The Young Turks - TYT Extended Clip - August 27, 2020

Episode Date: August 28, 2020

Kenosha police are finally giving details to the recent shooting. Ana Kasparian and Benjamin Dixon discuss on The Young Turks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. What's up, everyone, welcome to the young Turks. And joining us today is the wonderful and brilliant Benjamin Dixon, Hosted of Benjamin Dixon podcast. What's up, Ben? How are you?

I'm doing great. You always throw me off with those accolades and all that, the great stuff you say about me. I never know how to respond to that. Well, I mean, it's all true. So you don't have to respond at all. People know it. I know it. You know it.

The American people know it. So thank you for joining us today. Pleasures. Bye. So quick announcements just off the top of the show. And then we'll get to our news today, including updates on the Jacob Blake's shooting. We have a partnership with Aspiration, a wonderful financial institution where you can deposit your money and not worry about them investing it in the fossil fuel industry. They're looking to give away an e-scooter and you can enter for your chance to win.

To learn details, just go to tyt.com slash green summer for more details. Also a few programming notes tonight. Between me and Yugar is canceled for the night because we will be doing live R&C coverage. So again, if you're looking to watch between me and Yugar on Twitch, that will not be happening tonight because we will be providing live coverage of the RNC. You can watch live coverage of the RNC at t.yT.com slash live beginning at 5.30 p.m. Pacific, 8.30 p.m. Eastern. And tonight it'll be hosted by Jank Yugar and Emma Viglin. So last night of the RNC, check it out, check out their info. And one final note, we have started asking you guys to share

and like the stream because that's one of the best ways that you can help support the show and spread the message. We have decided to steal John Iderola's idea from the damage report where if more than a thousand people like and share the stream, I will share Charlie with the audience. What is Charlie up to today? Is he in a good mood? Is he in a bad mood? Is he festive or is he not festive at all? I don't know, you're gonna have to share the stream or like the stream to find out. All right, with that said, let's get to the news. And we're going to start off with some new updates on the Jacob Blake shooting. Three days after the shooting of Jacob Blake in close range, in the back several times, the Wisconsin Department of Justice has released new information

on what allegedly led to Blake getting shot several times in close range, in his back, as he was entering his own vehicle. Now, before I get to those details, let me just note that we've also learned that Blake is still in the hospital. He is suffering from very serious injuries, although he is expected to survive. He's been handcuffed to his hospital bed.

And his father, Jacob Blake, told the press the following. I hate it that he was laying in that bed with the handcuff onto the bed. He can't go anywhere. Why do you have him cuffed to the bed? So that was his statement, but we are learning more about this investigation that's being done by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

So according to CNN, the incident began when a woman called police saying her husband was present and was not supposed to be on the premises. In a police call, dispatcher names Blake and says, quote, he isn't supposed to be there and that he took the complainant's keys and refused to leave. The dispatcher later explained she doesn't have more details because the caller was uncooperative. So the earlier reports in this story, and I want to be clear, there clearly is a 911 call. She called the police, right? So there's evidence of that.

But earlier reports relied heavily on what witnesses saw, and witnesses had said that Jacob Blake was there to break up some sort of dispute between two women. Now, according to what we've learned recently, officers are arrived on the scene and attempted to arrest Blake and used a taser in a failed attempt to stop him, the DCI said. Blake walked around his vehicle, opened the driver's side door, and leaned forward, the agency said. Now, remember, according to the witness who filmed the incident, there were six or seven women shouting at each other on the sidewalk and that Blake did not say anything to the women. So we don't know anything about the other women who are involved

on the scene based on what witnesses said. This statement by the Wisconsin Department of Justice doesn't clarify anything about that, doesn't give us any information about it. But let me give you more about what we've learned. Kenosha police officer Rustin Shesky, who has been with the department for seven years, then fired seven times into Blake's back, the agency said, No other officer fired their weapon. The agency said Blake admitted he had a knife in his possession and law enforcement agents said they recovered a knife from the driver's side floorboard of Blake's vehicle. Now again, I want to go back to what the witness testimony was.

The individual who filmed the shooting had told reporters that the cops were telling him to drop his knife, drop his knife before he got anywhere near his vehicle, but that he didn't see Blake with a knife. Now, there's also an issue with the fact that the Kenosha Police Department does not require its officers to wear body cameras. And I think that that's a problem here because we would obviously need that footage in order to have some actual evidence, some surveillance of what actually happened in the lead up to the shooting. But the explanation from the Wisconsin Department of Justice does not answer several critical questions. For instance, the DCI does not indicate why police move to arrest Blake. We don't know why they wanted to arrest him.

Whether Blake brandished or threatened to use the knife or why Shesky shot so many times into Blake's back. And it does not mention his children in the vehicle or other family members standing feet away. So I mentioned that because we still have many questions. And based on what we know so far, I still don't see a justification for shooting a man several times. in close range in his back. So Ben, I wanted to get your thoughts on what we've learned, what these updates are so far. You know, it's a lot of information and it's a lot of details that can't quite be corroborated, like you said, because they did not have their body cameras on.

And so it really boils down to what people can see in the video from across the street. And as far as I can see, I didn't see a knife. But that says a lot, right? They found the knife in the vehicle, but they were yelling, drop the knife, drop the knife. And it just kind of reminds me of so many scenarios we have with police officers where they say stop resisting, stop resisting. They preemptively say things that they could later use in some type of prosecution against that individual. But all in all, no matter what they have added up to with these details, I have yet to see anything that suggests that this man was a threat to that officer's life such that he would fire seven times. Right, exactly. And so that's really the distinction that's important to keep in mind here,

because the only time a cop is supposed to open fire is if his life is in jeopardy, if the suspect poses some sort of imminent threat to that individual, right? So we saw the video, we saw Blake attempt to calmly enter his vehicle, and we saw that he didn't pose a threat to the police official and the police official shot him in his back. In fact, we learned a little more about the injuries that Jacob Blake is suffering, including multiple injuries in the shooting, like a gunshot wound to one arm, and he had damage to his kidney, liver, and spinal cord. Currently, he is paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors are unsure whether or not his paralysis is permanent. His family is hopeful that he'll make a full recovery. And honestly, I hope he does make a full recovery. And

I want to hear from Jacob Blake. So far, we haven't been able to hear from him because he's been dealing with surgeries. He's probably under a pain medication. So we haven't been able to get a statement from him. We can just basically go off of what we saw with our own eyes. And I'm always a little cautious in believing the narrative coming from the police officers involved, right? Because, of course, they have an interest in trying to protect themselves and defend the actions they took. But it's important to cover this story fairly and give you both sides and tell you what this investigation has found. But again, they haven't answered a lot of questions, including did Jacob Blake have a knife in his hand? Was he threatening the officer with the knife?

Was he posing any type of imminent threat? Those questions have not been answered yet. All right. Well, let's move on to the NBA strikes, which is some inspiring news coming out of awful things that are happening in this country right now. So NBA players have agreed to resume the playoffs after several NBA teams engaged in a strike to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The strikes began with a statement.

from the Milwaukee Bucks. I'll read you a portion of that statement and then we'll watch what they had to say on video. They say despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action. So our focus today cannot be on basketball. They elaborated further in this next video. The past four months have shared a light on the ongoing racial and justices facing our African American community, citizens around the country have been with their voices and platforms to speak out against these wrongdoings. Over the last few days in our home state of Wisconsin, we've seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha and the additional shooting of protesters. Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been

no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball. When we take the court and represent Milwaukee and Wisconsin, we are expected to play at a high level, give maximum effort and hold each other accountable. We hold ourselves to that standard, and in this moment, we are demanding the same from lawmakers and law enforcement. We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officer to be held accountable. For this to occur, it is imperative for the Wisconsin state legislator to reconvene after months of inaction and take up meaningful measures to address issues of police accountability, brutality, and criminal justice reform. So this is something that I'm fully supportive of. Apparently there's been some sort of

negotiation or agreement and the playoffs will continue, although it's unclear when the games will be rescheduled. But Ben, before we get to some more details in regard to other teams that have also engaged in this strike, and I want to be clear, it's a strike, not a boycott. I wanted to get your thoughts. Yeah, that was my first thought, right? I know the players have to call it a boycott because of their collective bargaining agreement, but the media can and should call it what it is. is this is a strike. And I think one of the number one reasons they don't want to label it a strike that being the media and the power structure in this country is because of the power that goes into striking, right? If the people ever realize how much power we have by refusing

our labor and refusing our consumption, then it really would put fear, strike fear in the heart of the ruling elite of this country. Yeah, I think that's a really great point. I think that it's a combination of laziness, you know, not really analyzing the story, properly, but also, you know, the fear of framing it accurately because of what that framing would message to the vast majority of Americans who are frustrated with this system, not just what we're seeing in this country when it comes to police brutality and racism and discrimination, but also when it comes to the way people are treated at the workplace, their wages. Wages have been stagnant for decades. People are struggling right now. And by the way,

we still don't have another round of stimulus from Congress in the middle of this pandemic where tens of millions of people are still jobless. But I do want to give you some more details because the Milwaukee Bucks led to a domino effect with other teams. So for instance, even the, as Boschkarsankara for a piece in the gardening rights, even the Orlando Magic owned by the DeVos family with deep ties to the Donald Trump administration, issued a statement saying that they stand united with the rest of the league. condemning bigotry, racial injustice, and the unwarranted use of violence by police against

people of color. Clippers coach, Doc Rivers, stated poignantly, we keep loving this country and this country doesn't love us back. Raptors Guard Fred Van Fleet told media that in order to bring change, players would have to put something up to lose rather than just make money or visibility. By sitting out games that certainly makes a statement that the players are sick and tired of nothing changing in regard to police brutality against black people in this country. And then other NBA teams and sports leagues followed the lead. So here are some postponed games. Three NBA playoff games are postponed. Six WNBA games were postponed. Three MLB, Major League Baseball games were postponed, and four Major League Soccer games were also postponed.

So this is, you know, an incredible show of solidarity. And I really do love to see it, because while the right wing just wants to dismiss this as nothing more than wealthy people who have nothing to complain about, in reality, a lot of these professional athletes, of course, come from communities and have experienced. firsthand what this type of police brutality looks like. Yeah. You know, Anna, the thing about this is that they are wealthy now, right? And to be sure, they are going to be treated differently in wealthy communities than black people in impoverished communities. But let's be certain, like at the end of the day, if somebody doesn't recognize them, if a police officer doesn't recognize them, and they have not addressed this systemic issue, then they are just as likely to be treated like any poor person in this country, especially a poor black person.

I mean, it reminds me of that huge story regarding the woman who started harassing a black man at Central Park. You know, it was birdwatching, asked the woman to put her dog on a leash, and she, you know, she went ahead and called authorities and pretended as though her life was in danger by this guy. And he's well off. I mean, he's a successful black man living in New York, but it didn't matter in that case, right? The prejudice, the racial profiling that certainly takes place regardless of what the socioeconomic statuses of the individual being targeted. So I think that, yeah, you're absolutely right about that.

And by the way, though the entire NBA playoffs were in doubt, it seems like after discussions, they are back on track. NBA executive VP, Mike Bass, said the following, NBA playoff games for today will not be played is scheduled, we are hopeful to resume games either Friday or Saturday. So that's where we are with that story. But I do think it shows that there is a great deal of power in people standing up and refusing to work until there's actual systemic change, you know, promised and committed to. We got to take a quick break.

When we come back, we'll give you the ridiculous conservative response to these NBA players striking. And later on in the show, we'll talk about the details of the 17-year-old who shot and killed two protesters in Kenosha. We'll be right back. We need to talk about a relatively new show called Un-F-Hing the Republic or UNFTR. As a young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich and powerful.

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Welcome back to TYT, Anna Casparian and Benjamin Dixon with you. I want to read a few member comments and go on to some more of the news that we have for you today. Lieutenant Mack McGee says, yeah, A. don't believe Jacob Blake had a knife. B, even if they thought he did, bringing a knife to a gunfight is a cliche for a reason. It's a good point. One that certainly does not justify shooting him in the back. The thing that gets me, and I think it's the most important piece of evidence in this case, is that he was shot in the back, right? I mean, come on. Anyway, but let's,

And people keep bringing up, like, his record. I don't care. What matters is what happened that day. And we don't know what they were trying to arrest him for yet. So there are a lot of questions that still remain unanswered. Topcat says the behavior by that police department since the shooting doesn't really do anything to improve their reputation. Topcat, you're right about that. And we do have an important story to share with you later on in the rundown that will give you some more details. And Jenks smirking revenge says, after Athletes have a lot to lose by sitting out. You're right, I mean, ask Kaepernick, who didn't even sit out. All he did was Neil for the national anthem, and he lost his entire NFL career as a result of that. Most of these guys don't have millions of dollars guaranteed for years and years, only a small percentage of them do. Yeah, that's a good, that's definitely a good point.

And I don't agree with rejecting any type of substantive political activism or organizing based on how much money individuals make. That doesn't matter. What matters is what's the message? What are they fighting for? And you're correct in that they have something to lose by doing this. And they did it anyway. Okay, so let's talk about the conservative response to the professional athlete strike.

Conservatives reacted to professional athletes striking in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake By attempting to minimize it, one example of that is Jared Kushner, but also Mark Short, who serves as Mike Pence's chief of staff. We're going to get to his statement in just a second, but I just want to know that it would be odd for conservatives to not think that this strike is a big deal when you consider that they're already spending money and resources on bot campaigns on Twitter. Let me show you one of those bot campaigns that was tweeted by Molly Knight. She provided evidence showing all of these individuals, well, all of these bots, essentially tweeting the exact same thing, NBA players owe me money, I taken off work to watch you guys

play your job, never watching NBA again. You know, bots are usually not very sophisticated in their grammar or their language, but you guys get the point. So with that said, let's take a listen to Mark Short. Again, he's Pence's chief of staff and what he had to say about the player's striking. Does Vice President Pence support the NBA players boycott of their season? Look, I don't know that you're going to see the administration way in that one way or the other. In my mind, it's absurd and silly. What you saw from the Professional Basketball Association was a continued acceptance and non-denial or non-speaking out against China's continued abuse. And I'm saying they're continuing to allow NBA players to continue to

support China when they've continued to repress people, continue to persecute people for speaking on their minds. Okay, I understand you're upset about that. They're upset about Jacob Blake. What happened to Jacob Blake? And so why is that absurd? If they want to protest, I don't think we care. If the NBA chooses to boycott, they're in a fortunate position, and a lot of their players get millions of dollars in sour each and every year. I've not heard them being offering to give up their salary. I have a lot to say, but Benjamin, I want to open the floor up to you. to respond to that statement.

So there's a dog whistle in that, right? They're trying to appeal to the darker side of conservatives who would be jealous of black men making that kind of money. Let's just cut to that. That's why the message has been pretty consistent across the board from Jerry Kushner, even the bots, right? And so there's a disdain that they have towards these millionaire athletes because they don't have those type of lifestyles themselves.

But at the end of the day, they actually don't have their money guaranteed. At the end of the day, they lost money last night, right? And at the end of the day, if they weren't prepared for a strike, then some of them could actually be in very precarious positions. So regardless of how much money they make, they made a statement, and I think we should stand behind them. So that's such a good point. And I'm going to be honest about my own ignorance on this because I'm not really big into the sports world. You mentioned that they lost money last night. Can you explain how that works?

Well, I mean, it obviously depends on their contracts, but some of these guys really are dependent on every single check from every single game based on the nature of their contracts. And if they are living a lavish lifestyle, you know, if they get $100,000 per game, I'm just throwing a random number out there, $100,000 per game. And they expect to play those games. Well, they probably are not saving. I mean, they're human beings like the rest of us, right? When we start making a lot of money, we don't really plan out and project that that money could dry up one day. And so if they made those mistakes and they did not get a check to last night. I mean, of course, the check didn't come last night, right?

It's whatever the terms of their contract is. But at the end of the day, you know, some of them don't have the prestigious contracts that the other players have. I want to read a member comment to give us a little more insight into what Milwaukee has dealt with in the past. So N. Lonsker from our member section, and you can become a member by going to t.y.com slash join. writes it and says, a Milwaukee player was tasered and arrested by Milwaukee police last year and is still in a civil rights lawsuit. So if any team was going to lead the charge, Milwaukee would, proud of my hometown, M.K.E. Bucks. All right. So thank you for reminding us about that. I remember talking about that story last

year. And that's a really good point. You know, what I also wanted to mention is how unbelievably disingenuous Republicans, conservatives. anyone in the Trump administration is when they mention human rights violations by China, especially when they, it's amazing when they bring this up, when they talk about the mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims, which by the way, to be sure is true, there's no question. There is terrible treatment toward Uyghur Muslims. You know what other group believes in the terrible treatment of Muslims overall? Republicans, conservatives in this country, especially the Trump administration, who kicked

off his term by doing a Muslim ban, okay? So please spare me the pretend concern for Muslims in China. They also mention how the Chinese government likes to reign terror on anyone who speaks out against them. Oh, you mean kind of like the Trump administration, which sent federal agents to demonstrations in Portland to rein terror on them. Is that what they're talking about? Are they considering that? Of course not. Like their hypocrisy is never ending. And by the way, Ivanka Trump received several patents from China. And immediately after that, Donald Trump and the Trump administration dropped a lawsuit against Huawei, which I think is pretty fascinating as as well. So these are all things to keep in mind as we hear from these liars and grifters.

And with that said, let's hear from one of the biggest liars in the Trump administration, his own son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Just the White House support of the players and the owners in this case? Look, I think that the NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they're able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially. So they have that luxury, which is great. But look, I think with the NBA, there's a lot of activism, and I think that they've put a lot of slogans out. But I think that what we need to do is turn that from slogans and signals to actual action that's going to solve the problem.

We should obviously address what Kushner said there. But I have to say, like, CNBC immediately doing like a split screen with like the stock market. It's like, okay. It's very CNBC. But Ben, what do you think about what Kushner said there? Yeah, I think Kushner is a pretentious little something because he himself has lived a life of luxury that he did not earn. At least these athletes actually earned the lifestyles and the income and the revenues that they get from their labor versus inheritance and capital gains. And so for Jerry Kushner to say this, again, he's trying to appeal to that side of conservatives that are,

envious and quite frankly jealous of these black men, predominantly black men, who are going to make these kind of dollars. And then they're trying to invalidate obviously the significance of their contribution or their sacrifice. And it's going to work on conservatives because all conservatives need is a talking point to cling to. If they can just get a simple talking point, even if it's disingenuous to cling to, they'll run with it. Yeah, and I think it goes beyond the envy regarding their financial success. I think it's also about feeling angry and frustrated about the fact that these players actually have power and they know they have power and they decided to use it, right?

In doing this strike, everyone was discussing it, everyone was listening to what they had to say. You also have to keep in mind that by doing a strike, these are. professional athletes who are idolized by so many people and it could inspire more strikes. So I think that there's a certain level of fear that they're trying to, you know, cover up. But I think they're doing a poor job in trying to do that. So I also want to read a few excerpts from Bosch-Garsenkar's piece in The Guardian because I think he made a lot of great points that specifically respond to the type of criticism that we're hearing from conservatives about these professional athletes. He writes about seven

75% of the NBA is black and many of its athletes come from poor and working class backgrounds. They may have become millionaires in their 20s, but many still identify with those facing the brunt of violence and neglect. As the Toronto Raptors Fred Van Fleet said on Wednesday, we're the oppressed ones and the responsibility falls on us to make a change to stop being oppressed. NBA players might not be ordinary workers, but they have far more in common with the working class communities that nurtured so many of them in childhood, then with the billionaire owners they now work for. What's more to make change? Just like all workers, they have to organize

collectively. And finally, he writes, disruptive action costs the NBA advertisement dollars. This is where the power comes in. And potentially polarized fans, there will be every attempt to control the league's ongoing rank and file rebellion and to neuter its development. So I thought that was a really powerful piece and full disclosure. I work with Bosch-Garsankar at Jacobin, but I think that he was spot on in this particular op-ed that you guys should check out. Any final words? Yeah, no, I had to jump in there because that was an excellent piece by Boscar.

I didn't get a chance to read it in its entirety, but that segment that you read was extremely powerful. I think the most critical part that he said was that we have to recognize that I don't care how much money these guys make. They are still labor. And if their labor is ever cut off, so is their income. And so they do have far more in common with us, even though they may make a million dollars a year or $10 million a year, when their labor ends, their revenue and their

income stream ends, they are not capitalist. They don't make their money off of capital gains. Yep. Yes, yes, you're absolutely right. All right. So, yeah, you know what? Let's move right on to our next story because we're learning more about the 17-year-old, the teenager who shot and killed two protesters in.

Kenosha just a few nights ago. So Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17 year old militia member who shot and killed two protesters and wounded one other in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is now someone that we're learning more and more about. We're learning more details about his history, his past, what motivated him to literally cross state lines with a firearm that he had no business happen. It's illegal for him to have possession of. And we're learning that he had this obsession, absolute obsession with being part of a police department. So let me give you those details and we'll move on. So as the Washington Post reports, neighbors and local institutions paint the picture of a high school dropout who viewed law enforcement officers as his personal heroes.

Growing up in Chicago's far north suburbs, the 17 year old shadowed local law enforcement as a cadet and filled his social media feeds with posts declaring that Blue Lives Matter. Rittenhouse attempted to join the Marine Corps in January but was disqualified from serving after discussing his options with recruiters. Now the person who spoke to the Washington Post about this declined to specify why he was disqualified, citing obvious privacy guidelines. And also, let's keep in mind, he's a minor. He's still considered a minor. So there are certain privacy protections that he gets to enjoy that others don't. Writtenhouse had received a pair of traffic tickets in Kenosha County earlier

this month. Normally, I would not mention this at all, but I think it's relevant given that he got a citation for driving 24 miles per hour over the speed limit on the freeway. But this is the important part, operating without a valid license. This is the exact type of stuff that would be brought up in regard to an unarmed person who gets shot and killed by cops. They'll bring up this type of record and they'll talk about them driving without a valid license. Now, one of the other reasons why I bring up the lack of a valid driver's license is because there's no way he had a license for open carry in Wisconsin because he's underage. Open carry is actually legal in Wisconsin, but you have to be at least 18 years old. And he's not a resident of Wisconsin.

He crossed state lines from Illinois and proceeded to get involved in these shootings that left two people dead and one person injured. Now, with that said, we do have a sought of written house at a Trump rally. Turns out he's also a big Trump supporter. He was in the front. row at what of Trump's rallies earlier this year. Let's take a look. Record levels, record for African Americans, record for Latino, 65-year-old for females. This president doesn't preach. This president gets it done. So Ben, that was a video that he took for his TikTok page. He was in one of the front rows during this rally, this Trump rally. I wanted to get your thoughts on what we're learning

about him so far and whether you think it'll be relevant in protecting him in the obvious defense he's going to try to use to fight this first degree intentional homicide charge. Yeah, one of the first thing I think is they overcharged him. And the reason I think that's relevant is because it's going to be extremely difficult to prove first degree murder in a lot of cases. But, and I'm no attorney, but just following police shootings, vigilante shootings, and these trials over the years, it's a good possibility that they have overcharged him and that he's going to get off because of that charge. And part of me feels like that's the point, right? Part of me feels like they want to charge him for something so egregious that they couldn't

possibly find him guilty of it. That's number one. Number two, I called it yesterday. Before BuzzFeed ever exposed that, I was like, I know without a shadow of a doubt that this is a MAGA hat wearing teenager. And lo and behold, here he is on the front lines. But this says something about Donald Trump as well. Like, we already know this, and I know this is obvious to Everyone, you've been around long enough to know that Donald Trump is not going to condemn this guy. But Donald Trump took this opportunity to say he wants to send in the National Guard and federal agents to suppress the protesters, but has nothing to say about a supporter of his who actually killed two people.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. And by the way, I mean, every single time Trump does get involved. And when he sends federal officials to these protests, we know what happens. I mean, we had night after night after night of violence in Portland, specifically because because there were federal agents in Portland. When the Trump administration finally agreed to take the federal agents out, oh, would you look at that? You know, the violence calmed down and things became a little less chaotic and insane. And I love that you mentioned that point about how they charged him. Because as we're learning more about what happened that night, I think you're

absolutely right. I think it's going to be nearly impossible to prove first degree intentional homicide. And I don't know if it was intentionally done. I think that we can speculate as to what the intentions were there. But I think the burden of proof for that is pretty high. And I don't think that they're going to be able to meet it. But I do also want to say we're learning more and more about these stories every day. We're learning more details about the shooting of Jacob Blake. We're learning more details about written house and what happened on the night when those two protesters were shot and killed. And I wanna really reiterate that if you're an armed militia showing up to this demonstration,

you're looking for trouble. It was just so clear that, oh, we're gonna go ahead and protect property. How about you let the cops do that? You know, the Kenosha police department was asked to deputize citizens, civilians, to protect property. And they said no, but if they said no, then why didn't they do something about the armed militia that showed up with the, in my opinion, sole intent to intimidate the protesters? You show up with like rifles around your chest. Come on. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, go ahead. No, I was going to say that that's the entire point. But we saw that they gave water out to these militia

men. They gave some some thanks and some gratitude to them. And I think one, One thing that we failed to admit to realize is that these police officers, they actually do themselves have a political ideology and it generally falls in line with the militia and not the people who are protesting. Well, we have some evidence of that later in the show. I think you're absolutely right, including the sheriff of the Kenosha Police Department saying some pretty outrageous and toxic things about black people in the community back in 2018.

But I want to end this story with a quick video of Kellyanne Conway, who has. has chosen to reject any idea, any notion that Writtenhouse was inspired by Donald Trump's bigotry, hatred, and promotion of violence. Let's take a look. Is the president calling on his supporters in Kenosha, like, people like Kyle Rittenhouse, to stop the violence? The president wants everybody to stop the violence. And I know you're trying to conflate that individual with President Trump, and you really shouldn't do that, just like Just like CNN should have had a Chiron last night that said mostly peaceful protest with fire in the background.

So that's pretty offensive, Joe. But what about vigilantes? Come on. I mean, what about people who are out in the streets who are supporters of the president, supporter of the idea? Why are you talking about who they may vote for this? Why is, why are you trying to incite more trouble by saying that? It's been documented that there are a number of groups that. Should we talk about the lunatic who shot up Steve Scalise and a person? bunch of other members of Congress and staffers three years ago this past June.

Or the guy who drove for hunting for. Well, you've talked about that plenty, but I don't ever hear you mentioning the other guy. Like, in other words, are we going to play this game where we look at who somebody supports or what color hat they wear to a rally and somehow make us all responsible? Because I can do that. And the legitimacy. Hey, I don't want my supporters participating in violence. He doesn't want anybody to participate in violence. That's why he is calling for law and order, respecting the police saying we're not going to defund the police. Donald Trump literally campaigned in 2016 by telling his supporters at his rallies to physically

assault protesters and that he would pay for their legal fees. I mean, to say that he's never promoted violence is laughable, to say the least. It really is. And the thing about conservatives in general, especially Kelly and County, is that they, under known circumstances will ever admit when they, their side is wrong about something and when their side is guilty of something, no matter how much blood Donald Trump has on his hands because of his language, expressly because of his language, they will never admit it. Meanwhile, we're held to a standard where we can't say something wrong without being considered.

We can't even fight for healthcare, Medicare for all, would I be considered radical? Yeah, you're absolutely right. And I think that we need to really, Normalize the phrase radical right wing because they're much better than we are when it comes to messaging. And they know how to fearmonger, but we're not even fearmongering. I mean, just yesterday Politico published a lengthy piece regarding how the Department of Homeland Security repeatedly warned Donald Trump about right wing extremism in this country and how it was a national security threat. And guess what Donald Trump did? Nothing, nothing. Through his rhetoric and through his actions, he has emboldened radical right wingers to carry out countless acts of violence. I mean, the hate march that took place in Charlottesville, that didn't happen under the Obama

administration. Why do you think it happened almost immediately after Trump was inaugurated? Why? Because he greenlit it. It's because he makes these terrible people feel emboldened. bolden and feel that they have the executive branch on their side. And unfortunately, they do. They do. That's the problem. All right, we got to take a break. When we come back, we'll talk about the police officials and their history with black people

in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and we'll discuss more. At TYT, we frequently talk about all the ways that big tech companies are taking control of our online lives. constantly monitoring us and storing and selling our data. But that doesn't mean we have to let them. It's possible to stay anonymous online and hide your data from the prying eyes of big tech. And one of the best ways is with ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN hides your IP address, making your active ID more difficult to trace and sell the advertisers.

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I promise things and I deliver 1,500 people like the stream. And you're going to get what I promise. So Bubba, say hi. Say hi to the world. Say hello. Say hello. He's so confused. He's like, what are you doing?

You like that? You like saying hi to out? No, you're shy. He's very shy. Okay? He's not like me, okay? He's not an attention whore. Anyway, so what's up guys? Welcome back. Thank you for sharing and liking the stream. We really, really appreciate it. Charlie loves it too, I promise. And I'm going to go ahead and read some comments before we move on to the rest of the news. So from our members section, so Spicy Flanders writes in and says open carry is not legal in Wisconsin. That is not what I read. And I double check that in several sources. We'll double check again because I definitely don't want to spread any type of

misleading information. But from what I've read, open carry, here, I'm going to go ahead and read it right now. So the firearm laws, if a person is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm, it is legal to carry any firearm openly in Wisconsin. But for written house, that is not the case because he was underage. We'll get into those details in just a second. Topcat says, will now be interested in how Michael Jordan will respond as he is an owner. I agree. By the way, while I loved his docu-series, I didn't realize his docu-series was produced by him. So that's just an interesting piece of information that I learned after the fact, but it was still interesting to watch. And Alyssa asks a very concise question about Kellyanne Conway. Didn't she quit?

She did. But unfortunately, she lingers until the end of August. So we're going to have to deal with her for, I guess, a few more days. Anyway, all right, Ben, you ready for some more news? Yeah, let's get to it. All right. Tucker Carlson covered the shootings of two demonstrators. Two demonstrators who were shot and killed by 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, the exact way that you would expect him to, because Tucker Carlson is going to Tucker Carlson. And you're about to see a little bit of that in this next video. We do know why it all happened, though. Kanocia is devolved into anarchy because the authorities in charge of the city abandoned it. People in charge from the governor of Wisconsin on down refused to enforce the law.

They stood back and they watched Kenosha burned. So we really surprised that looting an arson accelerated to murder. How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would? You know, it's really fascinating, Ben, that he has that take when you consider the fact. that you had vigilante, like vigilanteism is not legal, right? They were working with a vigilante group, emboldening them, telling them on tape, we have video proving it, telling them how much they appreciate the militia. And the shooter here, Kyle Rittenhouse, was underage, 17 years old, but he was open carrying

a rifle during this protest. So if you're going to make an argument about how the police stood back and didn't do anything. They specifically didn't do anything about the vigilantes who were specifically there looking to cause trouble. Yeah. Yeah. Tucker Carlson has one job, and that is to provide cover for Nazis, fascists and white supremacists in this country. He does it in the Brooks Brothers suit. He does it with the Ivy League degree. He does it with the clean cut look. But at the end of the day, he is empowering a level of right wing bigotry that is palatable. He is, I think, second only to Donald Trump, probably the most responsible for creating this environment that this young kid,

this young man, 17 year old man, felt emboldened enough to go out there. In addition to the support that he got from the police that were on the ground, the videos that you were talking about, the militia men were admiring the trucks, the tanks. There were tanks on the ground, but Tucker Carlson fails to mention that he leaves that out so that he can create a scenario where everyone thinks there was chaos and lawlessness. So we're going to go through all the various laws that Writtenhouse broke that night. But before we do so, I want to share a video featuring Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Ms. Ginnis, basically arguing that the people at fault here were the protesters who were there past curfew.

Let's watch. Everybody involved was out after the curfew. I'm not going to make a great deal of that. But the point is the curfew's in place to protect. had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened. So the last night, a 17-year-old individual from Antioch, Illinois, was involved in the use of firearms to resolve, excuse me,

to resolve whatever conflict was in place. Okay, so that 17-year-old cross state lines, with an illegally, an illegal weapon because he's underage, he crossed his state lines twice with an illegal weapon. So let's say that. Let's mention that. Let's also mention the fact that he was also out there past curfew with the armed militia members who were given bottles of water and all this complimentary treatment by the cops who were allegedly there to try to keep people safe. So that's an issue as well. And Ben, I want to go through the timeline of what happened based on the video and the evidence that we have so far. I know that the

Daily Caller has been reporting, you know, their version of events that night. For all of the reporters out there who take the Daily Caller seriously, but simultaneously go after Tucker Carlson, please understand that Tucker Carlson founded the Daily Caller and there are a bunch of right wingers who have an agenda and I don't trust their timeline or their version of events at all, okay? But there are some more details that I've looked into myself, that I've like, you know, fact-checked myself that I'm going to get into right now just to give you guys the details of that timeline. Before we do so, though, Ben, I want to open this up to you. Yeah, the thing I need to make sure people understand is that justice is not blind in this country

so long as it is being carried out by people who have an explicit political bias that they go by. They have an ideology and you can see that they're making every effort that they possibly can to give this kid cover despite the fact that he was the one that broke the laws. Exactly. So here's what we know about the timeline so far. And this could change depending on more details, maybe more video evidence that emerges. So as the New York Times reports about 15 minutes before the first shooting, police officers drive past written house and other armed civilians who claim to be protecting a car dealership. and offer water out of appreciation. Rittenhouse walks up to a police vehicle carrying his rifle, his illegal rifle, and talks with the officers. Notice that the cops didn't ask any questions about that weapon, didn't do anything

about that weapon, even though he looks like a teenager, right? It's obvious that maybe you should ask a question about whether or not he's legally obtaining that weapon. He eventually leaves the dealership and is barred by police from returning. Six minutes later, footage shows Rittenhouse being chased by a unknown group of people into the parking lot of another dealership several blocks away. We don't know right now what led to those individuals chasing him down. We don't know what he did to lead to that.

We don't know what kind of altercation ensued. But what we do know is after the fact, the first victim was shot in the head. Okay? While Rittenhouse was being pursued by the group, an unknown gunman fires in the air, though it's unclear why. Rittenhouse returns toward the sound of gunfire as another pursuer lunges toward him from the same direction. Rittenhouse then fires four times and appears to shoot the man in the head. So that was the first shooting. Now, the man that he shot in the head was not armed. So we're talking about one person, a 17 year old with a weapon, you know, across his chest. That's the weapon that he used to shoot and kill two people that night. The person who was

shot in the head did not have a weapon. Okay? Let me continue. Rittenhouse seemed to make a phone call and then flees the scene. Several people chase him. These are people who are trying to disarm him, shouting that's the shooter. As Rittenhouse is running, he trips and falls on the ground. He fires four shots as people rush toward him. One person appears to be hit in the chest and falls to the ground. Another who is carrying a handgun is hit in the arm and runs away. All right. So that's what we know so far.

And anyone who's saying, oh, no, he is a patriot. He was there to protect property. Well, that's interesting because in Wisconsin, you're not allowed to use lethal force to protect property. That's actually a law in the state of Wisconsin. What are the firearm laws? Well, if a person is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm, it is legal to carry any legal firearm openly in Wisconsin.

But Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old militia member who has been arrested and is facing a homicide charge in the matter, was not old enough to legally carry an assault-style rifle he had, according to statutes, which say anyone under 18 who goes armed with a deadly weapon is a is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. So he broke that law, he broke the curfew law, he crossed state lines with an illegal weapon. He is not some innocent person who was trying to be a patriot that night. He's someone who took the lives of two individuals who were protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. So those are the details we have right now. And anyone who's trying to paint him as some sort of angel is being dishonest.

And anyone who's trusting the daily caller with their breakdown of events should really question what the daily caller's agenda is. The postgame is next. Don't miss it. TYT.com slash join. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work. Listen ad-free.

Access members, only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at Apple.com slash TYT. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.