Democracy Now! Ju;y 12, 2002

Police brutality captured on videotape across the country: Police arrest the man who videotaped the scene of a white officer punching an unarmed black teenager in Inglewood, California. And in Oklahoma City, police investigate another police beating of another unarmed black man And then, government researchers to halt study of Hormone Replacement Therapy, taken by millions of older women. We'll have a roundtable discussion. All that and more coming up. 9:01-9:06 Headlines: GANG MEMBER TURNED COMMUNITY LEADER IS GRANTED ASYLUM A Los Angeles judge granted asylum yesterday to Alex Sanchez, a former gang member turned community leader. Alex was facing deportation to his native El Salvador because of his undocumented status. He said a deportation order would be tantamount to an execution order. The Los Angeles Police Department turned Sanchez over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service in 2000 after arresting him on charges that were later dropped. Sanchez was arrested after providing an alibi for a teenager charged with murder; Sanchez said the teenager was at his organization, Homies Unidos, at the time the murder occurred. The youth was arrested by the Ramparts police, well-known for their corruption. Guest: Alex Sanchez, gang member turned community leader NELSON MANDELA WRAPS UP FINAL DAY OF THE AIDS CONFERENCE IN BARCELONA Former South African president Nelson Mandela speaking just moments before this broadcast at the closing ceremony of the fourteenth international AIDS conference in Barcelona, Spain. He and President Clinton closed out the week's summit with Clinton apologizing for not having put more resources into needle exchange. John Riley of Pacifica radio station WBAI is at the Barcelona conference with a quick wrap-up. Tape: Nelson Mandela giving the final account of the AIDS conference Guest: John Reilly, reporter for New York Pacifica Station WBAI's Health Action and activist with Act UP NY 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 9:07-9:20 POLICE BRUTALITY ON VIDEOTAPE ACROSS THE COUNTRY: THE VIDEOGRAPHER WHO CAPTURED FOOTAGE OF POLICE BEATING AN UNARMED TEENAGER IN INGLEWOOD IS ARRESTED; POLICE INVESTIGATE AN OKLAHOMA CITY POLICE BEATING OF ANOTHER UNARMED BLACK MAN Police Thursday arrested Mitch Crooks, the man who videotaped the scene of a white officer smashing the head of a handcuffed black teenager into the trunk of a car. The arrest came on the same day Crooks was supposed to appear before a grand jury. He was approaching CNN for a television interview, when plain-clothed officers drove up to the building and hustled him into a van with tinted windows. A CNN surveillance camera caught the scene on video. It shows Crooks struggling against the officers, screaming for help as the van drove away. The Los Angeles District Attorney's office says Crooks was arrested on warrants for petty theft and driving under the influence with a hit and run. The DA also served him with a subpoena to testify before the Los Angeles County grand jury. Crooks had been expected to appear before the grand jury Thursday morning but failed to show up. Crooks had repeatedly told reporters he was afraid officers would be "coming after'' him for videotaping the beating of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson Chavis from a nearby motel room. Speaking on a radio program Wednesday Crooks said: "I fear for my life. They're going to kick my ass in a cell and take turns on me, probably." Crooks also told reporters the four officers involved in the beating approached his motel room moments after he shot the video, demanding the tape. Jeremy Morse, the officer seen beating Donovan Jackson Chavis, has yet to be charged with a crime. He was suspended on Monday WITH pay. On Thursday, his attorney said the 16-year-old developmentally disabled Jackson took action that QUOTE "required that he be punched." Morse has been the subject of repeated complaints to the Inglewood Police Department. Meanwhile, authorities in Oklahoma City asked the FBI to look into the actions of two officers who were videotaped striking an unarmed African American man 27 times with batons. The police also sprayed him with pepper spray. They said they were trying to arrest the man, Donald Pete, for trying to conceal marijuana by swallowing it. Oklahoma City Police Chief M.T. Berry said the Inglewood incident prompted him to contact the FBI. But he said he does not believe the Oklahoma case rises to the same level of seriousness as the California case. The Police Chief initially defended the officers, saying they acted correctly while handling the arrest on Monday. Guest: Michael ZinZun, Chairperson of the Coalition Against Police Abuse in Los Angeles. He is a former member of the Black Panthers and has brought two successful suits against the LA police department and a third against the Pasadena Police Department. Guest: Roland V. Combs, lawyer for Donald Reed Pete, the unarmed man who was beaten by police in Oklahoma City 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:21-9:40 GOVERNMENT RESEARCHERS HALT STUDY OF HORMONE REPLACE MENT THERAPY TAKEN BY MILLIONS OF OLDER WOMEN: A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION Government researchers have dealt a powerful blow to drug companies, who have for decades forcefully promoted hormone replacement therapy, Hormone replacement therapy is taken by millions of menopausal women in the US. But scientists from the federally funded Women's Health Initiative this week reported that a popular estrogen/progestin pill produced by pharmaceutical mega-company Wyeth-Ayerst significantly increases risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, breast cancer, and blood clots in the lungs. An estimated six million women in the U.S. are currently taking Prempro after being assured that it relieved menopause symptoms, and to prevent bone loss. This announcement comes only two weeks after results from another study showed that estrogen alone does not help protect women heart patients from further heart disease. That study was funded by the pharmaceutical giant Wyeth itself. The marketing of estrogen therapy began in 1966 when a prominent New York gynecologist, Dr. Robert Wilson, published a book called "Feminine Forever." Wilson's bestselling book said that menopause was an illness that could be treated with estrogen, and that the feminine hormone could keep women young, healthy and attractive. Wilson's book begins with an anecdote from a man who asked Wilson to put his wife on estrogen. The man said, "She's driving me nuts. She won't fix meals She picks on me all the time " He pulled a gun from his pocket, and said, "If you don't cure here, I'll kill her." Dr. Wilson reflected, "I have often been haunted by the thought that except for the tiny stream of estrogen this woman might have died a violent death at the hands of her own husband." Dr. Wilson died in 1981, but his son, Ronald Wilson, joins us today on the phone. He has a very different take on the hormone industry. In fact, he has some explosive news about the funding of his father's book and his own family history. Guest: Ron Wilson, son of Dr. Robert Wilson, author of "Feminine Forever", the book that depicted menopause as an illness that could be treated with estrogen Guest: Barbara Seaman, longtime women's health activist. She is the author of many books on the women's health industry including "The Doctor's Case Against the Pill" (one of the first indictments of the birth control pill, published in 1969) and "Women and the Crisis in Sex Hormones." She is working on a book about estrogen with the working title "The Greatest Experiment Ever performed on Women," forthcoming from Hyperion. She is also the co-founder of the National Women's Health Network, which looks at women's health issues from a feminist perspective free from corporate influence. Contact: www.womenshealthnetwork.org Guest: Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya, MPH, MD, member of the American Holistic Medical Association and a physician at the New York Presbyterian Hospital IN STUDIO Links: www.holisticmedicine.org http://www.nccam.nih.gov/http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/Guest: Sylvia Smoller, one of the lead investigators in the Women's Health Initiative study. She is a Ph D in the Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. IN STUDIO Links: www.whi.org www.nhlbi.nih.gov 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58 HRT cont'd 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits