Links to today’s show transcripts:
Syrian-American Activist: Limited U.S. Airstrikes Send Signal to Assad He Can Continue Mass Killing
The United States is expected to introduce new sanctions against Russian companies with links to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, following the coordinated U.S., British and French military strikes against two alleged chemical weapons storage facilities and a research center in Syria on Friday night. Trump hailed the military strikes a success and declared in a tweet, “Mission Accomplished!” The military strikes came in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma over a week ago. “The United States has claimed, proclaimed that it wants to see and support the Syrian people’s revolution,” says guest Ramah Kudaimi, “but in fact has really intervened in ways that have strengthened the [Syrian] regime.” Kudaimi is a Syrian-American activist, a member of the Syrian Solidarity Collective, and is on the National Committee of the War Resisters League.
Chelsea Manning on Trump’s Mission Accomplished Tweet: “I Believe I Have Heard Those Words Before”
On Friday, the U.S., U.K. and France launched coordinated military strikes in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria, over a week ago. The attack has not yet been independently investigated. The U.S. has blamed the Assad government for the alleged attack. On Sunday, United Nations chemical weapons investigators began examining the scene of the alleged attack, which came amid a brutal campaign by the Syrian government to retake the rebel-held district of Eastern Ghouta outside the capital Damascus. Perhaps the most famous whistleblower of the Iraq War is Chelsea Manning, who is now a network security specialist and advocate for government transparency and queer and transgender rights. She spent seven years in military prison after leaking a trove of documents about the Iraq and Afghan wars and the State Department to WikiLeaks in 2010 and is now running for the U.S. Senate.
Gaza: Palestinians Continue “Great March of Return” Protests for Third Straight Week
Palestinians gathered at the Israeli-Gaza border for a third Friday in a row as part of the ongoing “Great March of Return” protests. Paramedics say at least 30 Palestinians were injured by Israeli soldiers during Friday’s protest. Israeli soldiers have killed at least 34 Palestinians since the wave of protests against Israel’s occupation began on March 30.
Saheed Vassell’s Parents Call for Police to Release Every Video Leading Up to Their Son’s Death
Police officers responding to a 911 call shot dead an unarmed, mentally troubled African-American man on a street corner in Brooklyn on April 5. At the time of his death, Saheed Vassell was holding a metal pipe that police say they mistook it for a gun. The NYPD said four officers—three in plainclothes and one uniformed—fired 10 rounds at Vassell, a Jamaican immigrant. None of the officers who opened fire were wearing body cameras. The Vassell family is now calling for the release of all unedited video from the area leading up to and during the shooting.
Parents of Saheed Vassell, Shot Dead by NYPD, Demand the Release of All Surveillance Video
The parents of Saheed Vassell are calling for justice after New York police officers responding to a 911 call shot dead their son, an unarmed, mentally troubled African-American man, on a street corner in Brooklyn on April 5. At the time of his death, Vassell was holding a metal pipe that police say they mistook for a gun. The NYPD said four officers—three in plainclothes and one uniformed—fired 10 rounds at Vassell, a Jamaican immigrant. None of the officers who opened fire were wearing body cameras. The Vassell family is now calling for the release of all unedited video from the area leading up to and during the shooting.
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