Democracy Now! May 30, 2003

Duplication cost + Shipping: $17.95
Program Title:
Democracy Now! May 30, 2003
Series Title:
PRA Archive #: 
PZ0517.174a
Description: 

Exclusive: Democracy Now! Broadcasts for the First Time a Recording of a Police Sergeant Interrogating a Man Moments After Police Shoot him 5 Times, Paralyzing and Blinding Him. Farmworker Oliverio Martinez wails for help, says he is choking and dying, and pleads with the sergeant to stop. This week, the Supreme Court ruled that his 5th amendment rights against self-incrimination were not violated. We speak with the lawyers for the farm worker and for the police sergeant who interrogated him; Former Presidential Candidate Ron Daniels, on How the Fight for Civil Rights Continues Today. The Republicans have gained control of both houses of the congress of the United States and their aim and goal is very clear, they also want to take over the judiciary the right-wing, the arch-conservatives, the reactionaries they will control all three branches of government and that is terrifying to people of color.

8:00-8:01 Billboard 8:01-8:06 Headlines 8:10-8:11:30 One Minute Music Break 8:07-8:20 Exclusive: Democracy Now! Broadcasts for the First Time a Recording of a Police Sergeant Interrogating a Man Moments After Police Shoot him 5 Times, Paralyzing and Blinding Him Today on Democracy Now! we air for the first time the tape of an L.A. farm worker being interrogated after being shot five times by police. A piece in the L.A. Times describing the incident, begins like this: It was early evening on a November day five years ago when Oliverio Martinez, 29, rode his bicycle down a path and across a vacant lot toward a row of small homes. Two officers, Andrew Salinas and Maria Pena, had stopped to question a man they suspected, wrongly it turned out, of selling drugs. When they heard a squeaky bike approach in the dark, they called for the rider to stop. Martinez dismounted and put his hands over his head. In a leather sheath on a waist band, he carried a long knife that he used to cut strawberries. When the officer patted him down and grabbed for the knife, Martinez tried to run. Salinas tackled him and tried to handcuff him. As they struggled on the ground, the officer called out that the man had a huge knife. Pena moved closer and fired. One bullet struck Martinez near the left eye and exited behind his right eye. A second hit his spine. Three more shots hit his legs. When patrol supervisor Sgt. Ben Chavez arrived, a handcuffed Martinez lay bleeding on the ground. Once Martinez was loaded into an ambulance, Chavez climbed in with a tape recorder in hand. On and off for the next 45 minutes in the ambulance and at the hospital, he repeatedly asked the gravely wounded man to admit he had grabbed the officer's gun and provoked the struggle. In agony, Martinez is heard screaming in pain and saying he is choking and dying. "OK. You're dying. But tell me why you were fighting with the police?" Chavez asks. "Did you want to kill the police or what?" he continues. One officer had said Martinez tried to grab his gun. In the emergency room, Chavez continued to press Martinez to tell him what happened. "Why did you run from the police?" Chavez is heard to say over the sounds of nurses and doctors. "Did you get his gun? ... Did you to try to shoot the police?" Martinez in a low voice responds: "I don't know.... I don't know." Lawyers for Martinez say he panicked when the officer tried to tackle him, but they say he did not grab the officer's gun. In the emergency room, he is heard asking Chavez several times to leave him alone. "I don't want to say anything anymore." "No? You don't want to say what happened?" the sergeant continues. "It's hurting a lot. Please!" Martinez implores, his words trailing off into agonized screams. Undaunted, Chavez resumes. "Well, if you're going to die, tell me what happened." Silence came only when pain medication took hold, and Martinez faded into unconsciousness. The Supreme Court has just ruled that the police sergeant did not violate the 5th amendment right of Oliverio Martinez. He is now paralyzed and blind. Today, a Democracy Now! exclusive. We air for the first time a recording of Sergeant Chavez interrogating Martinez while he screams in excruciating pain. This tape has never been broadcast before. * R. Samuel Paz, lawyer for Oliverio Martinez * Sonia Mercado, Co-counsel for Oliverio Martinez * Alan Wisotsky, lawyer for Sergeant Ben Chavez 8:24-8:26 One Minute Music Break 8:26-8:41 MARTINEZ CONTINUED 8:41-8:43 One Minute Music Break 8:41-8:58: Internationally renowned human and civil rights activist, Ron Daniels, is an outspoken expert on police brutality and hate crimes. He is the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he is one of the leaders of the organization s National Police Accountability Initiative. Ron Daniels ran for U.S. president as an independent in 1992, and was the campaign manager in the South for Rev. Jesse Jackson s 1988 presidential run. He is also playing a leading role in the National African American Leadership Summit and the historic Million Man March. He spoke two days ago at the Society for Ethical Culture in New York, at an event put together by Pacifica Radio s WBAI, on the how and why the civil rights movement continues today. * Ron Daniels, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Link: www.ccr-ny.org 8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie Karran, Sharif Abdul Kouddous, Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press with help from Noah Reibel and Vilka Tzouras. Mike Di Filippo is our music maestro and engineer. Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Emily Kunstler, Orlando Richards, Simba Rousseau, Rafael delaUz, Gabriel Weiss, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Karen Ranucci, Fatima Mojadiddy, Denis Moynihan and Jenny Filipazzo.

Date Recorded on: 
May 30, 2003
Date Broadcast on: 
May 30, 2003
Item duration: 
59 min.
Keywords: 
These terms will not bring up a complete list of all items in our catalog associated with this subject. Click here to search our entire catalog.
Distributor: 
WBAI; Amy Goodman, host., May 30, 2003
PRA metadata viewPRA metadata view