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Protests erupted over the weekend regarding recent police brutality and murders. Image: video still

Protests against police brutality erupted across the United States over the weekend, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets and blocking roads, bridges and highways in more than a dozen U.S. cities. Hundreds of people were arrested nationwide. The protests were sparked by the police killing of two African American men last week — Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. But another recent police shooting has gone largely unnoticed by national media. On July 4, off-duty New York police officer Wayne Isaacs shot and killed Delrawn Small, an unarmed African American man. Police officers initially claimed Small punched officer Isaacs in the face following a driving confrontation. But surveillance video that has just been released counters that claim, and instead shows the off-duty officer shooting Small within one second of Small approaching the vehicle.

As protests against police brutality spread across the United States, a shocking new joint investigation by the New York Times and the Marshall Project looks at a little-examined part of the criminal justice system: the horrific, and sometimes fatal, private prison extradition industry. Each year, tens of thousands of fugitives and suspects — many who have never been convicted of a crime — are entrusted to a handful of small private companies that specialize in transferring the men and women across the country. After reviewing thousands of court documents and interviewing more than 50 current or former guards and executives, two reporters with the Marshall Project uncovered cases of two prisoners dying of perforated ulcers, another woman who was sexually assaulted and a third who had to have both legs amputated from complications of untreated diabetes.

More than 300 people were arrested over the weekend as protests against police brutality erupted in more than a dozen U.S. cities over the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Philando Castile’s death comes on the heels of massive protests over another fatal police shooting in Minnesota last year: the police killing of Jamar Clark. Authorities say Clark was shot in the head after a scuffle with officers who responded to a report of an assault. But multiple witnesses say Clark was shot while handcuffed.

We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.