NASCAR Shows Support For Bubba Wallace
VAUSE: Protests continue around the United States. Just hours ago, demonstrators gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House and attempted to topple the statue of former president Andrew Jackson. That led to police trying to push protesters back amid the yelling and chaos. Members of the White House press corps were told to immediately leave the grounds. Oddly, there was no official reason given for the order and we are following this developing story. In Atlanta, tensions are high, after a district attorney charged two police officers in the recent shooting of Rayshard Brooks. One of them is facing 11 charges, including of felony murder. That's not sitting well with many members of the Atlanta police force and a Georgia congressman says the charges are politically motivated. All this as Brooks' family lays his body to rest this week. CNN's Natasha Chen has details.</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some of the people who paid their respects to Rayshard Brooks today may not have known him personally but they say they're all too familiar with his experience.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like the soul of America is really sick, that they have desensitized when it comes to crimes against people of color.</s>CHEN: Outside the church today, not one police officer in sight. A spokesperson for the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church said the Brooks family asked Atlanta police not to be involved in the security for the event. Streets the city planned to shut down to traffic were opened and a private security team escorted the hearse carrying brooks to the church followed by his family. A few hours earlier a full report from the Fulton County medical examiner officially determined his cause of death as homicide. It described two gunshot wounds to the back and said toxicology results are still pending. Also pending is the Georgia Bureau of Investigation report on what happened the night he was shot to death even as the Fulton County District Attorney's Office has done its own investigation and charged the two officers he encountered last week.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are being attacked. These guys are our brothers. We're being attacked by Paul Howard. We do the job to protect. We expect to be protected by our leaders and they've all failed us, all of them.</s>CHEN: Critics including Congressman Doug Collins questioned the felony charge against former officer Garrett Rolfe seen on surveillance video shooting Brooks after Brooks aimed a Taser over his shoulder when he ran away.</s>GOV. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA): What has happened over the past couple of weeks has been wrong. It is time for the district attorney of Fulton County to step aside and have someone -- and to allow the attorney general to appoint an independent prosecutor. You cannot prosecute cases until the investigation is over. You don't do it for politics.</s>PAUL HOWARD, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I think what those protesters and all over the country, they're not demonstrating because they thought Paul Howard did something political. They're demonstrating because citizens in our country continue to die and a high number of those citizens are African Americans.</s>CHEN: But attorneys for Rolfe insist that not only were his actions justified under Georgia law because he was acting in self-defense but that the D.A.'s, quote, "choice" to charge him is justified only by his hopes to improve his performance in the upcoming run-off election. A private funeral will be held Tuesday and the police are being asked not to be involved in security for the event. The family has invited the Atlanta mayor, along with district attorney Paul Howard, to the funeral -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.</s>VAUSE: And we are learning more about the New York City officer suspended without pay after apparently using a chokehold over the weekend. Chokeholds were banned in New York City last week. This latest incident was recorded on video. And a warning: some viewers may this find this disturbing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop choking him, bro! Yo! Stop choking him! Yo, he's choking him. Let him go, bro. Let him go!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, look.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back him up.</s>VAUSE: Sources tell CNN the officer has been on the police force for 15 years and, according to the Civilian Complaint Review Board records, he is described as Hispanic and has eight civilian complaints on his record. He was exonerated in seven of those. One case where he allegedly used a gun to hit someone in the mouth there was a settlement with no admission of liability. Well, fans and drivers came out to support NASCAR's Bubba's Wallace on Monday after they found a noose hanging in his crew's garage. Before the race, Wallace drove onto the track surrendered by the other racers, a powerful display of support for the only person of color in NASCAR's top circuit. Wallace's car was placed symbolically ahead of the other racers and led for one single lap.</s>VAUSE: He finished 14th after running low on fuel -- it was in Florida, I believe. In the U.K. the English Premier League Club is strongly condemning an offensive banner that flew over Monday night's football match at Etihad Stadium in Manchester. CNN's Don Riddell has the information for us.</s>DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the English Premier League, Black Lives Matter. Around the world, those three words have come to represent an awakening. A powerful movement in response to racial injustice, police brutality and oppression. Those words, Black Lives Matter, are on the shirts of the players and on the minds of many. Before Monday night's game at the Etihad Stadium, all players from Manchester City and Burnley took a knee in support of the movement. But before the game had begun, their eyes were drawn to the sky. And the sight of a banner being towed by a plane. The message, white lives matter Burnley. The players could hardly believe what they were seeing. Afterwards, Burnley's captain, Ben Mee, told Sky Sports of the team's disgust.</s>BEN MEE, BURNLEY CAPTAIN: I am ashamed and embarrassed that a small number of our fans have decided to pull that on the stadium and completely miss the point. People are ashamed and embarrassed to see that. And it's not what we are about at all. Missed the point of the whole thing trying to achieve, trying to do. I think these people need to come into the 21st century and educate themselves.</s>RIDDELL (voice-over): Burnley Football Club condemned the banner and the stunt in a strongly worded statement, saying the side strongly condemns the actions of those responsible for the aircraft and offensive banner that flew over the Etihad Stadium. "We wish to make it clear that those responsible are not welcome at Turf Moor." For the record, two goals each help Manchester City to a 5-0 win. The result will extend the title race for at least a few more days. Liverpool, denied the chance to clinch their first Premier League title on Wednesday.</s>RIDDELL: But none of that really seemed to matter on Monday. And while the game and the positive protest movement were only briefly upstaged by a banner in the sky, it goes to show you the extraordinary lengths that some will go to try and silence their voices -- Don Riddell, CNN.</s>VAUSE: Isaac Bryan is director of public policy at the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American studies, he's with us from Los Angeles. Thank you for joining us.</s>ISAAC BRYAN, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, UCLA BUNCHE CENTER: Thank you for having me, John, good to be with you.</s>VAUSE: I just want to pick up the conversation, with reaction to the two racially inflammatory incidents that we've seen, first being the noose left in the garage of the only African American driver at NASCAR, Bubba Wallace. I want you to listen to his reaction and the support he received from race organizers, from pit crews and fellow drivers and fans. Here he is.</s>BUBBA WALLACE, NASCAR DRIVER: All in all, we won today. The pre-race deal --</s>WALLACE: -- the pre-race deal was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to witness in my life. From all the supporters, from drivers, from crew members, everybody here, the baddest fan base -- thank you guys for coming out here.</s>WALLACE: This is truly incredible and I'm proud to be a part of the sport.</s>VAUSE: And then there was the plane flying a banner, that said white lives matter. It was over an English Premier League match and there was a definitive statement from Burnley captain Ben Mee. He said in part, I'm ashamed and embarrassed that a small number of our fans have decided to fly that around the stadium. It does not represent what we are about, the club is about, the players are about and the majority of fans are about. There is always that moment when black society will no longer tolerate something that's been tolerated for a very long time, the N word and desegregation. It could be difficult to judge how genuine the sentiment is. But nonetheless, when it happens, it becomes the norm and those moments tend to be a signpost of cultural shifts. Are we there now?</s>BRYAN: I think that we are and first of all I would like to call out Bubba's professionalism. He's a standup guy and the way he has been leading that sport, the only black man in the top circuit, has been admirable. He wore an "I can't breathe" T-shirt. He pushed for the Confederate flag, to not just be requested not to be brought to events but to be banned by NASCAR. And I think athletes in general are finding this moment to speak out and they are becoming a catalyst for the change that we would all like to see. I think the National Basketball Association, the NFL, Colin Kaepernick and others that really have led this push, laid the platform for others to be vocal. And that is really a special thing, so my heart goes to Bubba seeing that noose but the way he is reacting and the sport behind him is definitely something that inspires us all.</s>VAUSE: And that is the key I think, the leadership within the African American community as well, how they deal with these incidents as they come up and the examples that they set.</s>BRYAN: Yes, I mean the grace of black folks, in the United States and around the world, is unmatched.</s>BRYAN: Especially in moments like this. We really find a way to overcome and we are hoping -- I think that there is enough solidarity in this moment to push for the change that we all deserve.</s>VAUSE: On Monday there were hundreds of people that turned up at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and there was a public viewing of Rayshard Brooks. But I want you to listen to part of the service, here it is.</s>RAPHAEL G. WARNOCK, EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH: It is a tough moment but it is only when it's dark that you can see the stars shine. And in a moment like this, I am seeing a coalition of conscience, of people of all races, who are rising up and saying that we are one people. We're one American people, we are all children of God and we have to not simply say it with our lips but we have to see it lived out through our public policy.</s>VAUSE: And that is the key. There is this movement and then an understanding within the general population but in terms of public policy and lawmakers, especially Republicans in Congress, they seem to be way behind here, way behind the changes which are being demanded.</s>BRYAN: You know, I think that is for sure true. And I think especially at this moment, historically, you heard a lot of, you know, it's time for us to change our heart and change our minds. But now people are really talking about the systemic issues and the public policies that need to be addressed. Republicans are behind for sure. Their are all lives matter in Congress refuse to acknowledge the need for black lives. But even more important than that, is that it is bipartisan, the lack of support, for black lives, are bipartisan. We have a Democratic candidate for as president who adopted the crime bill but he still has not apologized for it. So I think we should call on all of our elected officials and to step up to the plate and give us policies we deserve.</s>VAUSE: We are also hearing from the lawyer for the officer who shot Mr. Brooks. And the defense seems like the officer had feared for his life and the lives of other people, as he was running away without any kind of weapon. It's a pretty standard defense and in the past it would almost be a guarantee to get out of jail, right?</s>BRYAN: Right, we are seeing way too many of these murders, let's call it what it is, these murders on camera, on video, livestreamed, for our entire conscious to be shocked over and over again. I think at this point we are past that. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired and it's time to hold folks accountable and shift the systems to ones that are more equitable that don't result in these lethal outcomes, especially for black people.</s>VAUSE: You know one of the arguments we hear of reform of the police, in terms of the funding, you know, because there are good cops, good guys, just a few bad apples. That doesn't really say why there's a protest in Atlanta, where police are refusing to go to some 9-1-1 calls. In Buffalo, the rest of the riot response team walked out in solidarity when two of their members were suspended after they knocked that 75 year-old protester to the ground. This is, you know a few bad apples but they also have their support with these acts.</s>BRYAN: We are past the individual officer analyses and conversations. This is a systemic problem and it is rooted in the formation of our police departments here in United States. It is rooted in slave catching, in the protection of property rights at the same time as black folks were considered as property. This has been maintained for over 400 years. To the officers that refused to do the job they claim that they are doing, that speaks more broadly to the chokehold that our police unions have on our public officials, our public conscience and our municipal budgets. And we need to hold folks accountable and we need to think at a system level about how we not only reform but divesting from law enforcement and reinvesting in systems of care and opportunity for our communities.</s>VAUSE: We are out of time but I'm curious as to how long this will go on before there has to be some type of real change for the people on the streets. But I guess that's a conversation for another time. Thank you for being with us, I really appreciate it.</s>BRYAN: Thanks for having me, John.</s>VAUSE: Pleasure. Well, days after the U.S. president said he ordered a slowdown in coronavirus testing, White House officials have been downplaying those remarks and saying he was joking. Health experts say the crisis is nothing to laugh about. Then India's dramatic surge, over 100,000 new coronavirus cases have been reported, in just over the last week. More on that in a moment.