Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-02-05 Thursday

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

Headlines for February 05, 2026; Rep. Khanna Slams DOJ for Not Launching New Probes of Jeffrey Epstein’s “Co-Conspirators”; “Tear Down ICE” & Probe Trump-UAE $500M Crypto Deal: Rep. Ro Khanna; Shot, Harassed & Threatened: U.S. Citizens Describe Surviving Violent Attacks by Immigration Agents; Elon Musk Under Fire for Epstein Links, Grok’s Sexualized AI Deepfakes & SpaceX-xAI Merger

From New York, this is Democracy Now. Every single person who email about going to Epstein's Island, they need to answer some basic questions. Who raped these underage girls from working class families? What did they see? What did they know? Congress member Rokana is calling for further investigation into the Epstein files and for the Justice Department

to release more of them, more of those files related to Jeffrey Epstein, and for Congress to investigate rich and powerful figures who visited the convicted sex offender on his Caribbean island. We'll also look at the congressional fight over funding for ICE and his call for a probe into Trump's crypto dealings with the UAE. Then to testimony from victims of Trump's militarized immigration crackdown. including Marimar Martinez, who was shot five times by a federal immigration agent in Chicago. The mental scars will always be there as a reminder of the time.

My own government attempted to execute me. And when they fell, they choose to vilify me. I am Renee Good. I am Alex Predi. I am Silberio Villegger Gonzalez. I am Key Porter. They should all be here today. Plus, we look at why French police raided the offices of Elon Musk's Social Media Network X as part of a probe into the distribution of child sexual abuse images.

We'll speak to Boston University professor Quinn Slavodian, author of the forthcoming book, Muskism, a guide for the perplexed. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. President Trump's so-called border czar, Tom Holman said Wednesday, 700 federal agents will be leaving Minnesota. Homan cited what he called significant progress, enforcing local officials to cooperate with the federal government's crackdown. Minnesota's governor Tim Walz called the move a step in the right direction,

but demanded a faster drawdown of federal immigration forces. Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota's House of Representatives called for a complete withdrawal, right and quote, there are still more than 2,000 ICE agents terrorizing Minnesota's communities every day. Ice out now, they wrote. Ice agents still far outnumber the Minneapolis Police Department. On Wednesday, Minnesota Teachers' Unions joined a pair of local school districts in a lawsuit to keep federal immigration agents off school property and away from bus stops. Some schools in the Twin Cities have seen up to half of all students remain home during ISIS crackdown. The lawsuit came just after 10-year-old Elizabeth Zuna Kaisiguano walked free from an immigration

jail in Dilley, Texas, alongside her mother after they were seized by ICE nearly a month ago on their way to school in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights. She's reportedly experiencing flu-like symptoms and has broken out with hives, prompting fears over her health amidst an outbreak of measles at the Dilley Ice Jail. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota has removed an attorney from her post after she told the judge, quote, this job sucks, unquote. The attorney, Julie Lay, complained of a crushing workload due to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and the government's refusal to come. comply with court orders. Her complaints came as the American Civil Liberties Union called on the United Nations to investigate the Trump's immigration crackdown, writing, quote,

the Trump administration's egregious crackdown in Minnesota is not only flouting the Constitution, but also United States international human rights obligations that prohibit the use of racial and ethnic profiling, extrajudicial killings, and unlawful use of force against protesters and observers. Unquote. President Trump's former White House advisor, Steve Bannon, calling for ICE agents to be deployed at polling sites during the midterm elections. His comments come just days after President Trump called on Republicans to nationalize voting

in the U.S. And you're damn right. We're going to have ICE surround the polls come November. We're not going to sit here and allow you to steal the country again. And you can whine and cry and throw your toys. out of the pram all you want, but we will never again allow an election to be stolen. In response to former Trump advisor Steve Bannon's comments, Democratic Senator Ed Markey said, quote, this is a red alert moment. We have to start working to protect polling places from Trump's

paramilitary ICE goons before it's too late, unquote. Meanwhile, Republican Congress member Barry Laudermilk said he won't seek. re-election this November, becoming the 29th House Republican incumbent to leave office early or announce a resignation. Republicans currently hold a slim four-seat majority in the House. The U.S. Supreme Court will allow California to use a new congressional map approved by voters. It's designed to flip up to five seats now held by Republicans. On Wednesday, no justice is dissented as the court issued a one-sentence order on its emergency docket often called the court's shadow docket. The brief,

ruling came exactly two months after justice is signed off on a gerrymandered congressional map in Texas, where Republicans expect to pick up five additional house seats. In the Gaza Strip, 25 more Palestinians returned through the Rafa border crossing earlier today. Some of the first to return to the besieged territory since Israel partially reopened the crossing on Monday for the first time in nearly two years. Those returning to Gaza through Rafa described a harrowing journey with severe Israeli restrictions that included hours of interrogation, physical abuse, and the confiscation of personal belongings. One woman was stripped of essential medications along with toys and cell phones for her children and siblings.

On Wednesday, Palestinians gathered to mourn loved ones killed by Israeli tank fire and airstrikes that killed 23 people in a day. Among them was a medic who rushed to help victims of a strike on Khan Yunus and was then killed by a second attack on the same location. We were surprised today by the targeting of our colleague medic, Hussein Al-Semiri, who was martyred while carrying out his humanitarian duty of transporting the wounded from Kan Yunus. These attacks must stop. International law provides protection to providers of health and ambulance services. The Trump administration's moved to approve $6 billion in new arms sales,

to Israel. Representative Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he had just one hour's notice from the Trump administration that it would disregard congressional oversight to approve the weapons transfers. Meek said the administration's repeatedly ignored Congress's constitutional role by refusing to brief lawmakers on Gaza policy while failing to justify its actions. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer is defending his record of helping to arm Israel. Schumer spoke to a breakfast gathering of Jewish leaders in New York Sunday, a day after Israeli attacks killed at least 31 Palestinians in Gaza, including six children.

All the aid that Israel needs, I will continue to fight for it. And we delivered more security assistance to Israel, our ally, under my leadership than ever, ever before. We will keep doing that, everybody. In the UK, six Palestine action protesters were found not guilty Wednesday of aggravated burglary. Even after they admitted to breaking into a factory operated by Israeli defense firm, Elbit. The pro-Palestinian activists had spent 18 months in jail awaiting trial. 18 other alleged Palestine action members are currently awaiting trial scheduled for later this year. The British government has banned Palestine action under its Terrorism Act over direct action

protests against Israel's treatment of Palestinians. A spokesperson for the group defend our juries said, quote, these verdicts are a huge blow to government ministers who've tried to portray Palestine action as a violent group to justify banning it under badly drafted terrorism legislation, unquote. The last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired at midnight. The New START Treaty put limits on each side's missiles, and strategic nuclear warheads. In October, President Trump directed the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 1992. The White House has confirmed that high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear program will take place Friday in the nation of Oman,

instead of in Turkey, as initially planned. Mediators from Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt will propose a deal that includes limits to Iran's enrichment of uranium. Meanwhile, drop-site news is reporting senior U.S. military officials has informed the leadership of a key U.S. ally in the Middle East that President Trump could authorize a U.S. attack on Iran this weekend. Strikes could reportedly start as early as Sunday if the U.S. decides to move forward. On Wednesday, President Trump renewed his threat to attack Iran. He was speaking with NBC's, Tom Yamis. Should the Supreme Leader in Iran be worried right now?

I would say he should be very worried, yeah, he should be. In more news from Iran, CNN's reporting Nobel laureate, Nargis Mohamedi, has gone on hunger strike in prison, where she's been held since her arrest in December for joining a memorial service for a lawyer and human rights activists who was found dead in his office in Iran. There are new revelations about an Abu Dhabi royal purchasing a stake in the Trump family's cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, just days before President Trump's second inauguration. The Wall Street Journal report, Sheikh Tanun bin Zayat Ah, Nakhian, known as the Spy Sheikh, purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for a half a billion dollars. Months later, the Trump administration gave the United Arab Emirates access to tightly guarded artificial intelligence chips. As part of the deal, $31 million was funneled into entities affiliated with the family of Steve Whitkoff, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, who's also a co-founder of World Liberty Financial.

His son, Zach Whitkoff, is currently the CEO of World Liberty Financial. In response, Congressmember Rokane announced he's investigating the deal between World Liberty Financial and Abu Dhabi Royal. In a letter to Zach Wittkoff, Kana wrote, quote, these arrangements are not just a scandal, but may even represent a violation of multiple laws and the United States Constitution. We'll speak with Congress member Rokana after headlines. The Washington Post laid off more than 300 journalists on. almost a third of all of its employees dismantling its sports, local news, and international coverage. The Washington Post Newspaper Guild said in a statement, quote, In just the last three years, the Post workforce has shrunk by roughly 400 people.

Continuing to eliminate workers only stands to weaken the newspaper, drive away readers, and undercut the Post mission to hold power to account without fear or favor. and provide critical information for communities across the region, country, and world, unquote. A reporter dedicated to covering Amazon was among the staffers laid off. The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. The company recently spent $40 million to purchase the rights to a film about First Lady Melania Trump, then spent an additional $35 million. to promote it, making the documentary the most expensive in history.

And a new report by Human Rights Watch says almost three quarters of the world's population is currently living under autocracy. The report warned the United States, China, and Russia are, quote, led by leaders who share open disdain for norms and, quote, wield considerable economic military and diplomatic power, unquote. In reference to the U.S., the report said, quote, Trump's second administration has been marked. from the start by blatant disregard for human rights and egregious violation. This is Philippe Blopian, the executive director of Human Rights Watch. Undermining the trust in elections, the sanctity of elections, going after the judiciary and judges, going after journalists, going after political opponents, going after universities, going after, you know, big law firms, going after.

civil society foundations that are, you know, quicker to be labeled, you know, domestic terrorists. And so we see a sort of very hostile environment in the U.S. and a very rapid decline of the, I would say, the quality of democracy in this country. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. And I'm Narmine Sheikh. Welcome to our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world.

Fallout continues to grow over the Justice Department's release of more than 3 million pages of files related to the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. On Wednesday, Democratic Congressman Roe Kana called for Congress to investigate associates of Epstein named in the files. Mr. Speaker, Thomas Massey and my Epstein Transparency Act led to millions of files being released that have shocked the conscience of the nation. Today, I call for Congress to hold in front of the Oversight Committee every single person who emailed about going to Epstein's Island. They need to answer some basic questions. Who raped these underage girls from working class families? What did they see? What did they know?

What did they participate in? The American people are frustrated with the rich. and powerful getting a different set of justice. There cannot be two tiers of justice in America. And I will not rest until the people who committed these heinous crimes and this heinous behavior are held accountable. Congressman Ro Khanna has also called for the Department of Justice to release more files. More than two and a half million pages remain unreleased. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said the Department's review of the Epstein files is over and that no further prosecutions are expected.

He told Fox News, quote, it isn't a crime to party with Mr. Epstein. Meanwhile, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have criticized the DOJ for failing to redact personal information, including some of their identities, as well as email addresses. And there was a release of nude photos in a statement. One group of survivors said, quote, as survivors, we should. never be the one's name scrutinized and re-traumatized, while Epstein's enablers continue to benefit from secrecy, they said. We go now to Capitol Hill, where we're joined by Democratic Congressmember Rochanna, co-sponsor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Congressmember

Rekhanna, you're about to meet with the DOJ and the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, along with Congress member Massey. You're calling for a continued investigation into the files that were released but were redacted and more files that, well, according to Blanche, they're done with releasing files. So can you explain your response to what has been released and who is protected in the release of these files? Well, what already has been released really is quite disgusting. You have some of the most powerful elites in America, in technology, in finance, in real estate, in politics, emailing Jeffrey Epstein, asking to go to his island. And many, many of these people owe the American people an explanation, and many of them should be investigated about who was being

raped on that island, what they knew, what they did, what they saw. But there are also over three million documents where there have been excessive redactions. One of them, an email where you have someone saying to Jeffrey Epstein that he enjoyed his time with a young girl, and the name of that person who emailed Epstein is redacted. And there's no explanation for that redaction. The redactions are supposed to cover very classified information or cover information that would compromise survivors. The redaction should not be protecting people who actually engaged in criminal behavior or heinous behavior. And Massey and I plan to review the unredacted files. Blanche has said that members of Congress can do that and to ask what the explanation was for the

redactions and the plan is to get rid of the excessive redactions. And Congressman Kana, what do you make of the fact, of course there have been these redactions that actually compromise potential investment? to people who were complicit. And at the same time, as we mentioned, the Wall Street Journal investigation found the Department of Justice failed to redact the full names of 43 victims,

including minors, and 40 photos were published of young girls, women, naked, and in some cases, with their faces visible. It's appalling. It shows their two tears of justice in America. The rich and powerful get to play by one set of rules.

So they were very, very careful, Pam Bondi on down, to say that we want to make sure these rich and powerful people aren't over-exposed. And let's really go through the files so that they're not leaks that compromise them. In fact, some of the documents that compromise Donald Trump, where they had tips about Donald Trump, were quickly pulled down. On the other hand, the review that they had, one-third of the U.S. attorneys do of all of these files, obviously they did not stress. the importance of protecting the victims. How do I know this? Because there are survivors' lawyers who were never consulted, were never brought into the process. There was never any effort to have an independent master review the documents.

And so they were cavalier at best when it comes to the survivors, and they took great lengths to protect some of the rich and powerful people who actually committed the crimes and morally heinous acts. Congressman Kana, what's known, in fact, about the complaints against, as you said, the most rich and powerful people in the world, which includes at the very top President Trump? Well, we know a lot just from what was released. I mean, we know that these people were asking to go to Epstein's island. We know that there were underage girls on that island from working class families that were being raped. We know that there were underage girls and young girls who are being trafficked.

We know that many of the country's elite had no problem corresponding with Epstein well after he was convicted of pedophilia and no problem asking to go to Epstein's island or Epstein's parties well after he was convicted of pedophilia. And I am so offended by Deputy Attorney General Blanche saying, oh, this is just about men who are playboys who are going. going to parties. This is about men who knew that Epstein was abusing and raping young girls saying, I want to show up to parties where these young girls are being paraded or where these young girls are being raped. And this is the American elite. I mean, the question we have to ask ourselves as a nation is how have we produced an elite that is so callow, that is so immature, that is so venal, that has so little scruples and that has such impunity from the rule of law.

What have we done wrong in this country that that is our elite? The law you co-sponsored, Congressman Kana, specifically talked about the document from Alex Acosta when he was U.S. attorney in Florida that named co-conspirators. Can you explain, and it said it had to be released? Can you explain what was released and what wasn't? And what names we know from that time? If that had been taken seriously, the women who talked about being raped and sexually abused and the girls back in 2007, might we not have seen something like a thousand girls and women who were brutalized since?

We would have, and we would have seen those women saved if the FBI had acted in 1996 when Marie Farmer initially launched a complaint. Marie Farmer was called a liar, but now it's come out that the FBI knew of that complaint in 1996 and sat on it. This could have prevented thousands of women, thousands of underage girls being raped and abused. What came out this time on 2007 is that there were 32 plus counts against Epstein. Almost all were dropped other than two counts. We were not given the explanation for why those counts were dropped. that was redacted and withheld. And we were not given the explanation for why some of the co-conspirators were not charged

or who these co-conspirators are. So obviously the Justice Department still is protecting the co-conspirators, and they are protecting their own faulty analysis for dropping all of these charges against Epstein. Congressman Kana, could you talk about some of the people who have agreed to testify in this congressional investigation, which includes now former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will testify later this month? Well, I'm glad President Clinton and Secretary Clinton have agreed to testify.

They should into a congressional subpoena. But that also means that Donald Trump needs to testify. That means people like Bill Gates, who are in these files, need to come before Congress and testify. that means all the real estate folks, finance folks, technology folks who have emails to Epstein saying, when can I come to the island, need to come to Congress and testify and answer questions. What did they know about what was going on on Epstein's Island? Did they ever participate in raping underage girls?

Did they see underage girls being raped? Did they see underage girls being paraded naked at these parties? They can't just hide behind X or Twitter or some softball interview. They need to answer these questions under oath. What exactly does it mean to say you're calling for a continued investigation? And when are you going to meet with Todd Blanche? Some might say he's doing his job. Maybe not as the number two in the Justice Department,

but is the former personal attorney for President Trump? Well, we've requested the meeting. He said on television he's open to meeting. Our teams are working it out. They have been responsive to our request. The goal is to see what other documents need to be released. The goal is to see what investigation needs to be undertaken with the documents that have been released. And then, of course, there's Congress that can continue the investigation on the Oversight Committee, where I sit. Robert Garcia, our ranking member, has done a terrific job about that. And the next administration can make.

sure that there is accountability and the full release. But it's important to realize that this scandal has already had extraordinary reverberations. It may bring down the British government. I mean, Kirstormer is being asked about this in the House of Commons. You had Paul Weiss's chair resign over this, and you're having suddenly a Me Too movement again of people being confronted with the enormously depraved things that took place. in Epstein's Island. I want to ask you about another issue.

We're going to talk about ICE in a moment and what should happen in Congress. But there are new revelations about an Abu Dhabi royal purchasing a stake in the Trump family cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial just days before President Trump took office this time around, the Wall Street Journal reporting that Sheikh Tanun bin Zayed Nayan, known as the spy shake purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for a half a billion dollars. Months later, the UAE winning access to tightly guarded artificial intelligence chips. And the whole story of Steve Whitkoff, the Trump envoy, part of the deal, $31 million funneled into entities affiliated with his family, who's also co-founder of World Liberty Financial and his son, Zach Whitkoff. What's

going on here? You've called for an investigation. This is why we have an emoluments clause. You cannot, as the President of the United States, accept money from foreign governments while making foreign policy. And while this seems complicated, the story is actually pretty simple. You have senior people at UAE buy a huge stake, 49% stake in Trump's kids' family business in cryptocurrency. And at the same time, you have these people from UAE lobbying Trump and Trump's administration to lessen the export controls and allow America to sell the most sensitive technology and chips to UAE. So they're buying into Trump's family business, and then they're asking Trump to sell them America's most sensitive secrets when it comes to chips.

That's why the China Committee is investigating this. You ask, why the China Committee, because our biggest concern is that these chips don't get into the hands of China through UAE or other intermediaries. And here you have a situation that our founders intended to stop with the emoluments clause. I hope that this will not be seen as partisan, but really seen for fundamental transparency. But we really need a new moral vision in this country. I mean, the decline in ethics and transparency has eroded public trust. Congressman Kana, on another issue, let's talk about the fight in Congress over funding for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security following the fatal shooting in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Preti by federal agents.

On Tuesday, the House narrowly passed a funding bill that ended the partial government's shutdown. But the bill only funds the Department of Homeland Security for two more weeks. Time for lawmakers to negotiate new restrictions on immigration enforcement. Tell us, Congressman Kana, what are you calling for? The Democratic Party cannot cave and fund a new agency. The Democratic Party cannot cave and provide new funding to an agency that is killing American citizens. This is why I've called for a 10-point plan. That should be our firm ground.

We need to tear down ice and have a new agency that has oversight with Kempontel. human rights to enforce immigration law. We need to make sure that we get rid of qualified immunity. We need to have a new standard of force. We need to make sure that Nome is impeached. And I have a set of 10 points. And I believe that needs to be the firm ground that the Democrats hold, not an additional dime until they cede to our demands. We're in the right. We can't just fold this time. Congressman Kana, your response to what Trump has said, he was asked in a recent interview on NBC about ice operations in Minnesota. He said, maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough. Your response?

Well, I was in Minneapolis. I mean, you have ice agents patrolling the streets and following people to church. You have them going into the bookstores. You have them going into grocery stores. restaurants, not just to immigrants or children of immigrants, but to seventh, third, and fourth generation, Minnesota and families. So I don't understand what a softer touch looks like. Are they going to follow people to less churches? The reality is they're violating people's constitutional rights. And until we tear down the ICE agency, until we replace the ICE agency with an agency

that is under the Justice Department that follows human rights and constitutional rights, we're not going to solve this. That was how we enforced immigration law. from the New Deal on to George W. Bush, there is no reason that we need an agency that has no accountability to human rights and constitutional law. So you join your fellow Congress member, Ilhan Omar, in calling for the abolition of ICE? I believe it needs to be replaced. I've said, let's tear down the agency. It's not working. It's violating human rights. And let's have an immigration enforcement agency. Everyone believes that we need to enforce immigration laws, But let's have that agency be a new agency that has clear safeguards, that has clear laws about the human rights of detention where people are being detained.

And that is under the Justice Department with oversight from Congress. Congress member Rokana, Democratic Congress member from California, joining us from the Rotunda from Capitol Hill. Coming up, we hear the testimony of victims of Trump's militarized immigration crackdown, including, Martinez, shot five times by a federal immigration agent in Chicago. Back in 20 seconds. It burns too slow you'll lose it. Rapture by Cassie Velazzo performing at the Brooklyn Folk Festival. Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Nermine Scheer. We turn now to some of the powerful voices from Tuesday's hearing on Capitol Hill on U.S. citizens who've experienced violent encounters with federal immigration agents deployed in cities across the U.S.

Three U.S. citizens and the brothers of Renee Good shared harrowing testimony of their experiences as Congressional Democrats promised accountability. Not a single Republican lawmaker showed up to the hearing. Renee Good's brothers, Brent and Luke Ganger, both testified at the hearing with Brent Ganger, reading from his eulogy to his sister, saying Good was, quote, unapologetically hopeful. This is part of Luke's testimony at Tuesday's hearing. My name is Luke Ganger, and I'm here with my brother, Brent. Renee Good is our sister. We're here on behalf of Ney's big family. who loved her. We're here to ask for your help. I was talking to my four-year-old last week when she

noticed I was not doing well. I had to come here today and talk to some important people. She knows that her aunt died and that somebody caused it to happen. She told me that there are no bad people and that everyone makes mistakes. She has Ney's spirit. The deep distress our family feels because of Ney's losses in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress, and desperation for change. In the last few weeks, our family took some consolation, thinking that perhaps Ney's death would bring about change in our country, and it is not. The completely surreal scenes taking place on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation. This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents.

These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever. That was Renee Goods brother, Luke Anger, testifying on Capitol Hill, followed by 30-year-old Mardi Matta Martinez from Chicago. In her testimony, she described her near fatal encounter with Border Patrol agents October 4th. She was on her way to church to drop off clothes for donation when she spotted Border Patrol vehicle in her neighborhood. She says she followed them for about 15 minutes honking her horn, shouting La Migra to warn her neighbors. That's essentially shouting ICE. Then when she was to the left of their vehicle, an agent swerved into her lane, side-swiping her vehicle. This is some of her testimony about what happened next.

I drove forward and went around the Border Patrol agents who jumped out of his car and pointed his gun at me. I moved to the far left lane, striking the curve on the far left side of Ketze. The next thing I knew, I felt a burning sensation in my arms, legs, and that I had been shot by pepper balls, which I also see these agents fire at people in our community. As I continued to drive past the Border Patrol agents, I could hear my back passenger window shattered, and I felt bullets continue to pierce my body. As I attempted to drive to a safe location, I began to feel light-headed. I looked down and I noticed blood gushing out of my arms and legs, and I realized I've been shot multiple times.

At the hospital, I remember seeing multiple agents standing around watching me be treated from my wounds. My arms, legs, and chest were all wrapped in bandages. I had seven bullet holes in my body. I remember the agents rushing the nurses to finish up so they could take me with them. The agents took me from the second hospital to the federal district. detention center in downtown Chicago. I had never even had a parking ticket before and now I was stating in a federal detention center. Just for being the victim in a minor traffic accident, things were surreal. The news in the jail that evening had my story and was being called

a domestic terrorist. I am in a significant pain as I attempt to do things I was easily able to do before October 4. I attend weekly physical therapy sessions to work on these issues and hope one day I can move in the same way I was able to move prior to October 4. I know that what happened to me in the matter of seconds on October 4 will unfortunately be with me for a lifetime. And perhaps even worse, the mental scars will always be there as a reminder of the time. my own government attempted to execute me, and when they fell, they chose to vilify me. I am Renee Good. I am Alex Pready. I am Silberio Villegger Gonzalez. I am Key Porter. They should all be here today. I know each of them would trade my bullet wounds and lifetime of mental distress and a heartbeat to be able to be back with their loved ones this afternoon. And we must also remember the countless other souls who lost their lives at the hands of these entrusted were authority.

That's Marimar Martinez, shot by Border Patrol agent Charles Exam in Chicago on October 4th. After he shot her, the agent sent text messages bragging, quote, I fired five rounds and she had seven holes. Put that in your book, boys, he said. The charges against Martinez were dropped. The next speaker was Danielle Raskon from San Bernard. California. He described an encounter with mass federal immigration agents in August. I am Daniel Raskon, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from SoCal. I'm the eldest of three brothers and

father to a nearly three-week-old baby girl. I operate a for work and currently have my CDLA license and dental assisting certification. I'm not celebrity, but I am loved by many in my community, and there are many that I love and I'm thankful for. The morning of August 16th, 2025 would quickly become unforgettable, especially because my future father-in-law, Francisco Longoria, wanted me to run an errand with him and his son. Jonathan, when all I really wanted to do was just sleep in. We took Jonathan's truck with him sitting in the passenger seat, Francisco driving and me sitting behind Francisco when we were just two minutes away from home. At 8.49 a.m., two unmarked trucks suddenly boxed in our car. I had been looking down at my phone,

but when our car abruptly stopped, I looked up thinking we must be at a red light or in a traffic jam. But to my surprise, I was instead of met with four men in face masks, sunglasses, and baseball caps, and guns drawn pointing straight at us. walking towards our car. These four men then tried forcing their way into our car by pulling on the handles, pounding on the windows and yelling at us to roll down the windows, all while failing to answer our repeated request for their identification and what they wanted. I did not know who these men were.

They were refusing to identify themselves, and the only thing I felt I could do I could control was capturing this event by recording it on my cell phone. There were two men on either side of the car, and they were not wearing any uniform. I cannot tell who these men surrounding our car with guns were. We again asked them to show identification and why they were approaching us with so much aggression. Only seconds after they started pounding on the windows, one of the men broke its driver's side window, punched Francisco in the face, and began reaching into the car. At the same time, a man on the other side of the car broke the passenger window,

where Jonathan was sitting, and began reaching. into the vehicle. They shattered the windows, and in that moment, the whole world felt like it was the size of the inside of our pickup. And we were sitting in harm's way with nothing to do but record the horrifying experience. Terrified for our lives, Francisco brave, excuse me, Francisco bravely drove straight through the only open pathway down the street, hoping to be driving towards safety. When we were instead met with gunfire, After we had passed the men, one of the four men attempted to murder us after we passed by as he fired and made contact with the passenger side of our car multiple times. I will never forget the fear and having to quickly duck my head as the shots were fired at the car.

Any one of those bullets could have killed me or two people that I love. Two weeks later, Daniel Ruscon's home was raided at four in the morning, agents wearing night vision. goggles stormed into his house, training the lasers from their assault rifles onto everyone in Daniel's family, including his pregnant fiancé. His father-in-law Francisco, who had been driving, was then taken into custody in charge with assaulting an officer. He stayed in jail for three months before he was released. A federal judge later dropped the charges against him, believing he had feared for his life. Finally, we turn to the excerpt of Alia Rahman's testimony. She was violently dragged out of her car.

by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis this January, as she was on her way to a medical appointment. My name is Aliyah Rahman, and I am a resident of South Minneapolis. I'm a Bangladeshi American, born in northern Wisconsin, and I'm a disabled person with autism and a traumatic brain injury. Not all autistic brains do this, but mine fixates on sounds, numbers, and patterns. And while what the world saw happened to me exactly three weeks ago today on video was a terrible violation, it is still nothing compared to the horrific practices I saw inside the Whipple Center.

So I am here today with a duty to the people who have not had the privilege of coming home. And I offer this data because these practices must end now. On January 13th, on the way to my 39th appointment at Hennepin County's Traumatic Brain Injury Center, I encountered a traffic jam caused by ice vehicles and no signs indicating how to get around it. I had not wanted to pull into a blocked, chaotic intersection, but verbally agreed to do so and rolled down my window after an agent yelled, move, I will break your effing window! His first instruction. Agents on all sides of my vehicle yelled conflicting threats and instructions that I could not process while watching for pedestrians.

Then the glass of the passenger side window flew across my face. I yelled, I'm disabled at the hands grabbing at me, and an agent said, too late. I felt immersed in a pattern, and I thought of Genoa Donald, an autistic black man, killed by police during a traffic stop in 2021. I remembered Mr. Sliberio Biga-Gonzales, who was killed by ICE in his vehicle last year. an agent pulled a large combat knife in front of my face, which I thought was for cutting me, and later learned was used to cut off my seatbelt. Shooting pain went through my head, neck, and wrists when I hit the ground face first,

and people leaned on my back. I felt the pattern, and I thought of Mr. George Floyd, who was killed four blocks away. I was carried face down through the street by my cuffed arms, and legs while yelling that I had a brain injury and was disabled. I now cannot lift my arms normally. I was never asked for ID, never told I was under arrest, never read my rights, and never charged with a crime. A part of the testimony of Alia Rahman at Tuesday's congressional hearing

on President Trump's militarized crackdown on immigration, No Republican attended that hearing. We'll hear more from Aliyahama next week on Democracy Now. On Tuesday, Vice President Jady Vance was interviewed by the Daily Mail. You apologize? Did you plan to apologize to the family of Alex Pretti? For what? For, you know, labeling him in a session with ill intent.

Well, again, I just described to you what I said about Alex Pretty, which is that he's a guy who showed up with ill intent to an ICE protest. No, but if it is determined that his civil rights were violent, by this FBI investigation, will you apologize? So if this hypothetical leads to that, hypothetical leads to another hypothetical, will I do a thing? Vice President J.D. Vance. Coming up, Boston University professor Quinn Slobodian, author of the forthcoming Buck Muskism, a guide for the perplex. Stay with us.

Rapture by Cassie Velazza performing at the preplexed. the Brooklyn Folk Festival. This is Democracy Now, DemocracyNow. DemocracyNow.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Nirmieh. We end today's show with a look at the latest news on the world's richest man, Elon Musk. This week, French prosecutors have asked Musk to appear for questioning following a police raid on the offices of Musk's social media network, X, in Paris. The raid was part of an investigation into the distribution of child sexual abuse images. The French probe comes on the heels of two separate investigations by the UK and the European Union. Union into Musk's AI tool gronk over sexual deep fakes. Last year, the European Union fined X the

equivalent of $140 million over hate speech and misinformation. Writing on X after the raid in Paris on Tuesday, Musk said, quote, this is a political attack. Earlier this week, Elon Musk also announced SpaceX, his rocket and satellite business has acquired his artificial intelligence startup X-A-I. The estimated $1.25 trillion merger comes, as Musk has said, he wants to build a million solar power data centers in space. Elon Musk also shows up in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files. In one email, he asked Epstein, quote, what day night will be the wildest party on your

island, unquote? He wrote that email on Christmas Day. For more on all of this. We're joined by Boston University Professor of International History, Quinn Slobodian, author of the forthcoming book with Ben Tarnoff. Muskism, a guide for the perplexed. Let's start off, Professor Slobodian, with that raid on Musk's headquarters in Paris. Talk about what happened there. And then we'll talk about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

Yeah, the raid in Paris is the culmination of one-year investigation that began. in last January over algorithm manipulation and foreign interference, and has since expanded, as you suggested, to now seven charges ranging from CSAM to sexualized deepfakes to Holocaust denial and still this question of algorithm manipulation. And it's a part of a kind of a pushback that we're seeing now against Musk that's probably more forceful than anything we've seen to date, the Spanish Prime Minister similarly announced forthcoming plans to ban children on the social media platforms, including Grok and X, and not mentioned, but Malaysia and Indonesia actually blocked Grok in the late of last year, and I've only recently opened it up again, too.

So this is all, I think, a real significant backlash to the decision, which was a business decision that Musk made in late December and early January to encourage users on GROC to use the service to produce artificially generated erotic images of strangers without their consent. And this is something that was done at the rate of, in some cases at its peak, thousands of times an hour, over 2 million images of this kind were created. the Center for Countering Digital Hate estimates that about 20,000 of those were of children. So this is clearly a red line that has been crossed, and especially in the European Union and beyond, there is some significant pushback now against these kind of actions.

Well, Quinn, do you expect that there will be similar actions taken elsewhere, as happened in Paris, and the fact that the problem with X is not just. of course these were particularly egregious, the distribution of sexual deep fakes, as well as the Holocaust denial content. But there's a lot of other extremely damaging and injurious false information that circulates on these platforms. Well, as you mentioned in the intro, there already has been a major fine levied against mosque in December by the European Commission. about the use of the platform to mislead users.

So the use of the blue check verification system, which suggests sources of authority that are not in fact sources of authority, are used to juice the kind of political messages that Musk himself wants to get across, which are now absolutely indistinguishable from the most extreme political demands of the European far-right. Most notably, the demand for the re-migrate, quote-unquote of non-white residents of Europe is something that until very recently was only ever heard on the extreme fringes.

Even a party like the alternative for Germany party wouldn't have used terms like that. And now it's frequently propagated and circulated by Musk in ways that, rightly enough now, parties of the center, the center right, and the center left across Europe feel like has gone from free speech into the space of disinformation and foreign interference. So indeed, I do think that the question of liability now for the kind of actions that are produced as an outcome of speech circulated on X has entered into a new zone of regulation for Europe in a way that it hasn't before. And Quinn, could you also talk about this earlier this week, SpaceX acquiring XAI, This is the largest merger in history, which could potentially make Musk into a trillionaire.

Yeah, this is really extraordinary. The merger of XAI, which is this AI company, which is the parent company of X.com, into SpaceX, produces this $1.5 trillion-dollar valued behemoth, the largest private company by far in the world. And the proportions inside of that company are worth thinking about. So X is only about 1 to 2% of the total value of the Musk empire. And yet we have a disproportionate sort of amount of attention that goes to it. Because I think it plays a disproportionately important role. It is the kind of mouthpiece. It's the platform.

It's the place where Musk is able to deliver his ideology in the most unfiltered way. And it's the place where he does his best to kind of build consent for really what is the extreme far-right position that he's trying to construct a new social reality on the basis of. So the X story is a tiny one inside of the grand story of SpaceX. The grand story of SpaceX is one that, as of last Friday, includes, as alluded to at the top, a request filed with the FCC to launch, quote, unquote, up to one million satellites into orbit around the Earth. To put that in context, at present Starlink, the satellite part of SpaceX, has a few, a bit over 9,000 satellites, which is already 60% of the satellites in orbit.

To raise that up to 1 million is nothing less than the most audacious land grab in human history, in this case a land grab for space, with the idea that that will then become a layer really encasing the earth, of data centers, which will be able to, he hopes, catapult his so far lagging AI company past the competitors and provide universal broadband access for the Earth's citizens below. So the scale of the ambition is really, really breathtaking, in fact. Quinn, before we go, though, I wanted to ask you about the connections between Musk and Epstein, with French prosecutors investigating X for potential complicity in the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, investigating with Europol, you also have this release of millions of pages of documents with

Elon Musk mentioned a number of times. Can you talk about that and maybe make that connection? Sure. Especially during the feud with Trump last year, Musk made a great deal of hay on his own distance from Epstein and his own kind of moral condemnation of him and uses a way to kind of tar his rivals and his opponents in that moment. What we know now, based on the latest cache of documents, is that far from keeping arms distance, he was actually in semi-regular contact with Epstein and made very clear plans to come and visit him on his island to party, as he put it in the emails. So the distance that was claimed to be there was actually nothing of this sort, and he's quite clearly, as enmeshed in this toxic Epstein network, as the very people he was criticizing.

Quinn Slobodian, we're going to talk to you much more about your book when it comes out in the next month's muskism, a guide for the perplex. Quinn Slobodyn is professor of international history at Boston University. We thank you so much for being with us. on Monday, February 23rd, Democracy Now is celebrating our 30th anniversary at Riverside Church in New York. Nermine and I, as well as Juan Gonzalez, who's flying in from Chicago, will be there with hopefully you. Guests will include Angela Davis, Naomi Klein, the Nobel Prize winning Maria Ressa, the great Michael Stipe and the jazz legend, Witton Marsalis, Massaba, Buto, Hahari, for the riffraff, and so many more. You can go to DemocracyNow.org for more information and tickets. That's DemocracyNow.org.

I can't wait to see you there, Nermin. Me too. And a very happy 15th birthday to one Arthur Alcoff. I'm Amy Goodman with Nermin Sheik for another edition of Democracy Now.