Democracy Now!

We go to Minneapolis, where the community has taken over a Sheraton hotel to provide shelter to more than 200 unhoused people amid protests and the pandemic. Now they face eviction. "Using hotels for emergency housing is an obvious answer," says Rosemary Fister, community organizer. "They are largely vacant as we enter an economic depression in the midst of a global pandemic."

As New York City begins to partially reopen, we look at what it means for the nation's largest public transportation system. "It's a very stressful and dangerous situation," says Seth Rosenberg, a subway operator, shop steward with the Transport Workers Union Local 100 and a member of a small coalition of transit workers called Local 100 Fightback. "The safety measures are not in place to protect transit workers or riders."

Immigration agents are facing accusations of targeting protesters who are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Police in Phoenix, Arizona, arrested community activist Máxima Guerrero as she was leaving a protest on May 30 with a group of legal observers. She was one of three DACA recipients arrested over that weekend in Phoenix. We get an update from Sandra Castro Solis with the Phoenix-based grassroots immigrant justice group Puente Human Rights Movement, who says that despite the risks, "we're in a moment where people want to be out in the streets building that solidarity."

As protests against police brutality continue nationwide, immigrant rights advocates are sounding the alarm over the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at some of the demonstrations. A viral video showed a group of ICE agents working with the New York City Police Department to detain a protester at a George Floyd rally in New York City last week, and advocates say agents held the man on the ground as they pointed three guns at him and handcuffed and searched him. He was reportedly released after agents found a military veteran's ID on him, and is a U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican descent. We speak with Mizue Aizeki, deputy director at the Immigrant Defense Project.

Thousands Pay Their Respects in Houston as George Floyd Is Remembered by His Family, Chauvin Appears in Court, Bail Set at Over $1 Million, Video Shows Texas Police Killing Black Man After Minor Traffic Violation as He Pleads "I Can't Breathe", New Mexico Officer Charged with Killing Man in Neck Restraint During Traffic Stop, Democrats Unveil Police Reform Legislation, Take Knee to Remember George Floyd, Ramsey Orta, Who Filmed Police Killing Eric Garner, Released from Prison, Peaceful Protesters Injured and Killed Around the Country by Cars Ramming into Crowds, Protesters Establish Autonomous Zone Around Seattle PD Building as Police Retreat, France, U.K. Seek Changes in How They Handle Police Violence, Joe Biden Says He Does Not Support Defunding the Police, Palestinians Rally Against Israel Annexation Plans and in Support of Black Lives Matter, Global Coronavirus Cases Top 7 Million as WHO Warns Situation Worsening in Many Areas, U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surging in Many States as Restrictions Are Relaxed, Immigrant Rights Groups Say ICE Is Spraying Dangerous Chemicals on Prisoners During Pandemic, Ex-Salvadoran Colonel on Trial for 1989 Murder of Jesuit Priests, Peace Activist Liz McAlister Sentenced to Time Served for Breaking into Nuclear Sub Base in Georgia

As hundreds of thousands took to the streets nationwide and around the world to call for police accountability and demand Black lives matter in the wake of the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, Democracy Now! spoke to some of the people who joined the historic protests Saturday in New York City.

Professor Alex Vitale argues the answer to police violence is not "reform." It's defunding. The author of "The End of Policing" says the movement to defund the police is part of "a long story about the use of police and prisons to manage problems of inequality and exploitation." He asks, "Why are we using police to paper over problems of economic exploitation?" He also discusses the role of police unions. "They become, in many cities, the locus, the institutional hub, for a whole set of right-wing 'thin blue line' politics that believe that policing is not only effective but it's the most desirable way to solve our problems. And embedded in this is a deep racism that says that certain populations can only be managed through constant threats of coercion."

Amid growing calls in New York City for police accountability, Mayor Bill de Blasio has pledged to shift some of the city's funding for police and reallocate it to social services. We get response from Linda Sarsour, longtime Palestinian American Muslim organizer and co-founder of Until Freedom, which along with others has led the push to institute meaningful change. We also speak with author Mychal Denzel Smith, who notes that "one thing that's come of this global pandemic of COVID-19 is an understanding of what constitutes essential, what do we actually need. And police have shown that they are inessential."

After nearly two weeks of historic protests, the Minneapolis City Council has announced it will move to dismantle the city's police department in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. "We've got to create a system of public safety that works for everybody," says Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison.

Minneapolis City Council Announces It Will Disband Police Department, Uprising Against Racism, Police Brutality Brings Out 100,000s from Coast to Coast, D.C. Mayor, Protesters Paint Black Lives Matter Protest Call on Streets Leading to White House, Protests Mount Across the Globe as Racist and Colonialist Statues Targeted in U.K., Police Violence Against Protesters Results in More Deaths and Severe Injuries, Video Shows ICE Agents Arresting and Pointing Gun at Protester, Calls Mount to Prosecute Officers Who Killed African American Man, Manuel Ellis, in March, Family of Maurice Gordon, a Black Man Killed by NJ State Troopers, Demands Accountability, Editors Resign from NYT, Philadelphia Inquirer over Recent Coverage of Protests, Coronavirus Deaths Still Surging in U.S. as Trump Refuses to Wear Mask on Official Visits, Mexico Protests Erupt over Police Brutality, Brazil Stops Publishing New Coronavirus Data as Death Toll Mounts, Indigenous Leaders Demand Probe into Police Killing of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation Woman, Charges Dropped Against 22 Wet'suwet'en Land Defenders, May Jobs Report Shows Unemployment Rose for Black People, as Trump Invokes George Floyd, 100+ North Carolina Death Row Prisoners Given Chance to Prove Racism Played Part in Their Sentencing, NFL Apologizes for Past Position on Anti-Racist Protests But Fails to Acknowledge Colin Kaepernick

The American Civil Liberties Union and Black Lives Matter announced Thursday they are suing President Trump and Attorney General William Barr for authorizing an "unprovoked and frankly criminal attack" on protesters at Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., where the National Guard and officers dressed in riot gear fired tear gas, rubber bullets and flashbangs to disperse peaceful protesters on Monday so Trump could have a photo op with a Bible in front of St. John's Episcopal Church. We look at the increasing militarization of the police with Stuart Schrader, author of "Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing."

As the nationwide uprising in defense of Black lives continues, demonstrators are recording videos of police brutality on the streets. We speak with Chris Frierson, an African American documentary filmmaker and cameraman who was filming a Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday in Brooklyn, New York, when police moved in on demonstrators. As Frierson filmed, police pepper-sprayed him directly in the face. Chris kept on filming as he struggled to the sidewalk crying in agony from the pain. Within seconds, someone took his arm and guided him to volunteer medics who came to his aid. We air his footage and speak about the incident.

On Thursday, disturbing new details were revealed in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old Black man who was chased, ambushed and shot dead by a group of white men in Georgia in what many have called a modern-day lynching. In a nearly seven-hour hearing, a state judge concluded all three men — Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan — would stand trial for Arbery's murder, after special agent Richard Dial of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation testified Travis McMichael said "f—ing n—" after shooting and killing Arbery. We speak with professor Carol Anderson, author of "White Rage," about Arbery's slaying, the nationwide protests, anti-lynching legislation being debated in the Senate and the upcoming election.

In Minneapolis, members of George Floyd's family, loved ones and supporters gathered for a tribute to his life. During the memorial service, people stood in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds — the amount of time police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck as he pleaded for his life. We hear the voices of Floyd's brother Philonise and Reverend Al Sharpton, who urged those gathered "to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our necks!'"

George Floyd Honored at Memorial with Rallying Cry: "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks", Bail Set at $750,000 for Three Officers Charged with Aiding & Abetting George Floyd's Murder , Killer Used Racist Slur as Ahmaud Arbery Lay Dying, Investigator Testifies, New York Judge Will Allow Protesters to Be Jailed for Over 24 Hours, NYC Mayor Booed as 10,000 Honor George Floyd at Brooklyn Memorial Service , Witnesses Say Vallejo, CA Man Killed by Police Was on His Knees with Hands Up, Buffalo Police Assault Leaves 75-Year-Old Protester Hospitalized with Head Trauma, Trump Builds a Wall Around the White House Amid Mass Protests, AG William Barr Blames Antifa, Without Evidence, for Protest Violence, Far-Right Extremists in Las Vegas Charged with Plotting Terror Attacks , African American Senators Blast Rand Paul for Stalling Anti-Lynching Bill, Press Freedom Groups Document Rampant Police Violence Against Journalists in Protests, Philadelphia Inquirer Journalists Call in Sick to Protest Headline "Buildings Matter, Too" , Global Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Top 6.6 Million as Brazil Records Record Daily Toll, CDC Chief Warns Social Distancing Message "Isn't Resonating", Black Lives Matter Says Law Enforcement Seized Face Masks Bearing Protest Messages, Trump Executive Order Waives Environmental Review for Infrastructure Projects, Climate Change Likely Triggered Largest Oil Spill in Russia's Modern History, U.N. Reports Thousands Killed with Impunity in Philippines "War on Drugs" , Confederate Statue to Be Removed from Richmond, Virginia, After Protests

We go to Louisville, where protesters are calling for charges against the officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old African American woman who was an emergency room technician treating COVID patients and was shot to death by police inside her own apartment in March. This comes as the National Guard fired shots at a crowd of protesters on Monday, killing David McAtee, a local barbecue restaurant owner who regularly gave police officers free meals. We speak with Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of Louisville Urban League.

As Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison files charges against all four Minneapolis police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd, a mass uprising against police brutality continues. "At this point, we're looking at a nation and a world that has decided that what we saw happen on camera … is no longer acceptable, and we cannot continue to meet and ask and cry and beg for change. People have taken to the streets to demand change,” says Tamika Mallory, former national co-chair of the 2017 Women's March.

After more than a week of nationwide protests, all four Minneapolis police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd have been charged with murder or aiding and abetting murder in a case that triggered historic protests across the country. "If you look at the video … the pressure from all three officers on Mr. Floyd's body contributed to his death," says activist and civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP. "They heard the man pleading, saying 'I can't breathe,' and they had a callous disregard for his life."

Three Other Officers Involved in George Floyd's Killing Charged and Arrested, Protests Near White House Met by Unmarked, Heavily Armed Riot Officers, Pentagon Chief Reverses Decision to Withdraw Troops from D.C. Amid Protests, "Your Lives Matter": President Obama Backs Protests over George Floyd's Killing, 200+ New York Mayoral Staffers Demand "Radical Change," Police Budget Cuts, L.A. Protesters Demand Police Prosecutions as City Councilors Propose LAPD Budget Cuts, Sports Stars Join Protests over George Floyd's Killing, Monuments to America's Racist History Toppled Amid Mass Protests, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul Blocks Passage of Anti-Lynching Bill, Pope Francis Warns U.S. Against Turning "Blind Eye to Racism", New Jobs Figures Show 42.6 Million U.S. Workers Filed for Unemployment During Pandemic, Trump's Coronavirus Testing Czar Is Standing Down as U.S. Death Toll Tops 107,000, Public Health Experts Warn Police Tactics Put Protesters at Risk of COVID-19, Study Finds Hydroxychloroquine Does Not Protect Against Coronavirus Infection, Hong Kong Legislature Makes Disrespect of Chinese National Anthem a Crime

We look at a major development in the case of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., a Black man killed in his own apartment in White Plains, New York, during a police confrontation in 2011, after he accidentally triggered his medical alert pendant. On Monday, the 2nd Circuit of Appeals ruled a federal judge was wrong to dismiss parts of a lawsuit against the police for excessive use of force. "My family and I are extremely overjoyed that the original ruling was vacated," says Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. "I think that people are now coming together, and they're saying that extrajudicial killings and summary executions of unarmed Black men, women and children is no longer going to be tolerated." We also speak with the family’s attorney. "Most people would be able to agree that when you're at home sleeping and you haven't committed any crime, that you wouldn't expect that the police are going to break your door down and kill you — in particular if they're responding for a medical call where you think that they're there to help you," says Mayo Bartlett.

As historic protests against police brutality continue nationwide, we go to Houston, Texas, the longtime home of George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police last week. More than 60,000 people took to the streets Tuesday to honor his memory. We hear Floyd in his own words and speak to two of his friends about his work mentoring young men in one of the city's historically Black communities, the Third Ward. He was "already preaching peace, love, God, unity, advocating against gun violence," says Corey Paul, Houston hip-hop artist and entrepreneur, who ministered with Floyd alongside Patrick "P.T." Ngwolo, pastor of the church Resurrection Houston.

Minnesota Opens Human Rights Probe of Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota AFL-CIO Calls on Police Union President to Resign over George Floyd's Killing, George Floyd's Family Members Join Protest March of 60,000 in Houston, Arrest Warrants Issued for Six Atlanta Cops Who Tased Black Students, Army's 82nd Airborne, Armed with Fixed Bayonets, Deploys to Washington, D.C., AG William Barr Personally Ordered Assault on Peaceful Protesters Outside White House, Australian Ambassador to Investigate Police Assault on Journalists Near White House, Mayor Warns Against Military Deployment in Streets of New York, Thousands of Portland Protesters Hold Die-In to Protest George Floyd's Killing, Puerto Rico Protesters Honor George Floyd, Denounce Island's Legacy of Racism, Palestinians Under Israeli Occupation Protest George Floyd's Death, Thousands Protest Racial Violence, Police Brutality in France, Brazil Sees Record COVID-19 Toll as U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 106,000, Trump Orders Republican National Convention Out of NC over Coronavirus Restrictions, Amid Pandemic and Protests, Voters Struggle to Cast Ballots, Ferguson, MO Elects First Black Mayor; Racist Iowa Congressman Steve King Loses Primary, Biden Says He "Won't Fan the Flames of Hate" After Trump Attacks Protesters, At Least 100,000 Evacuated in India as Cyclone Bears Down on Mumbai

Two autopsies have agreed George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police was a homicide. "I don't think that most of us are surprised that the county medical examiner tried to find a reason related to why George Floyd died that distanced it from law enforcement's role," says Nekima Levy Armstrong, civil rights attorney, activist, founder of the Racial Justice Network and former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP. She also discusses the local history of police accountability: "What this does is illustrates the corruption that exists within Hennepin County, where you have law enforcement working collaboratively with the County Medical Examiner's Office, working collaboratively with the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, and ultimately resulting in people not being able to get justice when they are killed by police. This happens time and time again."

As thousands in Los Angeles continue to protest against police brutality and face mass arrests, Mayor Eric Garcetti is facing criticism for increasing the budget for the Los Angeles Police Department. Organizers have called on the City Council to enact a People's Budget that slashes money for police and invests in services for the community instead. "We have created a system that overrelies on law enforcement and prioritizes their money, their budget, their needs over everything else," says Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, and Reform L.A. Jails. "Now is the time that we redirect resources back into our communities."

As a historic week-long uprising against police violence continues and curfews are in place across the United States, President Trump has declared himself "the president of law and order" and threatened to send thousands of heavily armed soldiers into the streets. "President Trump's speech almost amounted to a declaration of war against Americans," says Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. We also speak with William Arkin, longtime reporter on the military, who notes Trump is getting "no pushback" from Defense Department officials.

Trump Threatens to Send Military into Streets to Crack Down on Nationwide Uprising, Protests Spread Around the U.S. and the Globe as Autopsies Confirm George Floyd Died of Homicide, Louisville Police Chief Fired After African American Man Shot and Killed Monday, 15,000 People Attend Youth Rally in Oakland, CA; Police Continue Attacks on Protesters, Outrage After White Bar Owner Who Shot and Killed 22-Year-Old James Scurlock Dodges Criminal Charge, Facebook Workers Stage Virtual "Walkout," Call Out Inaction on Trump's Posts Inciting Violence, Iranian Scientist Who Contracted COVID-19 in ICE Jail Is Deported, First Rohingya Refugee Dies of COVID-19 in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, Countries Move to Reopen Economies and Schools, But Uncertainty Remains, U.N. Says Billions Needed as Yemen Faces "Tragedy" Fueled by Coronavirus and Years of War, EPA Slashes Water Protections, Restricts States' and Tribes' Ability to Challenge Pipeline Projects, Siberia Experiences Record-Breaking Heat Wave, Accelerating Thawing of Permafrost

Calls to defund the police mount after police erupted into violence this weekend in response to widespread protests across the nation, arresting more than 4,000 people and attacking demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets. As police departments face increasing criticism for using excessive force on protesters, we get response from Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, renowned scholar Professor Cornel West and attorney Bakari Sellers.

In a powerful address among people in Minneapolis protesting the police murder of George Floyd, activist and former Women's March co-chair Tamika Mallory demanded, "Charge the cops. … Charge them in every city across America where our people are being murdered."

As mass unrest engulfs the U.S., we speak with attorney and political commentator Bakari Sellers, whose new memoir "My Vanishing Country" was just published. One of the central moments in the book is the Orangeburg massacre of 1968, when police opened fire on a crowd of students gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University to protest segregation at Orangeburg’s only bowling alley. When the shooting stopped, three Black students were dead, 28 students were wounded. The nine officers who opened fire that day were all acquitted. The only person convicted of wrongdoing was Bakari Sellers's father, Cleveland Sellers, a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC. He was convicted of a riot charge and spent seven months behind bars. He was pardoned in 1993. We speak with Bakari Sellers about Orangeburg, 2020 and "400 years of systemic racism" in the U.S.

As thousands from coast to coast took to the streets this weekend to protest the state-sanctioned killing of Black people, and the nation faces its largest public health crisis in generations and the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression, professor Cornel West calls the U.S. a "predatory capitalist civilization obsessed with money, money, money." He also makes the connections between U.S. violence abroad and at home. "There is a connection between the seeds that you sow of violence externally and internally."

In the largest nationwide uprising since the 1960s, protesters shut down cities across the United States over the weekend following the police killing of George Floyd, an African American man in Minneapolis. "These are not just repeats of past events," says scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. "These are the consequences of the failures of this government and the political establishment … to resolve these crises."

Minneapolis Protests at Epicenter of Nationwide Uprising Met with More Police Violence, Louisville Police Shoot and Kill Man at Protest, New Yorkers Take to Streets Around City, Shut Down Traffic as NYPD Arrests Hundreds, Attacks Peaceful Crowds, Rep. Joyce Beatty and Two Columbus City Officials Pepper-Sprayed by Ohio Police, Video Shows 9-Year-Old Seattle Child in Distress After Reportedly Being Maced by Police, Protesters Rally in Front of Capitol, White House, as Trump Retreats to Presidential Bunker, Black Sacramento Teen Recovering After Being Shot in Face with Rubber Bullet, Atlanta Police Officers Fired After Tasing Two Students, Reporters Targeted, Attacked by Police While Covering Protests, Trump Tweets Plan to Designate Antifa a Terrorist Group, Black Transgender Man Tony McDade Shot and Killed by Tallahassee Police, Trump Pulls U.S. Out of World Health Organization, Coronavirus Surges in Brazil, Peru, Chile as Epicenter of Pandemic Shifts to Latin America, SCOTUS Says CA Can Restrict Church Services as Coronavirus Cases Mount, Journalist and Driver Killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, Bombing, Israeli Soldiers Kill Unarmed Autistic Palestinian Man in Occupied East Jerusalem, Four More Women Accuse Harvey Weinstein of Rape, Sexual Assault

As President Trump calls Minneapolis protesters "THUGS" and tweets, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," Twitter flags the tweet with a warning it glorifies violence, just as Trump signs an executive order to punish social media companies for how they monitor content. "Trump has prospered through his use of social media and its attention-hoarding algorithms to basically disinform and misinform people," says Ramesh Srinivasan, professor in the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

As the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic shifts to Latin America, so too has the use of COVID-19 as a pretext for police repression. "We're seeing that COVID-19, like other pandemics before it, magnifies structural discrimination. And sadly, it's often the most marginalized that are the first targets," says Louise Tillotson, co-author of a new Amnesty International report on the abuse. We also go to San Salvador to speak with journalist Jorge Cuéllar.

As thousands take to the streets of Minneapolis to protest against the police killing of George Floyd for the third night in a row, we go to Minneapolis to speak with City Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison. Police pointed an automatic rifle at his head in 2015 when he was peacefully protesting the police killing of another African American man, Jamar Clark. We also speak with Kandace Montgomery with the Black Visions Collective, which is calling for the abolition of police.

Protests Rage After Minneapolis Prosecutor Does Not Bring Charges Against Officers Who Killed George Floyd, Scores Tear-Gassed, Arrested as Protests Against George Floyd's Killing Spread to Other Cities, Twitter Flags Trump Tweet for Glorifying Violence After President Attacks Minnesota Protesters as "THUGS", Trump Executive Order Threatens to Punish Social Media Companies over Fact-Checking, U.S. Economy Sheds Another 2.1 Million Jobs, Leaving 40.7 Million Unemployed Since Start of Pandemic, Pennsylvania Democratic Lawmakers Accuse Republicans of Knowingly Exposing Them to Coronavirus, Protesters Demand ICE Empty Its Jails as COVID-19 Continues to Spread, Héctor García Mendoza, Immigrant Who Sued ICE over COVID-19, Disappears After Deportation, Iowa Tyson Foods Plant Halting Operations After 500+ Workers Test Positive for Coronavirus, Brazil Reports Record Number of COVID-19 Cases & Over 1,000 Deaths Within 24 Hours, Haiti Human Rights Groups Warn Hundreds Could Die of COVID-19 in Prisons, Trump Administration to Cancel Visas for Thousands of Chinese Graduate Students, House Democratic Leaders Pull Bill to Reauthorize Government Surveillance Powers, U.N. Climate Summit Pushed Back to 2021 Amid Pandemic

We discuss the life and legacy of Larry Kramer, the legendary writer and trailblazing activist in the fight against AIDS, who has died at the age of 84. Kramer helped start Gay Men's Health Crisis and ACT UP to demand life-saving drugs, and faced off with Dr. Anthony Fauci before the two became friends. Many credit Kramer for saving thousands of lives. We hear from Kramer in his own words at the 2019 anti-corporate Queer Liberation March and host a roundtable with two former ACT UP members: "Gay USA" host Ann Northrop and Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves. We also speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, who wrote "Angels in America."

Parts of Minneapolis erupted into flames Wednesday night as residents again took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by white police officer Derek Chauvin on Monday. A viral video shows Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for a number of minutes as Floyd repeatedly says "I cannot breathe." Three other officers stood by as George Floyd suffocated. They have been identified as Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng. All four officers were fired on Tuesday. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called on prosecutors to file criminal charges against Derek Chauvin. We speak with civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, founder of the Racial Justice Network and former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP. "What needs to happen is that charges need to be brought immediately against the four officers who killed George Floyd," she says. "There is simply no justification for what they did or why they did it."

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 100,000, Minneapolis Erupts in Flames as Protesters Rage Against Police Killing of George Floyd, China Tightens Grip on Hong Kong with New National Security Law, House of Representatives Holds First-Ever Remote Vote Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Protesters Surround Sing Sing Prison Demanding Release of Prisoners at Risk of COVID-19, Researchers: 6 Feet of Social Distancing Might Not Be Enough to Stop Coronavirus Spread, Doctors Without Borders Warns of Spike in Coronavirus Cases Among Florida Farmworkers, Brazilian Police Raid Fake News Network Linked to Son of Far-Right President, Argentina Seals Off Buenos Aires Slum as COVID-19 Cases Surge, Peru's Hospitals Collapse as COVID-19 Cases Surge, European Commission Proposes $820 Billion Coronavirus Stimulus Package, Human Rights Groups Call on U.S. Congress to Halt Weapons Sales to Philippines, Trailblazing AIDS Activist Larry Kramer Dies at 84

Calls are growing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release people from detention during the pandemic, as two people have died from COVID-19 while in custody. We speak with The Intercept's Ryan Devereaux, who reported on how Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia, held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, suffered horrifying neglect before he passed away. We are also joined by Erika Andiola with RAICES Action. "None of those folks — especially people who migrated seeking asylum — they did not do anything to deserve a life sentence in a detention center," Andiola notes.

Ibram X. Kendi says early media coverage of COVID-19 as "the great equalizer" missed the racial impact of the disease. But it soon became clear "that it was Latino Americans and African Americans and Native Americans in particular who were disproportionately being infected and dying." The award-winning author and founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University joins us to discuss why he started the COVID Racial Data Tracker.

"I can't breathe" — that's what George Floyd, an unarmed African American man, repeatedly told a white Minneapolis police officer who pinned him to the ground Monday with a knee to his neck. Video of the police attack went viral. Now four officers have been fired. This comes as another video went viral of a white woman calling the cops on a Black man in New York City's Central Park and falsely accusing him of "threatening her life" after he asked her to leash her dog. We discuss these developments and more with Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University and National Book Award–winning author of "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America" and "How to Be an Antiracist."

Four Minneapolis Cops Fired After Shocking Video Shows Killing of George Floyd, Federal Food Program Fails to Reach Millions Even as Child Hunger Surges in U.S., NY Governor Cuomo Shielded Nursing Homes from Liability After Big Campaign Donation, GOP Governors Vie for Republican National Convention as NC Won't Commit to Packed Arena, Yemen's Health System Has "Collapsed" Amid Explosion of Coronavirus Cases, India Resumes Domestic Air Travel Even as COVID-19 Cases Surge, China Completing Plans to Test 11 Million Wuhan Residents for Coronavirus, South Korea Reports 40 New Coronavirus Infections, Highest Level in 7 Weeks, Thousands Protest in Ecuador Against Austerity Measures Amid Pandemic, Mexico City Healthcare Workers Block Roads in Protest Demanding PPE, Trump Mocks Reporter Who Refused to Remove Mask as "Politically Correct", Trump Threatens to "Close Down" Social Media Sites as Twitter Tags His Tweets as Misleading, Local TV News Stations Run Propaganda Scripted and Filmed by Amazon, Video Shows White Woman Falsely Telling 911 She Was Threatened by Black Man in Central Park, Same-Sex Couples Wed as Costa Rica Legalizes Marriage Equality

New Zealand implemented one of the earliest lockdowns and has largely succeeded in eliminating the coronavirus under the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Some of the country's success has been attributed to her leadership, trust in science, and clear communication during the crisis. We get an update from Michael Baker, professor of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington, New Zealand. He is an epidemiologist and a member of the New Zealand Ministry of Health's Technical Advisory Group. Baker has been advising the government on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their slogan is "Stay home, stay safe, and be kind."

As Brazil sees more than 800 deaths in 24 hours and nearly 400,000 confirmed cases, we look at COVID-19's devastating impact on Brazil's Indigenous peoples, who are dying at double the rate of the rest of the country. We speak with world-renowned Brazilian photojournalist Sebastião Salgado, who wrote an open letter to right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who called the virus a "little flu," to warn him the pandemic is "an extreme threat to their very survival."

U.S. Nears 100,000 Deaths from COVID-19 as Trump Shuns Face Masks, Goes After Democrats on Twitter, Trump Threatens to Pull RNC Out of North Carolina If Dem Governor Refuses to Allow Packed Crowds, Second Immigrant in ICE Jail Dies from COVID-19, U.S. to Deport Haitian Death Squad Leader and COVID-Positive Haitians Amid Pandemic, U.S. Restricts Travel from Brazil as It Becomes Second Most Infected Country, South American Nations Experience Mounting Cases as New Epicenter of the Pandemic, Boris Johnson Faces Pressure over Reopening Country and Lockdown-Flouting Adviser, WHO Suspends Tests of Hydroxychloroquine as More Evidence Emerges of Its Dangers, Pakistan Plane Crash Kills 97 Crew and Passengers, Trump Admin Reportedly Discussed Holding First Nuclear Tests Since 1992, Hong Kong Protesters Call Out New Beijing Security Laws, DOJ Investigating Killing of Ahmaud Arbery as Hate Crime, Biden Apologizes After Telling Charlamagne tha God "You Ain't Black" If Unsure Whether to Vote for Him, Judge Strikes Down Law Requiring People with Felony Convictions Pay Off Fines Before They Can Vote, Stacey Park Milbern, Disability Justice Advocate Who Organized Coronavirus Mutual Aid, Dies at 33

How did the United States — the richest country in the world — become the worldwide epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, with one person dying of COVID-19 every 47 seconds? We spend the hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, discussing this unprecedented moment in history, and its political implications. Chomsky reflects on the significance of the Bernie Sanders campaign, calling it "an extraordinary success" that "completely shifted the arena of debate and discussion" in the United States. He also responds to President Trump's cuts to U.S. support for the World Health Organization and the surge in deaths in the United States to another record high, and discusses conditions in Gaza, the rise of authoritarianism around the world, and the progressive response

All 50 states will be at least partially reopened this Memorial Day weekend, as the U.S. death toll from the COVID-19 outbreak tops 95,000 and some states prepare for a surge in cases. We're joined by historian and writer Mike Davis, who says in Jacobin that "Reopening the Economy Will Send Us to Hell."

India just saw its biggest spike in coronavirus cases in 24 hours with 6,000 new reported infections, as an estimated 3 million seek shelter from a powerful cyclone and tens of thousands have no work or food. We go to Mumbai for an update from renowned journalist P. Sainath, founder of the People's Archive of Rural India.

We speak with Ben Crump, attorney for the family of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old aspiring nurse who was shot to death by police inside her own apartment. Her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department that details how police shot Taylor at least eight times after they burst into her apartment, unannounced, with a search warrant. The man police were looking for did not live in Taylor's apartment and was reportedly already detained by police when officers arrived at Taylor's residence on the night of March 13. At the time of her killing, Taylor had been working as an emergency medical technician treating COVID-19 patients.