 Welcome to Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report, I'm Amy Goodman. In Kentucky, a gunman armed with an AR-15-style semi-automatic assault rifle killed five people at a bank in downtown Louisville Monday morning. Eight others were injured, including a police officer shot in the head in required brain surgery. Louisville police say they responded to reports of shots fired within three minutes and killed the shooter in exchange of gunfire. Others identify the shooter as a 25-year-old employee of Old National Bank, who live streamed the massacre on social media as he targeted his co-workers. Kentucky's Democratic Governor Andy Beshear said three close friends were among the victims, including the bank's vice president, Thomas Elliott, a longtime Democratic Party donor. This is awful. I have a very close friend that didn't make it today, and I have another close friend who didn't either, and one who's at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through. Just two hours after Monday's mass shooting in Louisville, one person was killed and another injured at a community college less than two miles away. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 146 mass shootings in the United States this year alone. The violence brought renewed focus to efforts by Republicans to further deregulate guns including U.S. Congressmember Thomas Massey of Kentucky, whose district includes parts of Louisville suburbs. In 2021, he tweeted a photo of himself and six family members holding assault-style rifles with the caption, Merry Christmas, P.S. Santa, please bring ammo. In Tennessee, the Metropolitan Council on Nashville voted unanimously Monday to reinstate Democratic State Representative Justin Jones just days after Republicans voted to expel him from the Tennessee House of Representatives for joining peaceful protests against gun violence. This is Nashville Metro Councilmember Delicia Porterfield speaking just before Monday's 36-to-0 vote. Representative Jones was honest about who he was, a bold and unapologetic advocate for the community. The people chose their representative, and with this vote, we will send a strong message to our state government and across the country that we will not tolerate threats to our democracy. Following the vote, Representative Jones and more than 1,000 supporters marched to the Tennessee Capitol, where Jones retook the oath of office. He later joined debate on the House floor during an afternoon session. I want to welcome democracy back to the people's House, that on last Thursday members of this body tried to crucify democracy, but today we stand as a witness of a resurrection of a movement of a multiracial democracy that no unjust decision will stand. Representative Jones also immediately called for the resignation of the House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a second Democratic lawmaker who was expelled last week. Justin Pearson of Memphis could be reappointed to the Tennessee House today if a majority of the Shelby County Commission's 13 members agree to it. To see our coverage of this story, including our interviews with Representative Justin Jones, go to democracynow.org. In Virginia, prosecutors in Newport News have filed criminal charges against the mother of a six-year-old boy who shot his elementary school teacher in January. The shooting left Abigail's Werner with an injury to her chest and hand. The boy's mother faces one felony count of child neglect and one misdemeanor count of recklessly storing a firearm. Werner is suing the Newport News school board and administrators who, she says, repeatedly shrugged off warnings that the student was making threats and appeared to have a gun. The Biden administration's filed a lawsuit seeking to block Texas federal judges ruling that revokes the Food and Drug Administration approval of the abortion pill, Mephaprestone. The Justice Department is asking the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to keep the order on hold until a final decision is made. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday the administration is prepared for a long, legal fight. This decision further stripes away Americans' fundamental freedoms and interferes with a woman's ability to make decisions about her own body. And it's another step towards the ultimate goal that we've heard over and over again from anti-choice officials at both the state and—at both the state and national level—eliminating access to abortion for all women in every state. Separately, the Justice Department followed a motion in federal court in Washington state asking for clarification after that court issued a conflicting ruling on Friday ordering the FDA to maintain the status quo by keeping Mephaprestone available. The Washington ruling applies only to 17 states and the District of Columbia with Democratic attorneys general who sued over this issue. Meanwhile, over 400 pharmaceutical industry executives have signed an open letter condemning the Texas federal judges' ruling on medication abortions. The letter reads in part, quote, if courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as Mephaprestone, unquote. In Burma, witnesses report about 100 people, including pregnant women and children, were killed today as the Burmese military Hunter bombed a village in the Sagaing region. A Hunter aircraft reportedly dropped two bombs and fired on people as they gathered for the opening of a new town office. Members of Burma's government in exile condemn the attack as a, quote, heinous act that constitutes a war crime, they said. The U.N. has warned of worsening humanitarian and human rights crises in Burma with mass arrest, torture of prisoners, the killing of civilians, and media repression. The United States and the Philippines have opened annual wargames in what the Pentagon is calling the largest military exercise of its kind in the South China Sea. Nearly 18,000 troops have joined the drills, which will feature live-fire exercises. Australia's armed forces are also taking part. The war games open just after China concluded three days of military drills around Taiwan. Earlier today, protesters gathered outside the Philippines military headquarters as the drills got underway. This is the Philippines' opposition leader, Renata Reyes. Clearly, the war games are intended to project U.S. power in Asia. It's not intended to defend the Philippines. It's not intended to help the Philippines modernize. It's really intended to showcase U.S. power, and it is a preparation for war. Russia's military has launched a fresh wave of assaults across nine territories of Ukraine, with dozens of airstrikes and missile attacks reported over the past 24 hours. There are also continuing reports of fierce fighting around Bakhmut, where a pro-Russia official claimed mercenaries with a Wagner group have seized 75 percent of the besieged city. Elsewhere, Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner swap on Monday, with each side freeing about 100 prisoners of war. Meanwhile, the Washington Post is reporting, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, a U.S. ally and major recipient of U.S. military aid, recently ordered subordinates to produce up to 40,000 rockets to be covertly shipped to Russia. President Sisi reportedly tried to keep the shipments a secret, quote, to avoid problems with the West, unquote. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut responded, quote, even if it is one of our oldest allies in the Middle East, if it's true that Sisi is covertly building rockets for Russia that could be used in Ukraine, we need to have a serious reckoning about the state of our relationship, unquote. The revelations came as part of classified U.S. intelligence documents found in a trove of files leaked online earlier this year. We'll have more on that story with journalist James Banford later in the broadcast. The leader of Belarus has asked Russia to guarantee its security in case it's attacked by the United States or NATO powers. The authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, made the comments during a conversation Monday with Russia's defense minister who was visiting Minsk. In case there is an attack on Belarus, the Russian Federation would defend Belarus like its own territory. These are the kinds of security guarantees we need. Actually, in the 1990s, it was more or less discussed. Now, because of what the West has been doing, it has been forgotten about. What safety guarantees can America provide us? None, apart from provoking aggression towards us. We need full security guarantees from our brothers in Russia. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he planned to deploy so-called tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reversed his decision to fire Israel's defense minister Yoav Galant. As violence against Palestinians intensifies following Israel's recent brutal raids at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem in a televised speech Monday, Netanyahu said their differences had been put aside to, quote, continue to work together for the security of the citizens of Israel. In his remarks, Netanyahu also denounced recent mass protests demanding his far-right government cancel plans to dramatically weaken Israel's judiciary, blaming the opposition for Israel's deteriorating security. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv Monday night in response. At least eight were arrested in clashes with police. In more news from the region, Israeli ultra-nationalist senior government officials joined thousands of Israeli settlers Monday as they marched to an illegal outpost near Nablus in the occupied West Bank demanding Israel's government legalize and repopulate the settlement. The march included Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir, as well as Israel's far-right finance minister Bazalel Smotrich, who promised to expand existing settlements and to help create new ones across the West Bank, which he called Our Land. Eviatar will soon be legalized as promised by the previous government. This place will be bustling with Jewish life, upright, proud, lovers of the land and of the Torah. In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott is planning to pardon a man convicted of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester. Daniel Perry was found guilty by a Travis County jury last week for killing 28-year-old Garrett Foster at an Austin racial justice protest in July 2020 following the police murder of George Floyd. Conservatives have rallied around Perry, a former U.S. Army sergeant who's being sentenced today. Later in the show, we'll go to Austin, Texas, for an update. And U.S. authorities have arrested Roberto Antonio Garay Saravia, a retired Army colonel from El Salvador's army, over his role in the 1981 El Mazote massacre, where U.S. trained Salvadoran military officers killed nearly 1,000 civilians across seven villages. Immigration and Customs Enforcement claims Garay hid his involvement in the massacre and his application to become a legal U.S. resident in 2014. Garay, who received combat training at Fort Benning School of the Americas in Georgia, is also linked to three other massacres from 1981 to 1984 in El Salvador. He's currently held in an immigration jail in Pennsylvania. If deported, he would likely walk free in El Salvador, as Salvadoran authorities have never issued arrest warrants against any military officers involved in the El Mazote massacre. The Reagan administration and the Salvadoran military junta covered up the massacre for years. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I am Amy Goodman. We begin today's show in Tennessee, where the Metropolitan Council of Nashville voted unanimously Monday to reinstate Democratic State Representative Justin Jones just days after Republicans voted to expel him from the Tennessee House of Representatives for joining peaceful protests against gun violence after a massacre at a Christian school. This is Nashville Metro Council member Delicia Porterfield speaking just before Monday's unanimous 36-0 vote to return Jones to the Tennessee House until a special election can be held. First, Nashville Mayor John Cooper. This afternoon's vote is unprecedented, but so was the action taken to expel members of the legislature. Voters in District 52 elected Justin Jones to be their voice at the State House, and that voice was taken away this past week. So let's give them their voice back, and I'd call on this body to vote unanimously right now to do just that. Thank you. On Thursday, April the 6th, we witnessed a miscarriage of justice and an egregious assault on our democracy, which resulted in over 70,000 Davidson County voters, our voters being silenced when our representative was expelled. This is not the first attempt of the state attempting to silence the people. With this vote to reinstate Representative Jones, we are restoring the political voice of the 70,000 people of District 52. Our community members are more than capable of selecting their representative, and their will should have never been undermined. Representative Jones was honest about who he was, a bold and unapologetic advocate for the community. The people chose their representative, and with this vote, we will send a strong message to our state government and across the country that we will not tolerate threats to our democracy. If you are for the election of Justin Jones to be the interim successor for the vacant seat of Tennessee House District 52, you will vote aye. If not, you will vote no. Votes are in. Mr. Clark, close the machines. Take the vote. Ayes 36. Justin Jones has been elected as the interim successor for the vacant seat of Tennessee House District 52 pursuant to the state law and the rules governing the Metropolitan Council. Following the vote, Justin Jones and more than a thousand supporters marched to the Tennessee Capitol chanting, No Justin's, No Peace, and More. Upon arriving at the steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Justin Jones was sworn in again, reinstated, and addressed his supporters as they looked on. I'll end by saying this. I'll end by saying this. When they expelled us, they had no idea that this was going to happen. They just thought that they would go about as they do and as they always do, that they would abuse their power and there would be no resistance, that they would do something unconstitutional and we would just have to wait to seek accountability. When we say to that that there comes a time where time itself is ready for a change and that time has come to Nashville, that time has come to Tennessee. Speaker Kamen Sexton, you can either move on over or we'll move on over you because we're moving on. And so friends, Nashville and Tennessee, we hope you join us in the people's house because no matter what happens here today, we have a speaker who may not respect the results. So we need people to show up in the chamber and let him know that we will not allow him to stand in the doorways of the legislature like governors of the past and politicians of the past sit in the doorways of schools challenging desegregation. We won't let him stand in the doorways of democracy anymore and that he tried to crucify democracy, but hey, happy Easter Monday because we are resurrecting a movement across this state one step back, forward together. As the swearing in, Justin Jones immediately called for the resignation of Tennessee House Speaker Kamen Sexton. Jones' supporters then sang as they entered the Capitol and walked up the steps to the chamber to return to his seat and the site of his expulsion just last Thursday. As they walked up the steps of the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville, Representative Jones took his seat on the house floor as the session was ongoing, arm in arm with fellow Tennessee Democrat Gloria Johnson, who narrowly missed being expelled last week with him. He raised his fist in the air to cheers. Looking on was Justin Pearson of Memphis, who was also expelled last week as one of the Tennessee three. Johnson could be reappointed to the Tennessee House today if a majority of the Shelby County Commission's 13 members agree to it. On Sunday, the expelled state representative, Justin Pearson, joined his father, Pastor Jason Pearson, and spoke at an eastern service in Memphis at the Church of the River First Unitarian Church. The Republican-led supermajority of the Tennessee General Assembly sought to have a political lynching of three of its members because we spoke out of turn against the status quo of the government after the tragic deaths of six people in the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Evelyn Dickhouse, William Kinney, and Hailey Scruggs were nine years old. Cynthia Peake, Mike Hill, and Catherine Coons worked at the school. The shooter, Audrey Hale, was gunned down by police that day as well because we walked to the well of the House out of turn. Resolutions were unjustly and undemocratically filed against us on these trumped-up charges. Because we spoke out against the empire, against those in positions of power without God power or people power, because we spoke out against the empire of the NRA and the gun lobby is demanding, because we demanded an end to gun violence and an end to the proliferation of weapons on our streets and an end to the funerals we attend day after day and week after week and month after month and year after year because we did that the Republican-led General Assembly with the support of folks even in this district like Mark White from our own community thought it better to get rid of our Democratic representation in District 86 than to actually solve the problem. This has been a holy week. This has been a sacred week. The lesson from it is that resurrection is a promised prophecy to a persecuted people. Fifty-five, fifty-five years ago this week, Reverend Dr. Marley the King, Jr. was killed by gun violence and I tell you what his words from what he spoke to days before he was assassinated are still true. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement lives or dies in Memphis. The movement for justice lives or dies in Memphis. The movement for democracy lives or dies in Memphis. movement to end gun violence, lives or dies in Memphis, or to kill the movement in the Republican-led supermajority. We've witnessed one of the most historic, unprecedented, unjustifiable abuses of power by a state government against black folks and a woman, just because we decided to own our birthright to speak up against injustice, to speak up and fight for people, including people who are no longer here, people like my own classmate Larry Thorne, killed by gun violence earlier this year, those people who can speak no more because we decided to elevate the voices and the hearts and the spirits of those folk. The supermajority Republican legislature decided that it was time for us to go because it was, in our opinion, time to listen, time to listen to the demands of thousands of children and youth and teenagers asking for leaders in positions of power to do something, to pass laws that actually prevent gun violence, to pass laws that actually support communities, to pass laws that actually support youth, ensuring to make our community safe everywhere. That's Justin Pearson of Memphis. He was expelled last week as one of the Tennessee three for engaging in a gun protest after the mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville. Pearson could be reappointed to the Tennessee House Wednesday, as Justin Jones was on Monday, if a majority of the Shelby County Commission's 13 members agree to it. Coming up, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he's working as swiftly as possible to pardon a U.S. Army sergeant who was just convicted of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020. This is Democracy Now, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. As we go right now to the capital of Texas, to Austin, where Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he's working as swiftly as possible to pardon a U.S. Army sergeant who was just convicted Friday of murdering a Black Lives Matter activist in 2020, just blocks from the Texas State Capitol building. The move comes after an Austin jury heard evidence in an eight-day trial deliberated for 17 hours before it convicted Daniel Perry of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for fatally shooting 28-year-old Garrett Foster, who was an Air Force veteran. The jury found the defendant, Daniel Perry, guilty of the offensive murder as a live encounter with the indictment signed by the four person. Perry was working as a rideshare driver. When he drove his car into the protest after he had earlier tweeted, he quote, might have to kill a few people on my way to work. Garrett Foster was pushing his fiance's wheelchair and was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle at the protest when Foster shot him four times with his .357 Magnum pistol, later telling police Foster did not point his rifle at him, but quote, I didn't want to give him a chance to aim at me, he said. Garrett Foster, the murder victim and his fiance, Whitney Mitchell, had been together since they were 17 years old. Foster became one of Mitchell's primary caretakers when she went into septic shock at the age of 19 and lost all four of her limbs. Mitchell's mother, Patricia Curvin, called Foster her daughter's fifth limb. This is Whitney Mitchell responding to Governor Abbott's request for a pardon of Daniel Perry after his guilty verdict came down, speaking to KXAN News. I was disgusted and I was, it was shocking to see, to see that after everything that me and Garrett's family have been through to get to this point, I was still relieved to see justice for Garrett and then just for all of that to just be completely taken away is like extremely horrifying and I don't understand it. Several people were filming on the night of the protest, July 25th, 2020. This is video of the shooting that was taken by Robert Garrett and then by our next guest, Hiram Gilberto, warning to our viewers and listeners, this footage includes gun violence. The footage was compiled by KXAN. In his murder trial, Daniel Perry used the state's stand-your-ground law of self-defense to defend his actions. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles said Monday it's now launching an investigation into Governor Abbott's request for an expedited pardon. A court docket had mistakenly listed Perry's sentencing hearing as being scheduled for 9.15 a.m. today, but the sentencing has actually not even been set. There has just been the murder verdict. For more, we're joined in Austin by two people. Hiram Gilberto Garcia is an independent journalist who livestreamed that night and was the first witness on the stand to testify for Daniel Perry's murder trial. Also with us, Rick Cofer, former Assistant District Attorney for Travis County, which includes Austin, now a criminal defense attorney. We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Hiram, let's begin with you, the horror of what took place. Why don't you lay out what you testified in this trial and your response to the verdict being a murder verdict, but the governor saying he will pardon Mr. Perry? Hiram, I don't know if you heard me, but I was just asking you to respond to the governor saying he's going to pardon Perry, who's just been convicted of murder. And to describe what you said on the witness stand, what you saw that day in 2020 as you were filming. Of course. Thank you so much for having me. July 25th was a particularly difficult day. Just like I had done the last previous 50 days, I was live-streaming and documenting the protests in 2020. Explicitly, my role there was to be a journalist and a documentarian. That night, the crowd was making their way up a very populated and important street in Austin called Congress Avenue. There was quite a few protesters, marchers, who were peacefully chanting and marching beyond just isolated incidents of small vandalism. The crowd was peaceful. As the crowd was approaching Fourth Street in Congress, specifically when I observed the most dense part of the crowd crossing the intersection, I noticed that a vehicle drove into what seemed to be the crowd at what I believe was a high rate of speed. I heard the honk. You know, I heard a thump. I thought somebody had been, unfortunately, ran over in that instance, and I tried to run the render aid. But as soon as I made my way towards where I thought the incident had occurred, I heard gunshots and ran the other direction. It was an absolutely devastating scene. I was sure I was witnessing a mass shooting at that moment. And then what did you say, Hiram? And shortly after that, you know, I'd noticed someone that was marching and protesting had been shot. Protesters were emotionally distressed. And, you know, I noticed that a lot of folks were in shock, screaming, yelling. And just really shortly after, I found out that Garrett Foster had been the one who had been shot. And according to the folks that were witnessing, they told me that he took significant gunfire and that it wasn't looking very promising. Just in that moment, you know, folks were feeling very pessimistic about what was happening. What was it like to be the first witness in the trial? It was certainly extremely difficult, you know, going up on that stand as a witness. I wanted to make sure that it was clear that as a journalist, I was only giving factual information about my observations, you know, but obviously that was very difficult to do in a very emotional situation. I think that, you know, ultimately, I was able to achieve my goal and relay exactly what I observed. But absolutely, you know, the emotion in that courtroom was high. The attorney that was the defense attorney that was, you know, cross-examining me certainly was very emotional as well. And many, many folks that were live tweeting called a portion of my interview just really highly, highly emotional and a little bit heated. So that really added to the intensity of that moment. Did you know, Garrett? I did come to become familiar with Garrett. Rather, yeah, Garrett Foster, I should say. Yeah, absolutely. Garrett was somebody that was out protesting and marching on a daily basis. We're talking about, by July 25th, it had been 50 continuous days of Garrett showing up with his spouse, Whitney, protesting. And so during that time, I was able to interview them quite a few times for my life, for my documentation. And in that time, I became familiar with how Garrett and Foster, you know, worked together and why they were down there. And your response to the governor of Texas, Governor Abbott, following an outcry from Fox, particularly the pushing of Tucker Carlson, calling for the pardoning of the person who's been convicted of murder? Absolutely. I mean, I find it completely devastating to learn that our governor is willing to circumvent what's already a really important procedure for a justice system in place. The jury sat down for two weeks, you know, almost on a daily basis, learning cases of, you know, I mean, facts of the case every single day. I was present at that shooting, and even I was still learning completely new and unknown facts of this case. And it's hard for me to imagine, as somebody that didn't sit a single day in that trial, that Greg Abbott has full knowledge or understanding of why that jury came to that decision, which is why I feel strongly that this is a mistake by Governor Abbott. You know, this case took two weeks of deliberations. I can't imagine anyone who sat there or didn't sit there those two weeks could have a fair, you know, analysis of what happened. Rick Cofer, you're the former assistant district attorney for Travis County, now a defense attorney. If you can talk about the significance of the governors weighing in right after the murder conviction before the sentencing and what this means. This is unprecedented in Texas legal history, which is what makes it so shocking. I was initially surprised by the verdict in the Perry case. Widely, it was considered a strong self-defense claim in a case that the district attorney was likely to lose, but trials can go any number of different directions. And the jury found Daniel Perry guilty. That's one thing. Last year, the governor pardoned seven people. The year before that, two, you are more likely to be struck by lightning or to win the Texas lottery than to receive a pardon from the governor, let alone a recommendation for a pardon in the middle of trial court proceedings. Daniel Perry has been found guilty by a jury, but he has not yet been sentenced. Technically, under even the board of parole and pardon's procedures, he's not even eligible today to apply for a pardon because he hasn't been sentenced. So wildly unexpected and wildly inconsistent with Texas law. So you told the Austin American statesman it's what happens in Uganda or Salvador, total abrogation of rule of law, and what's even worse is that Abbott knows better. Explain. At the core of the rule of law is the concept that the law applies equally to everyone. Daniel Perry was convicted by a jury, a jury that swore an oath to fairly and impartially follow the law, which heard two weeks of evidence and testimony, which deliberated for 16 hours, which was instructed by the judge to only find a verdict of guilty if they believed beyond a reasonable doubt that Daniel Perry did not act in self-defense. Daniel Perry has every right to seek judicial scrutiny of the verdict. He can appeal to the state courts, the federal courts, he can file rits, but he is not entitled to a pardon at this time as a matter of equity. The governor can recommend what he wants, but here's the upshot. Daniel Perry was treated the same as any person charged with murder. Governor Greg Abbott didn't see a single minute of testimony. He hasn't reviewed a single piece of evidence that was admitted into the record. Instead, Greg Abbott's opinion is what has driven his decision to announce a pardon. The rule of law means that jury verdicts, while not final, should be treated as final until reviewed by higher courts. What happens in nations like El Salvador and Uganda, and I chose those nations specifically, I do charitable work in Uganda, I'm familiar with the court system, is when judges and juries make rulings that the powerful interests don't like, the government ignores the courts, the government substitutes its own opinion of what should happen for that of a jury or that of a court. That's exactly what happened here in Texas. Governor Abbott, it appears based principally on media reports from Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, decided that this jury had gone it wrong, and the governor decided that his opinion counted more than the jurors. That's not how the rule of law works. That's not how due process works. It's a scary precedent for what is to come. You've noted Garrett Foster was killed protesting the killing of George Floyd, and that in 2022, the Texas Board of Pardons unanimously recommended that Floyd be pardoned for a drug charge in which a crooked cop planted drugs, and yet you now have this situation where, explain. And I should be clear, the officer involved in the arrest and felony conviction of George Floyd almost 20 years ago has admitted to lying in the search warrant affidavit for Floyd. It's disputed whether or not drugs were planted. That officer is currently pending charges for murder, unrelatedly, in Harris County. But here's the upshot. Garrett Foster was killed by Daniel Perry while protesting the killing of George Floyd. About six months ago, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended that Governor Abbott pardon George Floyd for about a 20-year-old drug conviction out of Houston. The politics of that look bad for Greg Abbott in conservative circles, and he used his power and influence to have that recommendation withdrawn on procedural grounds. Now, without an ounce or a scintilla of appellate review, without a sentence even having been issued, Governor Abbott has made a decision that Daniel Perry deserves a pardon, while George Floyd's pardon languishes in purgatory. It's the type of story that, if you were to read it in a novel, you wouldn't believe. And yet here we are, and in Texas, truth is stranger than fiction, and apparently politics counts more than law. Finally, Hiram Goberto Garcia, does this make you afraid to continue to film? I mean, you have a car that moved into protesters, and of course it'll hit journalists or anyone else in its way, it could. And then you have the shooting, a murder conviction, and then, well, it's not clear. The governor says he's going to move expeditiously on a pardon, but we'll see what happens. I wouldn't say fear would ever keep me from going and documenting and doing my job, although I do take safety precautions. Every time I film any public demonstration in Texas or anywhere in the nation, it's really common to see guns, high-powered rifles and individuals with really heightened emotions. So every time I'm out, I'm wearing a full bulletproof vest and just hoping for the best, ultimately, training, doing my best for de-escalation. But ultimately, this is a reminder to me of the importance of having a document, a video or a visual of how these movements unfold and why people make the decisions they make, because as we've seen without the video evidence, we really wouldn't be aware of situations like what happened with George Floyd and many, many, many other really important historic events that have shaped this nation. So I'm going to keep doing my job, but with a bulletproof vest. Well, I want to thank you both for being with us. And Rick Cofer, to your point of you might expect this in countries like Uganda. Now, Salvador, maybe there they're saying we're only following the model of the United States. We have to be the leader in the rule of law and democratic values. We have to lead by example. We have to show that elections are determinative and not the threat of force. And we have to show that our judicial system is fair and that it treats all people equally. The proposed pardon of Daniel Perry cuts at and abrogates the very essence of the rule of law. And sadly, your listeners and viewers should expect that this pardon will eventually be granted. Politics has trumped justice in this instance and theater has trumped the law. Rick Cofer, we want to thank you for being with us, former assistant district attorney for Travis County and Hiram Gilberto Garcia, independent journalist, first witness in the murder trial. That does it for this segment. Coming up, Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into a leak of highly classified Pentagon intelligence documents about U.S. spying on its adversaries and its allies. We'll speak with investigative journalist James Bamford. Stay with us. The Dream Passes by the Windows. Ukrainian folksong Lullaby performed by Harriet Fraser. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into a recent leak of highly classified Pentagon intelligence documents about the war in Ukraine, as well as Russian and U.S. spying on not only U.S. spying on its adversaries, but spying on its allies like Israel, like South Korea, like Ukraine. Over the past month or more, the leaked documents have been appearing online on the chat service Discord and on the messaging app Telegram. Many appear to be photographs of slides prepared for briefing. It appears that Pentagon wasn't aware of the leak until last week. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby spoke Monday. We don't know who's responsible for this, and we don't know if they have more that they intend to post. So we're watching this and monitoring it as best we can. But the truth and the honest answer to your question is we don't know. And is that a matter of concern to us? You're darn right it is. While the documents appear to be real, U.S. officials say some have been doctored concerning the war in Ukraine. The leaked documents suggest Ukraine has little chance of militarily defeating Russia. One document from February predicted that Ukraine's, quote, ability to provide medium-range air defense to protect the front lines will be completely reduced by May 23rd. The leaked documents also predicted the fighting between Ukraine and Russia in the Donbas region, quote, is likely heading toward a stalemate. Another document indicates members of Ukraine's security services were responsible for sabotaging a Russian plane inside Belarus in late February. The documents also appear to indicate U.S. intelligence agencies had deeply penetrated the Russian military, giving the Biden administration internal information about Russian war plans in Ukraine, as well as operational plans for the private mercenary group Wagner in Africa. The Washington Post reports one leaked document reveals the Wagner group sought to purchase arms from Turkey, a NATO ally. Documents also show that Egypt, a close U.S. ally, secretly planned to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia. The leak of the documents has also revealed how the United States spied on its own allies. One leaked Pentagon memo alleges that the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, had encouraged Israelis to take part in the massive protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to gut the Israeli judiciary. Many of the documents are based on information gathered by some of the most secret wings of the U.S. intelligence community, including National Reconnaissance Office, the NRO, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Pentagon's DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency, the NSA. We go now to Washington, D.C., where we're joined by James Bamford, longtime investigative journalist and author focused on the intelligence community. In 1982, he published the Puzzle Palace, the first book exposing the inner workings of the NSA, the National Security Agency. His latest book, just out, is called Spy Fail, Foreign Spies, Moles, Saboteurs, and the Collapse of America's Counterintelligence. Jim, welcome back to Democracy Now! It's great to have you with us again. Why don't you just start off by, as you evaluate what has been released, this intelligence, if it's real, and it, by all accounts, it looks real, of the U.S. spying on adversaries and allies. Talk about what's most significant and where these documents are from. Well, in terms of significance, I think the most significant outcome of this is danger that we may lose actual human beings in Russia, because a lot of the documents indicate that we have collected information from the inner workings of the Russian government, the intelligence services, and the military. So there are people that may be giving us information, and now that these documents have come out, it gives the Russians an opportunity to do a mole hunt, to hunt for people who are giving that information away. As a matter of fact, officials told The New York Times and The Washington Post that the revelations might lead Russian mole hunters to the doorsteps of American spies in their ranks, and that's the problem. The problem is that when these type of documents leak, especially during a period of war, there's dire consequences that can happen to the people who are helping the U.S. by giving them information. And again, talk about these agencies that people may not be aware of. You are the expert on the NSA, many times larger than the CIA, the National Security Agency, but then you have the National Reconnaissance Office, you have the Defense Intelligence Agency. So who is getting ahold of these? And also, talk about the platforms that they're being released on. Discord is what, for gamers? And then talk about Telegraph. Well, in terms of the agencies, there's a porree of documents that give extremely detailed information about all these agencies. The NSA, for example, Ease Drops Around the World, the documents that were picked up, or the documents that were released dealing with Mossad in Israel, that came from ease dropping, from NSA ease dropping on the communications of Mossad. So then you have the National Reconnaissance Office, they're in charge of putting spy satellites in orbit, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, which analyzes the imagery. Again, that information also came out in these documents because there's documents that show how we were able to collect information by satellite. So there's a wealth of what they call sources and methods, both human and technical, that were released by the documents. Now, strangely, mostly documents that are leaked appear in major news organizations, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, whatever. They never appear on gaming platforms, so this is a first for that. It's hard to say why any of this stuff is appearing, or why it's appearing on those platforms. Usually, there's three reasons for spying. That was one of the reasons I wrote Spy Fail, because there are so many spies out there that the U.S. never ends up catching. And there's three main reasons. One is money, obviously. Most spies want to sell secrets for money. Another is ideological. They want to help a foreign government. They don't care much about money. And the third reason is basically the thrill or else a anger. So that could be the reason that these documents were released. The third reason, anger. Somebody was angry, and they decided that they're just going to put these documents on whatever platform they happen to be using. So it's very hard to know. The key point is that the government keeps losing documents. A few years ago, just a few years ago, the NSA lost upwards of half a billion documents. Employees just walking out the door with these documents. They lost three-quarters of cyber weapons, the United States cyber weapons. The NSA lost three-quarters of them. Somebody stole them and put them up on auction. The North Koreans ended up getting the cyber weapons and so did the Russians, and they turned them on the United States. So there is a complete lack of accountability when it comes to classified information, top secret documents, and so forth. It just walks out the door and nobody ever gets fired. Well, James Bamford, we're going to continue this discussion with part two after this show ends, and we're going to post it at democracynow.org to talk about the most significant revelations in this, from the war in Ukraine to what's happening in Israel to Egypt, to possibly secretly wanting to produce rockets for Russia, a U.S. ally, Egypt, as is Israel. James Bamford, longtime investigative journalist and author. His most recent book is titled Spy Fail, Foreign Spies, Moles, Saboteurs, and the Collapse of America's Counterintelligence. By the way, a happy belated birthday to David Prude. Stay tuned to part two at democracynow.org. I'm Amy Goodman.