Transcription
[Music] Welcome to democracynow.org the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman.
A man hunt is underway for the shooter who killed the conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Kirk founded the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old and played a crucial role in President Trump's 2024 victory. Kirk was speaking outside taking questions from the crowd when he was killed by a single shot fired from a nearby rooftop on campus. Utah Governor Spencer Cox said, quote, "I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination."
Here's Scott Robbins who witnessed the shooting. Absolute horrible event. You know, Charlie Kirk, he goes up there. He even has security pro to protect him from other extremists that have attacked him before um from just debating him civily. And so, people didn't expect that kind of thing to happen.
President Trump blamed the quote radical left for Kirk's death before a suspect has been identified and even tied the shooting to his own assassination attempt. back on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father to the attacks on ICE agents to the vicious murder of a healthc care executive in the streets of New York to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scaliz and three others. Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.
President Trump neglected to mention attacks on Democrats, including the former Democratic Speaker of the Minnesota House, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, who were assassinated in June.
Kirk was shot in the midst of talking about mass shootings. He was asked by an audience member about the number of transgender mass shooters in the country compared to the overall number of mass shooters when a bullet hit him in the neck.
In the past, Charlie Kirk repeatedly praised the Second Amendment and downplayed the seriousness of gun violence. Here's what he said back in April of 2023. You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won't have a single gun death. That is nonsense. It's dril. But I am I I think it's I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of unfortunately some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other god-given rights.
Charlie Kirk's murder comes after the former FBI special agent in charge of Salt Lake City, Matab Sayed, was forced out last month after just six months on the job. We'll have more on this story later in the broadcast.
In Colorado, a student opened fire at a high school, injuring two of his classmates. The gunman died of self-inflicted injuries. Authorities are currently investigating a motive for the attack. On social media, Colorado Governor Jared Pus posted, quote, "We are all praying for the victims and the entire community," he said.
Israeli air strikes hit Yemen Wednesday, killing 35 people and injuring 131. The strikes on the capital SA and the northern province of Aljaf come a day after Israel's strike on Qatar targeting senior Hamas leadership. Yemen's health ministry said Israel attacked civilian and residential areas in SA as well as a government compound in Alj province.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were in response to a Houthi drone attack that struck an airport in southern Israel earlier this week. Qatar's prime minister, Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman bin Jasi Maltani said Wednesday the Israeli strike on Qatar killed any hope for the hostages in Gaza. Speaking with CNN, he also called the deadly strike that killed six people Tuesday an act of state terror and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to be brought to justice.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting President Trump had a tense phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu about his attack onQatar. Trump reportedly told Netanyahu the decision to target Hamas leaders and Qatar wasn't wise, that he was angry he learned about the attack from the US military instead of Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli military reservists and family members of hostages protested and marched towards Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv Wednesday. This is Vicki Conn, the mother of Nimrod Conn, an Israeli hostage held in Gaza. It's not only a march. It's a also a protest that was organized by IDF soldiers that are against the war and they say like we the families of the hostages that we our prime minister need to stop the war and sign a deal that will bring all of the hostages back home.
Israeli forces have killed 22 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn, including 16 in Gaza City. Five Palestinians were killed seeking food. Meanwhile, Al Jazzer is reporting Israel arrested seven fishermen off the coast of Gaza City, holding them in an unknown location. Israel also bombed three homes in the densely populated Shati refugee camp in Gaza. This comes as Israel continues to bomb Gaza City, ordering the evacuation of nearly 1 million people.
On Wednesday, Palestinians searched through rubble and debris at the site of a Gaza City residential tower building that was hit by an Israeli strike. Here's Maggad Sukar, who was sheltering in a tent near the tower. Four tons of explosives hit the tower. Our belongings flew in the air. Our tents are gone. Our money is gone. Our conditions have gotten worse. There's no shelter for us. What does Trump want? What does Netanyahu want?
Members of the Global Simood Flotilla are vowing to continue their efforts to break Israel's siege on Gaza after two of the group ships came under fire, apparently from drone attacks while docked in Tunisia. After initial downplaying the attacks, Tunisia's interior ministry said Wednesday they were premeditated acts but did not name a suspect. Activists have directly implicated Israel with a spokesperson saying there is no other authority that would do such an attack.
On Wednesday, thousands of Tunisians rallied at a beach near Tunis to support the group's efforts to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. We cannot commit ourselves to Palestine without committing ourselves to all the other oppressed. But it begins with Palestine because Palestine crystallizes all the complicities of our governments. All the complicities of our governments and that is why we the people must take the place of our governments because they do not do it. And we people who have never sailed commit ourselves on boats and are going to achieve the impossible. There are dozens of countries represented by the participants in the Simude flotilla. Later in the broadcast, we'll go to Tunisia for an update.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog says he argued with British Prime Minister Kier Starmer during a tough meeting at 10 Downing Street, London Wednesday. Speaking at the Chadam House think tank after the talks, Herzog said Israel's war in Gaza is aimed at quote defending Western values. We are defending Europe. We are defending Western values and the free world with the blood and the tears of our sons and daughters and families. That's what we're doing.
As Israeli President Herzog spoke, protesters gathered outside Chattam House holding signs reading, "Stop the slaughter. Don't listen to war criminals." Meanwhile, the front page headline of the Scottish newspaper, the national read, "Stormer rolls out red carpet for genocide." unquote.
According to Middle East Eye, the Crown Prosecution Services Counterterrorism Division appointed a prosecutor to urgently review an application for an arrest warrant for President Herzog. Palestinian rights group cited his remarks in October 2023, stating all Palestinians in Gaza were unequivocally responsible for the October 7th Hamas attacks. Despite the investigation, UK authorities made no attempt to arrest Herzog.
Poland has invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, calling for consultations with fellow NATO members, including the United States, after at least 19 Russian drones, flew deep into Polish territory overnight Tuesday. The incursion prompted Polish and NATO forces to scramble fighter jets as authorities close major airports. On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Tusk told Parliament, quote, "This situation brings us the closest we've been to open conflict since World War II." Unquote.
In Kev, Ukrainian President Vodimir Zilinski slammed Western leaders for what he called a lack on action against Russia, calling the drone incursion another provocation by Moscow. From the first hour of the night, our military recorded Russian drones moving towards the Polish border. And this movement was not an accident or a mistake, but deliberate movement. The Russians used both our territory and Bellarusian territory to push them into Polish airspace.
This weekend, Bellarus is set to play host to major joint military drills of Russian and Bellarician forces. They are the first such war game since early 2022, right before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Trump administration's considering military strikes on Venezuela if President Nicolas Maduro doesn't step up pressure on drug cartels, according to independent investigative reporter Ken Clippenstein, citing military sources who said the Pentagon's drafting plans to attack Venezuela's military aircraft or to bomb its airfields. This comes just days after Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets buzzed US Navy ships gathering north of Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the Intercept is reporting the 11 people on board the boat in the Caribbean that was destroyed by the US military last week were said to have survived an initial strike and were killed shortly after in follow-up attacks. The boat reportedly turned back toward shore after people on board apparently spotted a military aircraft stalking it. Republican Senator Ran Paul revealed the attack was carried out by a drone. Paul criticized the strike as a breach of long accepted rules of engagement. The Trump administration's claimed without evidence it targeted Venezuelan drug traffickers. Legal experts called the extrajudicial killings acts of murder and a war crime.
British Prime Minister Kier Starmer has fired the UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandolson, over his ties to the disgraced now dead sexual predator, Jeffrey Epstein. A senior foreign office told members of Parliament Mandolen it failed to disclose the extent and depth of his friendship with Epstein when Starr appointed him ambassador. This comes after the tabloid newspaper, The Sun, published a trove of emails revealing Mandlesen urged Epstein to fight for early release from prison after his 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution, writing, quote, "Your friends stay with you and love you," he said.
In Washington, DC, Republican House Oversight Chair James Comr has rejected calls to hear testimony from a forensic handwriting expert about Donald Trump's signature on a birthday letter in Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday book. The note features a nude sketch of a woman and concludes with the words, "May every day be another wonderful secret," unquote. On Wednesday, Comr told reporters the letter has quote absolutely nothing to do with the overall investigation," unquote. This comes a day after the White House said it would support a forensic analysis of the signature amidst Trump's repeated denials that he'd signed it.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans blocked a bid by Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to compel the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.
Three former senior FBI officials who were fired last month are suing FBI Director Cash Patel and the Trump administration, alleging they were let go as part of a campaign of retribution for refusing to demonstrate loyalty to President Trump. Brian Driscoll, the former acting FBI director, Steven Jensen, who ran the Washington field office, and Spencer Evans, who led the Las Vegas field office, are all alleging Patel chose to follow orders from the White House rather than federal law. According to the lawsuit, Driscoll and other top officials tried to stop attempts to fire and punish FBI officials for working on criminal probes of Trump.
In Texas, immigrant rights groups and supporters are demanding the release of an El Pasa DACA recipient after a federal judge terminated her deportation proceedings. Catalina Sochil Santiago is a longtime community organizer who was seized by border patrol agents at the El Paso airport in early August as she was about to board a domestic flight for work. Santiago remains in an ICE jail even after immigration judge Michael Patters ruled on Monday that her DACA status remains valid and that she cannot be deported or moved until federal judges can review her case.
Meanwhile, more than 300 South Korean workers who were rounded up by ICE at a Hyundai plant in Georgia last week are expected to be deported to depart for South Korea today. At a news conference Wednesday, South Korea's president said the incident makes South Korean companies more hesitant to invest in the United States.
And in New York City, mayoral candidate Zran Mamani is calling on FIFA to abandon dynamic pricing for the 2026 men's World Cup as part of his game over greed petition. Here's mom Donnie yesterday. It hurts because we know that while New York City is proud to be one of the hosts of the World Cup final next year, so many of our neighbors will not afford to be able to be there. They will not afford to be able to be there because FIFA is quadrupling the max ticket price that it will charge in order to be in attendance. They will not afford to be able to be there because FIFA is now deciding to use dynamic pricing for the first time in its history. And those are some of the headlines.
This is democracynow.org the Warren Peace Report. Thanks for watching Democracy Now on YouTube. Subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications to make sure you never miss a video. And for more of our audience supported journalism, go to democracynow.org org where you can download our news app, sign up for our newsletter, subscribe to the daily podcast, and so much