on this program for many
years, analyzing US foreign policy, the attack against Afghanistan,
the invasion and occupation of Iraq and critiquing the so-called
war on terror. But Tariq Ali is so much more than an author
and analyst - he has spent more than four decades at the forefront
in the global antiwar movement.
Tariq Ali was born in Lahore - in British-ruled India which
is now a part of Pakistan. He attended Catholic school before
going on to study at Punjab University. He was elected President
of the Young Students" Union where he organized public
demonstrations against Pakistan's military dictatorship. He
was eventually banned from participating in student politics.
His outspoken views were becoming dangerous in Pakistan and
he risked imprisonment. After graduating from university,
his uncle - then head of Pakistani Military Intelligence -
told Tariq's parents to send him abroad. He traveled to Britian
to study politics, philosophy and economics at Exeter College,
Oxford.
At Oxford he joined the University Labour Club and was a
committed member of its Socialist Group before becoming President
of the Oxford Union in 1965.
With the Vietnam war at its height, Tariq Ali earned a national
reputation through debates with figures like Henry Kissinger
and then-British Foreign Secretary, Michael Stewart. He protested
against the Vietnam War, led the now-infamous march on the
American Embassy in London in 1968, and edited the revolutionary
paper Black Dwarf, where he became friends with numerous influential
figures such as Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X, John Lennon
and Yoko Ono.
40 years later, Tariq Ali continues his lifelong struggle
against US foreign policy across the globe. He has written
more than a dozen books on world history and politics as well
as five novels, and scripts for both stage and screen. He
is one of the editors of New Left Review. An updated edition
of his memoir, "Street-Fighting Years," is being
published this month by Verso as well as "A Sultan in
Palermo," the fourth volume of his "Islamic Quintet,"
an award-winning collection of historical novels. A new collection
of interviews with David Barsamian titled "Speaking of
Empire and Resistance" was recently published by The
New Press.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
whole
show
