In the first half of the show, we are discussing Trump refusing to rule out summary executions, how the FBI infiltrated BLM protests to undermine the movement.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I go by the name Rams's Job.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
He is Ramsey's job. I am q Ward. You are
tuned into Civic Cipher.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Yes you are, and we need to stick around a little.
Later on in the show. We are going to be
talking about summary executions and how the current administration is
not ruling them out. If you want to know more
about that, of course, we are going to be talking
about that. We're also going to be talking about how
the FBI infiltrated the BLM protests in twenty twenty with
(00:36):
the specific intention of causing disruption and violence, something I
didn't know about, just learned about and happy to share
with you, complete with all the sources. We're also going
to be spending some time talking about Phoenix adopting at
least one idea from the defund the Police movement. It
(00:57):
sounds funny, but if it works, it works, and if
it is logical, it is logical, and so we're going
to see what happens there.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Happy to share that with you.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
We're else going to be spending some time talking about
Donald Trump, weighing in on what our widely to can
considered to be national tragedies and often making things worse,
creating a more divided country every time. And we're going
(01:24):
to point out how this happens, maybe why this happens,
and of course remind you that the country has existed
for two hundred and fifty years as nears, makes no difference,
and that behavior that we're witnessing right now is not
normal of this country. So right now, normally we're jumping
(01:44):
into our first feature, but I do want to take
a moment, because it is the holiday season to say
thank you to everyone who has supported this show. This
show is we're ending our fifth year, and this whole
journey has been incredibly special. For everyone that has sent
(02:09):
thank you, for everyone who has donated, for everyone who
has sent suggestions to the show. We wanted to take
a moment to just let you know how much you're appreciated.
This work is very challenging work to do. It is
very meaningful work, but it is very challenging, very taxing emotionally, and.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
It is your support. It is your follows, it is.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Your comments, it is your donations. Of course you're listening,
you're downloading everything that comes along with it that keeps
us fortified and keeps.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
This thing going.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I do recognize, in respect as well as Q, that
this is a particularly challenging time in this country. We
have seen the country become more divided. We have lost
lifelong friends, family members to politics, which is not something
that anyone who's old enough to remember a more normal
time in this country ever variencing and the fact that
(03:01):
we are going through this together that means something. The
fact that we are here and able to continually remind
you that you're not crazy. Normal things have historically been normal.
We do not have to adopt this new normal, and
we can actively push back against it and fight for
(03:22):
a more decent, more inclusive country, one that we have
come to respect, one that has grown, has gone through
these growing pains already. I don't know, it just felt
like it was important to remind people that, you know,
this is supposed to be a season of cheer and
you know, joy, and a lot of that is missing.
(03:44):
And of course, this episode and episodes like this are
often devoid of cheer and happiness because we're dealing with
kind of a sobering reality for a lot of marginalized
people in this country and now for really half the country.
It does matter if you're marginalized or not. It's really
just a matter of your political identity. And so I
(04:04):
did want to take a moment to ensure that if
you're listening, that you know that we're not tone deaf.
We do recognize what this moment holds for all of us.
And we wanted to say thank you to everyone who's
supported us thus far on this journey. Again, it has
been challenging, but we hopefully have been meeting the moment
(04:25):
and will continue to do so with your support. So
again just wanted to say thank you to everyone, and
now we are going to start off with a feel
good feature some ebony excellence. This comes from the b
I In seven black women have launched campaigns for US
Senate seats in twenty twenty six, marking a surge that
could shatter long standing representation records. Only five black women
(04:50):
have ever served in the Senate. Currently over and only Sorry.
Angela also Brooks, the Democrat from Maryland, and Lisa Blunt Rochester,
the Democrat from Delaware, hold Senate seats, making this the
first time two black women have served simultaneously. Even one
victory in twenty twenty six would set a new record.
Among the candidates who could make history in the Senate
(05:10):
is Representative Jasmine Crockett, the Democrat from Texas, a second
term congresswoman and vocal critic of the Trump administration who
was challenging Senator John corn the Republican from Texas. A
victory would make Crocketts Texas's first ever black US Senator.
In Illinois, both Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, the Democrat, and
Republican Robin Kelly, a Democrat, are running for the open
(05:33):
seat of retiring Senator Dick Durbin. Either would become the
first black woman to represent Illinois in the Senate since
Carol Moseley sorry Carol Moseley Braun, who left office in
nineteen ninety nine. State Representative Pamela Stevenson, the Democrat from Kentucky,
a retired Air first colonel, is seeking to succeed retiring
Senator Mitch McConnell.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
The Republican. Win would make Stephenson Kentucky's.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
First black member of Congress, and Mississippi Briscilla Williams, a
social justice advocate and cousin of him at Till is
challenging Senator Cindy Hyde Smith. The state hasn't elected a
black senator since reconstruction.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
In the eighteen seventies.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Nikayla Jasmine Thomas has launched a bid in Oklahoma against
Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. If elected, she would be Oklahoma's
first black Senator, and Catherine Fleming Bruce is seeking South
Carolina Sea, challenging Senator Lizney Graham. With a victory, Bruce
would make history as the first black woman to represent
the state in the Senate. All seven candidates will have
to compete in democratic primaries, with general elections set for
(06:32):
November twenty twenty six. Civil rights and women's advocacy groups
are already mobilizing around fundraising and voter registration in hopes
of yielding a historic twenty twenty six elections. So yeah,
really excited about things to come. And around here we
are fans of representation and diversification.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So godspeed ladies.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
All right, So Trump refuses to rule out summary execution,
So Q sent this over to our group chat. So
I'm going to make sure that you have plenty of
time to share your thoughts and why you wanted to
share this with people. But we're going to share, as
is often the case, an article that kind of describes
(07:17):
paints the picture a little bit better. We're going to
use an article that we don't normally use and you
may not have heard of it before, but we're going
to give you the whole because we have to do
additional levels of research in order to bring you this content.
So this comes from the intercept and we went behind
the curtain. We could kind of tell, but you know,
just so we could deliver this too. Went behind the
curtain to determine the intercepts media bias, and so we'll
(07:44):
go ahead. Q.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I just wanted to because I don't want us to
confuse people. RAM. We're using a source that we don't
typically use, not an article that we don't typically use.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Okay, yeah, okay, thank you. Okay, So the bias rating
is left. They have a score of six point eight.
They're reported as being mostly factual at two point four.
If that doesn't mean anything to you, you're welcome to
look this up yourself. They're based in the United States.
Whether or not you know the source, the country of
(08:17):
origin is free or like state controled or whatever. It's
listed as mostly free, being from the US. It's a website,
it's not print or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I used to just say free instead of mostly free.
I'm sure that's changed under this regime. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I bet it did. Used to say free, but now
it's mostly free. Very good traffic slash popularity. It's high
traffic website and MF sorry, MBFC credibility rating is high credibility.
So you now know what we know about the intercept
(08:48):
as it's being determined to be highly credible and mostly factual.
So I will now share the article with you. President
Donald Trump has shattered the limits of ex deecutive authority
by ordering the summary executions of individuals he deems members
of designated terrorist organizations. He has also tested the bounds
(09:09):
of his presidential powers by creating a secret list of
domestic terrorist organizations established under National Security Presidential Memorandum seven
or NSPM seven. Are Americans that the federal government deemed
to be members of domestic terrorist organizations subject to extra
judicial killings, like those it claims are members of designated
(09:30):
terrorist organizations. The White House, Justice Department and Department of
War have for more than a month failed to answer
this question. Logmakers and other government officials tell the Intercept
that sorry, the pregnant silence by the Trump administration has
become especially worrisome as the death toll mounts from attacks
on alleged members of designated terrorist organizations in the Caribbean
(09:53):
Sea and Pacific Ocean, and as Trump himself makes ever
more unhinged threats to imprison or execute his polite adversaries.
Last month, members of Congress spoke up against Trump's increasingly
authoritarian measures when a group of Democratic lawmakers posted a
video on social media in which they reminded military personnel
that they are required to disobey illegal orders. This led
(10:15):
to Trump.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Sorry.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
This led to a Trump tirade that made the White
House's failure to dismiss the possibility of summary executions of
Americans even more worrisome. Mark Kelly is at the center
of this right here, because he was part of that video.
And that's another story. We kind of touched on it,
but you know, if you've been following, that would make
that live in your mind. I'll continue quote this is
(10:37):
really bad, unquote, the President wrote on true social He
goes on to write and dangerous to our country. Their
words cannot be allowed to stand. Seditious behavior from traders.
This is all capitalized, by the way, with three exclamation points.
Lock them up, question mark, question mark, question mark unquote.
A follow up post read quote seditious behavior that is
(10:59):
also in caps. Punishable by death. Death is in all
caps with an exclamation point unquote. Trump also reposted a
comment that said quote hang them George Washington would with
two exclamation points. And that's the end of that quote.
That was all capitalized as well.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Here's another quote.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
What's most telling is that the president considers it punishable
by death for us to restate the law unquote. The
six lawmakers Senators Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly and Reps Jason Crowe,
Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Holahan, all of them
former members of the armed forces or the intelligence community,
(11:37):
replied in a joint statement, quote, every American must unite
and condemn the President's cause for our murder and political violence.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Trump later claimed he did not call for the lawmaker's executions. Again,
I want to go back up and read his own words.
Where did it go? Follow up post read quote seditious
behavior that's in all caps punishable by death. With an
exclamant point, death isn't all caps, and that's the end
of the club.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Okay, Q. This obviously.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Stirred up some thoughts, and I know you wanted to
share those thoughts with me and with our listeners.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Let's say ye.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Before I respond at some point before we get off
the air today, I want us to run what people
would consider a credible source or a more popular or
well known source through that same scrutiny, so people can
hear kind of what the baseline would be. I'll get
started on that right now, but I want to pause
on something important here because some people would raise the question,
(12:37):
why would anyone even care about these hypothetical concerns? Why
is it such a big deal? And the answer is simple.
Hypotheticals become very dangerous when you attach them to what
has become a pattern. This administration has repeatedly demonstrated willingness
to ignore norms. You and I talked about this recently
(12:57):
with regards to what we do on air, So they've
kind of right in our faces, stretched authority and tested
constitutional boundaries with impunity, and they like they seem like
(13:18):
they'll just sort out the legality of their decisions later.
But since no one's holding them accounted before, they don't
even have to do that. So when they refuse to
rule something out, that refusal wasn't happening in a vacuum, right, Like,
we're not talking about something theoretical for a government with
a pristine record that has shown restraint. We're talking about
(13:40):
an administration that has already carried out lethal actions and
open waters without public evidence, without judicial review, and without
transparency about who and why they were targeting people, who
those people were, what they say they did, no evid all,
(14:00):
no transparency at all. And yes, those actions were justified
under national security framework. But here's the problem. Once you
flatly justify lethal force and make it normal without due process,
just because it's happening abroad doesn't mean it could not
(14:23):
reasonably start happening here. So when the White House has
asked a very basic but serious question, hey, can you
categorically rule out summary executions of US citizens? And the
answer is either silence or deflection, that's not reassurance, That
(14:47):
is fuel. Refusing to rule out something is not a
neutral position when power has already shown that it's comfortable
operating in legal let's say gray areas. Using that context,
Ambiguity isn't caution. They're not being careful. That's leverage. They're
(15:11):
trying to keep from putting their foot in their mouths.
So let's be clear. A public discomfort isn't you being paranoid.
This isn't hysteria, it's pattern recognition. It's people connecting the
dots between this grossly expanded executive power blurred lines between
(15:32):
war and policing in a constant disregard for transparency.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I e.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Like I said, what's going on in the in and
around Venezuela and right within our borders with Ice. So
it'd be easy if this administration one of these concerns
to stop. The solution is not mocking the people who
are asking the questions as dismissive hypotheticals. Do the one
thing they keep refusing to do, clearly state where the
(16:00):
line is and then commit to never crossing that line.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Before we move on. I want to make sure that
I UH.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Share what this this media bias fact check source that
we use. So Fox News is considered between the right
and the far right or right and extreme, they are
considered uh low. In terms of factual reporting, they're considered low,
(16:32):
not very low because that's the lowest, but they are
considered low mostly factuals. In the center they're considered and
then there's mixed, and then there's low, and then there's
very low. They're considered low, so it's towards the bottom. Overall,
we rate Fox News right right bias based on editorial
positions that aligned with the right and questionable due to
the promotion of state propaganda, conspiracy theory, pseudoscience, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Low credibility.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Country is mostly free again, us A high traffic, same things,
they're there for you to see. And then I also
looked at CNN just to make sure that we're keeping
it the same. CNN is rated left center, mostly factual.
The country, of course, USA mostly free. CNN is medium credibility.
So this website that we cited for the previous story
(17:22):
is actually the intercept rather is high credibility versus CNN's
medium credibility and Fox News is low credibility.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
All right, let's move on the BLM protest again. That
was kind of where we got our start. This is
kind of an interesting story to share with you. I
want to make sure that I get to as much
as I can, so I'm going to start. This is
from CBS News. The FBI worked to undermine racial justice
(17:56):
protests and other actions in Denver in twenty twenty. A
new podcast alleges this is an older article, so forgive
it how it sounds, but we're going to bring you
up to stay up to date.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Quote sorry, unquote. Alphabet Boys, that's the name of the show.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Alphabet Boys, a ten episode documentary podcast from Western Sound
and iHeart podcast debut Tuesday and details efforts from the
FBI to infiltrate and undermine the racial justice movement following
the police killing of George Floyd. The podcast is based
on hours of secret FBI undercover recordings regarding a paid
informant who allegedly encouraged, encouraged violence and destruction, and attempted
to set up unsuspecting activist in crimes. Quote, Federal law
(18:34):
enforcement caused violence and instruction in the summer of twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Unquote, said zeb Boudios.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Zeb Hall, a racial justice activist in Denver whose story
is told in the podcast, goes on to say the
FBI and the FBI's informant was a criminal who pushed
activist toward violence as part of an attempt by the
federal government to undermine our political movement from within. The
podcast alleges, among other things, the following the FBI recruited
Michael Mickey Windecker, a violent felon with a sexual assault conviction,
(19:04):
and paid him tens of thousands of dollars during the
summer of twenty twenty to pose as a racial justice activist.
The informant became a leader in the Denver racial justice
movement and promoted protests that turned violent and destructive. As
part of this effort, the FBI went on to try
to set up a racial justice activist in Colorado Springs.
A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field office declined to
(19:26):
comment for the story and referred questions to the FBI's
national office. The FBI's National Press Office did not respond
to a quest per comment. A quote one time non
confidential human source payment receipt unquote shared with CBS News
Colorado appears to show a payment of five hundred dollars
from the FBI to wind Decker in twenty twenty. This
(19:47):
is CNN's words. They say that they reviewed the document
but were unable to confirm it. Additional reporting from the
podcast producers, which include leaked documents, undercover recordings, and interviews
with Colorado based protesters who enter did with wind Decker,
identified him.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Podcast producer said.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Colorado court records show felony convictions for assault and menacing,
among other charges, as well as a protection order against
Windecker granted in a sexual assault case. One phone number
listed for wind Decker was disconnected. A text message seeking
comment to another was met with a wrong number response.
CBS News Colorado did not receive a response to an
(20:24):
email listed as belonging to Windecker.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Now that's the CBS article.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
I want to share a social media supplementary social media
clip that I think tells a little bit more about
what was going on here.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
So here we go.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
The FBI hired an informant to infiltrate the twenty twenty
Black Lives Matter protests, instigate violence, and in trap activists
and crimes. According to an investigative journalist, informant Michael Vin
Decker was reportedly paid at least twenty thousand dollars to
spy on protesters in Denver and turned peaceful protests into
violent once he gained the trust of protesters and eventually
became a leader in the movement and accused the real
(21:02):
leaders of working with the authorities while also setting up
others to be arrested.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Trevor Aronson is the.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Host of the podcast Alphabet Boys, which covers how the
FBI infiltrated racial justice protests in the summer of twenty twenty.
Aronson says the FBI used counter terrorism tactics against protesters.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
The FBI used informants or undercover agents to put together
terrorism plots that then they could attract people to be
a part of, then foil them and announce to the
public and terrorism plot foiled. It had been a theory
that I'd had that they were using these types of
tactics that had been perfected during the War on Terror
against protesters, but I couldn't prove it. It was something
(21:38):
that I was searching for evidence of, and then finally
a source was able to provide me with these records
and these recordings that showed how the FBI had taken
a violent fellon and used him as an informant.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
The tactics are similar to another program that the FBI
used from the nineteen fifties to the early seventies called
the Counterintelligence Program or cointel Pro. Under cointel Pro, the
FBI used informists to discredit, spy on and disrupt political
and civil rights organizations in the US. Targets included the
Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and doctor Martin
(22:12):
Luther King Junior. The intelligence was used to break up marriages,
disrupt meetings, cast out people from their professions, and provoked
targeted groups into conflicts that, in some cases even resulted
in death. In nineteen seventy six, the actions taken under
Cointel Pro were found to be illegal, and reforms were
passed to regulate government surveillance and internal guidelines.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
But that all changed after nine eleven.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
The FBI was granted enormous powers post nine eleven to
pursue and find would be terrorists, and twenty years later,
what we're finding is that many of those powers and
practices are now being applied against political activists and non terrorists.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
With its restored powers, the FBI was able to have
its informant infiltrate the Denver Racial Justice Movement. The bureau
incentivized Ven Decker to manufacture crimes that Aronson explained likely
would have it never happened without his disruption. Whinducker eventually
went so far as to try and get activists to
assassinate the Attorney General of Colorado, but none of them
will go along with it.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
And so in the case of Denver, what we have
as an informant going in spying on Americans who are
not committing crimes and then also encouraging Americans to commit
violence that without the government's agent they likely would not
have done at all. Would there been as much violence
were it not for the government agent pushing for that
violence and encouraging that violence.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
That's not something we can fully measure.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
But I do think it's quite troubling that we even
have to ask the question how much of the government's
behavior in an undercover capacity resulted in some of the
violence that we saw.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
We got a couple of minutes any reflections Q.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Rights, you have to ask yourself why something like guintelpro
was so problematic. I think what happened post nine to
eleven answers that question for us. Right like expanding the
government's powers, resources, reach, accessibility in the name of public safety,
(24:16):
in the name of national security because they know that
a people will surrender its freedoms to feel safe. It's
the same reason why research shows in neighborhoods eat the
neighborhoods that are black, where black people are violently, unarmed
and killed by police, those same communities still vote for
(24:38):
more police because they think that means more safe. So,
using the guise of national security, governments have been able
to take advantage of its citizens and have its citizens
laid down its rights to privacy and allow more access
in the name of safety. Why they do that is
(25:02):
so straightforward and so unsurprising. Right, Like the article that
you read in the audio that we heard, they both
tell the story for us. These are things that we knew,
but they're given more credibility so we're not treated like
paranoid fearmongerers. These things really happened, and the government funded
(25:23):
spying on its own citizens, creating the problem, solving the problem,
and then pointing to it as something that they've done
heroic or that we should celebrate or be proud of. Sadly,
tactics like this work.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Yeah, the same thing can be said about you know,
doctor King and the Panthers and Malcolm X and you know,
I know they had files on you know, Angela Davis,
and you know that's a long list of people that
got chased out of this country, or you know, James
Baldwin ended up moving overseas and you know all that
(26:04):
sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
When we when people say that we have a victim.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Complex or we're imagining things, it's it's kind of crazy.
And they think that all that happened was slavery and
the war on drugs, and it's like there's so much
in between that they're not considering, and the fact that
it's still happening is wild. But we're doing what we can,
which is telling people the truth.
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I go by the name Rams's Job.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
He is Ramsey's job. I am q Ward. You are
tuned into Civic Cipher.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Yes you are, and we need to stick around a little.
Later on in the show. We are going to be
talking about summary executions and how the current administration is
not ruling them out. If you want to know more
about that, of course, we are going to be talking
about that. We're also going to be talking about how
the FBI infiltrated the BLM protests in twenty twenty with
(00:36):
the specific intention of causing disruption and violence, something I
didn't know about, just learned about and happy to share
with you, complete with all the sources. We're also going
to be spending some time talking about Phoenix adopting at
least one idea from the defund the Police movement. It
(00:57):
sounds funny, but if it works, it works, and if
it is logical, it is logical, and so we're going
to see what happens there.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Happy to share that with you.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
We're else going to be spending some time talking about
Donald Trump, weighing in on what our widely to can
considered to be national tragedies and often making things worse,
creating a more divided country every time. And we're going
(01:24):
to point out how this happens, maybe why this happens,
and of course remind you that the country has existed
for two hundred and fifty years as nears, makes no difference,
and that behavior that we're witnessing right now is not
normal of this country. So right now, normally we're jumping
(01:44):
into our first feature, but I do want to take
a moment, because it is the holiday season to say
thank you to everyone who has supported this show. This
show is we're ending our fifth year, and this whole
journey has been incredibly special. For everyone that has sent
(02:09):
thank you, for everyone who has donated, for everyone who
has sent suggestions to the show. We wanted to take
a moment to just let you know how much you're appreciated.
This work is very challenging work to do. It is
very meaningful work, but it is very challenging, very taxing emotionally, and.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
It is your support. It is your follows, it is.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Your comments, it is your donations. Of course you're listening,
you're downloading everything that comes along with it that keeps
us fortified and keeps.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
This thing going.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I do recognize, in respect as well as Q, that
this is a particularly challenging time in this country. We
have seen the country become more divided. We have lost
lifelong friends, family members to politics, which is not something
that anyone who's old enough to remember a more normal
time in this country ever variencing and the fact that
(03:01):
we are going through this together that means something. The
fact that we are here and able to continually remind
you that you're not crazy. Normal things have historically been normal.
We do not have to adopt this new normal, and
we can actively push back against it and fight for
(03:22):
a more decent, more inclusive country, one that we have
come to respect, one that has grown, has gone through
these growing pains already. I don't know, it just felt
like it was important to remind people that, you know,
this is supposed to be a season of cheer and
you know, joy, and a lot of that is missing.
(03:44):
And of course, this episode and episodes like this are
often devoid of cheer and happiness because we're dealing with
kind of a sobering reality for a lot of marginalized
people in this country and now for really half the country.
It does matter if you're marginalized or not. It's really
just a matter of your political identity. And so I
(04:04):
did want to take a moment to ensure that if
you're listening, that you know that we're not tone deaf.
We do recognize what this moment holds for all of us.
And we wanted to say thank you to everyone who's
supported us thus far on this journey. Again, it has
been challenging, but we hopefully have been meeting the moment
(04:25):
and will continue to do so with your support. So
again just wanted to say thank you to everyone, and
now we are going to start off with a feel
good feature some ebony excellence. This comes from the b
I In seven black women have launched campaigns for US
Senate seats in twenty twenty six, marking a surge that
could shatter long standing representation records. Only five black women
(04:50):
have ever served in the Senate. Currently over and only Sorry.
Angela also Brooks, the Democrat from Maryland, and Lisa Blunt Rochester,
the Democrat from Delaware, hold Senate seats, making this the
first time two black women have served simultaneously. Even one
victory in twenty twenty six would set a new record.
Among the candidates who could make history in the Senate
(05:10):
is Representative Jasmine Crockett, the Democrat from Texas, a second
term congresswoman and vocal critic of the Trump administration who
was challenging Senator John corn the Republican from Texas. A
victory would make Crocketts Texas's first ever black US Senator.
In Illinois, both Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, the Democrat, and
Republican Robin Kelly, a Democrat, are running for the open
(05:33):
seat of retiring Senator Dick Durbin. Either would become the
first black woman to represent Illinois in the Senate since
Carol Moseley sorry Carol Moseley Braun, who left office in
nineteen ninety nine. State Representative Pamela Stevenson, the Democrat from Kentucky,
a retired Air first colonel, is seeking to succeed retiring
Senator Mitch McConnell.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
The Republican. Win would make Stephenson Kentucky's.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
First black member of Congress, and Mississippi Briscilla Williams, a
social justice advocate and cousin of him at Till is
challenging Senator Cindy Hyde Smith. The state hasn't elected a
black senator since reconstruction.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
In the eighteen seventies.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Nikayla Jasmine Thomas has launched a bid in Oklahoma against
Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. If elected, she would be Oklahoma's
first black Senator, and Catherine Fleming Bruce is seeking South
Carolina Sea, challenging Senator Lizney Graham. With a victory, Bruce
would make history as the first black woman to represent
the state in the Senate. All seven candidates will have
to compete in democratic primaries, with general elections set for
(06:32):
November twenty twenty six. Civil rights and women's advocacy groups
are already mobilizing around fundraising and voter registration in hopes
of yielding a historic twenty twenty six elections. So yeah,
really excited about things to come. And around here we
are fans of representation and diversification.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So godspeed ladies.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
All right, So Trump refuses to rule out summary execution,
So Q sent this over to our group chat. So
I'm going to make sure that you have plenty of
time to share your thoughts and why you wanted to
share this with people. But we're going to share, as
is often the case, an article that kind of describes
(07:17):
paints the picture a little bit better. We're going to
use an article that we don't normally use and you
may not have heard of it before, but we're going
to give you the whole because we have to do
additional levels of research in order to bring you this content.
So this comes from the intercept and we went behind
the curtain. We could kind of tell, but you know,
just so we could deliver this too. Went behind the
curtain to determine the intercepts media bias, and so we'll
(07:44):
go ahead. Q.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I just wanted to because I don't want us to
confuse people. RAM. We're using a source that we don't
typically use, not an article that we don't typically use.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Okay, yeah, okay, thank you. Okay, So the bias rating
is left. They have a score of six point eight.
They're reported as being mostly factual at two point four.
If that doesn't mean anything to you, you're welcome to
look this up yourself. They're based in the United States.
Whether or not you know the source, the country of
(08:17):
origin is free or like state controled or whatever. It's
listed as mostly free, being from the US. It's a website,
it's not print or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I used to just say free instead of mostly free.
I'm sure that's changed under this regime. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I bet it did. Used to say free, but now
it's mostly free. Very good traffic slash popularity. It's high
traffic website and MF sorry, MBFC credibility rating is high credibility.
So you now know what we know about the intercept
(08:48):
as it's being determined to be highly credible and mostly factual.
So I will now share the article with you. President
Donald Trump has shattered the limits of ex deecutive authority
by ordering the summary executions of individuals he deems members
of designated terrorist organizations. He has also tested the bounds
(09:09):
of his presidential powers by creating a secret list of
domestic terrorist organizations established under National Security Presidential Memorandum seven
or NSPM seven. Are Americans that the federal government deemed
to be members of domestic terrorist organizations subject to extra
judicial killings, like those it claims are members of designated
(09:30):
terrorist organizations. The White House, Justice Department and Department of
War have for more than a month failed to answer
this question. Logmakers and other government officials tell the Intercept
that sorry, the pregnant silence by the Trump administration has
become especially worrisome as the death toll mounts from attacks
on alleged members of designated terrorist organizations in the Caribbean
(09:53):
Sea and Pacific Ocean, and as Trump himself makes ever
more unhinged threats to imprison or execute his polite adversaries.
Last month, members of Congress spoke up against Trump's increasingly
authoritarian measures when a group of Democratic lawmakers posted a
video on social media in which they reminded military personnel
that they are required to disobey illegal orders. This led
(10:15):
to Trump.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Sorry.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
This led to a Trump tirade that made the White
House's failure to dismiss the possibility of summary executions of
Americans even more worrisome. Mark Kelly is at the center
of this right here, because he was part of that video.
And that's another story. We kind of touched on it,
but you know, if you've been following, that would make
that live in your mind. I'll continue quote this is
(10:37):
really bad, unquote, the President wrote on true social He
goes on to write and dangerous to our country. Their
words cannot be allowed to stand. Seditious behavior from traders.
This is all capitalized, by the way, with three exclamation points.
Lock them up, question mark, question mark, question mark unquote.
A follow up post read quote seditious behavior that is
(10:59):
also in caps. Punishable by death. Death is in all
caps with an exclamation point unquote. Trump also reposted a
comment that said quote hang them George Washington would with
two exclamation points. And that's the end of that quote.
That was all capitalized as well.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Here's another quote.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
What's most telling is that the president considers it punishable
by death for us to restate the law unquote. The
six lawmakers Senators Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly and Reps Jason Crowe,
Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Holahan, all of them
former members of the armed forces or the intelligence community,
(11:37):
replied in a joint statement, quote, every American must unite
and condemn the President's cause for our murder and political violence.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Trump later claimed he did not call for the lawmaker's executions. Again,
I want to go back up and read his own words.
Where did it go? Follow up post read quote seditious
behavior that's in all caps punishable by death. With an
exclamant point, death isn't all caps, and that's the end
of the club.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Okay, Q. This obviously.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Stirred up some thoughts, and I know you wanted to
share those thoughts with me and with our listeners.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Let's say ye.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Before I respond at some point before we get off
the air today, I want us to run what people
would consider a credible source or a more popular or
well known source through that same scrutiny, so people can
hear kind of what the baseline would be. I'll get
started on that right now, but I want to pause
on something important here because some people would raise the question,
(12:37):
why would anyone even care about these hypothetical concerns? Why
is it such a big deal? And the answer is simple.
Hypotheticals become very dangerous when you attach them to what
has become a pattern. This administration has repeatedly demonstrated willingness
to ignore norms. You and I talked about this recently
(12:57):
with regards to what we do on air, So they've
kind of right in our faces, stretched authority and tested
constitutional boundaries with impunity, and they like they seem like
(13:18):
they'll just sort out the legality of their decisions later.
But since no one's holding them accounted before, they don't
even have to do that. So when they refuse to
rule something out, that refusal wasn't happening in a vacuum, right, Like,
we're not talking about something theoretical for a government with
a pristine record that has shown restraint. We're talking about
(13:40):
an administration that has already carried out lethal actions and
open waters without public evidence, without judicial review, and without
transparency about who and why they were targeting people, who
those people were, what they say they did, no evid all,
(14:00):
no transparency at all. And yes, those actions were justified
under national security framework. But here's the problem. Once you
flatly justify lethal force and make it normal without due process,
just because it's happening abroad doesn't mean it could not
(14:23):
reasonably start happening here. So when the White House has
asked a very basic but serious question, hey, can you
categorically rule out summary executions of US citizens? And the
answer is either silence or deflection, that's not reassurance, That
(14:47):
is fuel. Refusing to rule out something is not a
neutral position when power has already shown that it's comfortable
operating in legal let's say gray areas. Using that context,
Ambiguity isn't caution. They're not being careful. That's leverage. They're
(15:11):
trying to keep from putting their foot in their mouths.
So let's be clear. A public discomfort isn't you being paranoid.
This isn't hysteria, it's pattern recognition. It's people connecting the
dots between this grossly expanded executive power blurred lines between
(15:32):
war and policing in a constant disregard for transparency.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I e.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Like I said, what's going on in the in and
around Venezuela and right within our borders with Ice. So
it'd be easy if this administration one of these concerns
to stop. The solution is not mocking the people who
are asking the questions as dismissive hypotheticals. Do the one
thing they keep refusing to do, clearly state where the
(16:00):
line is and then commit to never crossing that line.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Before we move on. I want to make sure that
I UH.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Share what this this media bias fact check source that
we use. So Fox News is considered between the right
and the far right or right and extreme, they are
considered uh low. In terms of factual reporting, they're considered low,
(16:32):
not very low because that's the lowest, but they are
considered low mostly factuals. In the center they're considered and
then there's mixed, and then there's low, and then there's
very low. They're considered low, so it's towards the bottom. Overall,
we rate Fox News right right bias based on editorial
positions that aligned with the right and questionable due to
the promotion of state propaganda, conspiracy theory, pseudoscience, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Low credibility.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Country is mostly free again, us A high traffic, same things,
they're there for you to see. And then I also
looked at CNN just to make sure that we're keeping
it the same. CNN is rated left center, mostly factual.
The country, of course, USA mostly free. CNN is medium credibility.
So this website that we cited for the previous story
(17:22):
is actually the intercept rather is high credibility versus CNN's
medium credibility and Fox News is low credibility.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
All right, let's move on the BLM protest again. That
was kind of where we got our start. This is
kind of an interesting story to share with you. I
want to make sure that I get to as much
as I can, so I'm going to start. This is
from CBS News. The FBI worked to undermine racial justice
(17:56):
protests and other actions in Denver in twenty twenty. A
new podcast alleges this is an older article, so forgive
it how it sounds, but we're going to bring you
up to stay up to date.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Quote sorry, unquote. Alphabet Boys, that's the name of the show.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Alphabet Boys, a ten episode documentary podcast from Western Sound
and iHeart podcast debut Tuesday and details efforts from the
FBI to infiltrate and undermine the racial justice movement following
the police killing of George Floyd. The podcast is based
on hours of secret FBI undercover recordings regarding a paid
informant who allegedly encouraged, encouraged violence and destruction, and attempted
to set up unsuspecting activist in crimes. Quote, Federal law
(18:34):
enforcement caused violence and instruction in the summer of twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Unquote, said zeb Boudios.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Zeb Hall, a racial justice activist in Denver whose story
is told in the podcast, goes on to say the
FBI and the FBI's informant was a criminal who pushed
activist toward violence as part of an attempt by the
federal government to undermine our political movement from within. The
podcast alleges, among other things, the following the FBI recruited
Michael Mickey Windecker, a violent felon with a sexual assault conviction,
(19:04):
and paid him tens of thousands of dollars during the
summer of twenty twenty to pose as a racial justice activist.
The informant became a leader in the Denver racial justice
movement and promoted protests that turned violent and destructive. As
part of this effort, the FBI went on to try
to set up a racial justice activist in Colorado Springs.
A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field office declined to
(19:26):
comment for the story and referred questions to the FBI's
national office. The FBI's National Press Office did not respond
to a quest per comment. A quote one time non
confidential human source payment receipt unquote shared with CBS News
Colorado appears to show a payment of five hundred dollars
from the FBI to wind Decker in twenty twenty. This
(19:47):
is CNN's words. They say that they reviewed the document
but were unable to confirm it. Additional reporting from the
podcast producers, which include leaked documents, undercover recordings, and interviews
with Colorado based protesters who enter did with wind Decker,
identified him.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Podcast producer said.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Colorado court records show felony convictions for assault and menacing,
among other charges, as well as a protection order against
Windecker granted in a sexual assault case. One phone number
listed for wind Decker was disconnected. A text message seeking
comment to another was met with a wrong number response.
CBS News Colorado did not receive a response to an
(20:24):
email listed as belonging to Windecker.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Now that's the CBS article.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
I want to share a social media supplementary social media
clip that I think tells a little bit more about
what was going on here.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
So here we go.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
The FBI hired an informant to infiltrate the twenty twenty
Black Lives Matter protests, instigate violence, and in trap activists
and crimes. According to an investigative journalist, informant Michael Vin
Decker was reportedly paid at least twenty thousand dollars to
spy on protesters in Denver and turned peaceful protests into
violent once he gained the trust of protesters and eventually
became a leader in the movement and accused the real
(21:02):
leaders of working with the authorities while also setting up
others to be arrested.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Trevor Aronson is the.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Host of the podcast Alphabet Boys, which covers how the
FBI infiltrated racial justice protests in the summer of twenty twenty.
Aronson says the FBI used counter terrorism tactics against protesters.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
The FBI used informants or undercover agents to put together
terrorism plots that then they could attract people to be
a part of, then foil them and announce to the
public and terrorism plot foiled. It had been a theory
that I'd had that they were using these types of
tactics that had been perfected during the War on Terror
against protesters, but I couldn't prove it. It was something
(21:38):
that I was searching for evidence of, and then finally
a source was able to provide me with these records
and these recordings that showed how the FBI had taken
a violent fellon and used him as an informant.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
The tactics are similar to another program that the FBI
used from the nineteen fifties to the early seventies called
the Counterintelligence Program or cointel Pro. Under cointel Pro, the
FBI used informists to discredit, spy on and disrupt political
and civil rights organizations in the US. Targets included the
Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and doctor Martin
(22:12):
Luther King Junior. The intelligence was used to break up marriages,
disrupt meetings, cast out people from their professions, and provoked
targeted groups into conflicts that, in some cases even resulted
in death. In nineteen seventy six, the actions taken under
Cointel Pro were found to be illegal, and reforms were
passed to regulate government surveillance and internal guidelines.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
But that all changed after nine eleven.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
The FBI was granted enormous powers post nine eleven to
pursue and find would be terrorists, and twenty years later,
what we're finding is that many of those powers and
practices are now being applied against political activists and non terrorists.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
With its restored powers, the FBI was able to have
its informant infiltrate the Denver Racial Justice Movement. The bureau
incentivized Ven Decker to manufacture crimes that Aronson explained likely
would have it never happened without his disruption. Whinducker eventually
went so far as to try and get activists to
assassinate the Attorney General of Colorado, but none of them
will go along with it.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
And so in the case of Denver, what we have
as an informant going in spying on Americans who are
not committing crimes and then also encouraging Americans to commit
violence that without the government's agent they likely would not
have done at all. Would there been as much violence
were it not for the government agent pushing for that
violence and encouraging that violence.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
That's not something we can fully measure.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
But I do think it's quite troubling that we even
have to ask the question how much of the government's
behavior in an undercover capacity resulted in some of the
violence that we saw.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
We got a couple of minutes any reflections Q.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Rights, you have to ask yourself why something like guintelpro
was so problematic. I think what happened post nine to
eleven answers that question for us. Right like expanding the
government's powers, resources, reach, accessibility in the name of public safety,
(24:16):
in the name of national security because they know that
a people will surrender its freedoms to feel safe. It's
the same reason why research shows in neighborhoods eat the
neighborhoods that are black, where black people are violently, unarmed
and killed by police, those same communities still vote for
(24:38):
more police because they think that means more safe. So,
using the guise of national security, governments have been able
to take advantage of its citizens and have its citizens
laid down its rights to privacy and allow more access
in the name of safety. Why they do that is
(25:02):
so straightforward and so unsurprising. Right, Like the article that
you read in the audio that we heard, they both
tell the story for us. These are things that we knew,
but they're given more credibility so we're not treated like
paranoid fearmongerers. These things really happened, and the government funded
(25:23):
spying on its own citizens, creating the problem, solving the problem,
and then pointing to it as something that they've done
heroic or that we should celebrate or be proud of. Sadly,
tactics like this work.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Yeah, the same thing can be said about you know,
doctor King and the Panthers and Malcolm X and you know,
I know they had files on you know, Angela Davis,
and you know that's a long list of people that
got chased out of this country, or you know, James
Baldwin ended up moving overseas and you know all that
(26:04):
sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
When we when people say that we have a victim.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Complex or we're imagining things, it's it's kind of crazy.
And they think that all that happened was slavery and
the war on drugs, and it's like there's so much
in between that they're not considering, and the fact that
it's still happening is wild. But we're doing what we can,
which is telling people the truth.
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