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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Im Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh, as we bring you Part 2 of our conversation with civil rights attorney Ben Crump. In Part 1, we talked about Crumps attempts on behalf of the Malcolm X family to get information released by the federal government and the New York Police Department on this 59th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X.

Today, we want to talk about the night of February 3rd, a totally different case. Eboni Pouncy and her friend were entering her friends apartment in Houston, Texas, after they forgot their house key. Suddenly, Houston police officers shot Eboni five times through a window when they arrived. They say they thought they were responding to an alleged break-in. Newly released body-camera footage shows the shooting. You can hear the barrage of bullets.

POLICE OFFICER: Go down. Go down. Go down. Shots fired. Shots fired. OK, go down. Go down.

AMY GOODMAN: Eboni Pouncy spoke to ABC News about being shot.

EBONI POUNCY: I have a baby, a beautiful baby girl. She knows that Im not able to do the things I was able to do before. And Im not able to be as attentive with my baby. Shes only 1. So, thats probably the hardest part. I started seeing holes in the walls as I was standing there. And then I realized it was something coming through the apartment. I thought it was something outside, but it was something coming from outside to inside. I see blood, not necessarily wounds. I see blood everywhere.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, were joined by Eboni Pouncys attorney, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump.

Ben, if you can tell us the story, from what you have gathered? The video footage is astounding of these officers coming up to an apartment, even if they thought there was a break-in. The women had to break the window to get in, because they didnt have their key. But the speed with which they opened fire, not even seeing what theyre shooting.

BENJAMIN CRUMP: Yeah, Amy, its very troubling. Its clearly excessive. I mean, they shot over two dozen rounds. You had the one officer empty her clip, then reload and empty the clip again, all from outside the apartment inside the apartment. And youre right. If there were hostages, if it really was a burglary, you would have shot and potentially killed them, as well. Five bullets hit Eboni Pouncy, this young Black woman, and it is a miracle that she is still alive after being shot in her left chest, her left side of her stomach, her thigh, her leg, all the way down to her feet. I mean, these bullets were just coming at her from every direction. And you saw that both of the officers were shooting from outside the apartment inside the apartment. Every expert weve talked to has said that this is very troubling, that this is a bad shoot. They identified themselves when they first knocked at the door. But Eboni and her friend was in the back of the apartment, and they didnt hear them.

Eboni, who is a law-abiding citizen, never been arrested, had every right to the Second Amendment as any other American citizen. And, you know, we can assume right now in America that the majority of citizens have availed themselves to the Second Amendment and have a right to have a gun and protect their home and their castle. Well, that applies to Black people, too. So it is very troubling that every time a Black person, a law-abiding citizen, has a gun, a police officer assumes that they are a criminal, and that they shoot first and ask questions later. It was the situation, we believe, with Atatiana Jefferson, who they shot into her apartment while she was babysitting her nephew, and killed her. And it reminds a lot of people of Breonna Taylor being killed with all those bullet holes mutilating her body, after they kicked in her front door at 1:00 in the morning, and her boyfriend Kenneth, a law-abiding citizen, had his gun, trying to protect his home.

But this situation in Houston, Texas, with the tragic shooting of Eboni Pouncy, who had to be reinstated to the hospital to remove one of the bullets that was lodged in her body just yesterday, is troubling on every level. And when you listen and watch those bodycam videos, you say, My god, when will they learn?

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Ben Crump, whats happened to the police officers who shot Eboni?

BENJAMIN CRUMP: They have been placed on administrative leave. And thats all we know. They have not received any form of discipline, as we have been made aware of, despite this very graphic, very, very graphic, disturbing bodycam video showing them shooting at least 24 times into the apartment. They believe it may have been as many times as 30 rounds.

AMY GOODMAN: And lets be clear, they were in this apartment complex for something totally different, and someone said, Go check out whats happening there. One of the highly disturbing things is you see that the shades are almost totally drawn. And so, when theyre shooting, they can hardly see what is inside. Explain then what happens. Explain theyre two girlfriends, and the one who has the apartment, she goes out with her hands up. I mean, what happens after they shoot Eboni?

BENJAMIN CRUMP: Yeah, after Eboni has been shot, the other occupant comes out with her hands up. And she is literally saying to them, you know, We live here. Dont shoot. Please dont shoot. We live here.

And remember, when they start the shooting, they give no verbal commands. They say, Drop the gun, and as theyre saying that, they are shooting. And so, whatever verbal commands they gave, they did not give them time to acquiesce to the commands. They literally say, as theyre shooting, Drop the gun.

And Eboni, as youve heard her say in the interviews, did not know what was going on. They thought that they were being robbed, that they were being burglarized. And just like in Breonna Taylors case, theyre asleep in the back of their apartment. Police are around the house making noise. They dont know if its a burglar or not.

Why cant the police give verbal commands, give Black people time to respond, so they know if its truly a criminal situation or not, before they shoot first and ask questions later? And wheres the NRA? Where are the gun rights advocates when innocent Black people are shot by police officers? Why arent they coming to say that, Hold on, this was a law-abiding citizen who had the right to the Second Amendment also?

AMY GOODMAN: And to be clear, youre saying that Eboni they were at the back of the apartment. They hear commotion. And Eboni has a gun. And they come forward to see what the heck is going on: Is someone breaking into their apartment?

BENJAMIN CRUMP: Exactly. And in the state of Texas, you can have a gun for your protection. Theyve passed so many laws to give citizens the right to bear arms and protect themselves. So, Eboni was doing what every other citizen in the state of Texas had the right to do. But because she was a woman of color, seems like her having a gun presented a problem to the Harris County sheriffs deputies.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Ben Crump, we want to thank you so much for being with us, civil rights attorney, representing Eboni Pouncy, who was shot five times by Houston police in her own friends apartment. To see Part 1 of our discussion with Ben about the assassination of Malcolm X and why the federal government and New York City police are not revealing all the information they have about this assassination 59 years ago, go to democracynow.org. Im Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Thanks so much for joining us.

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Ben Crump: Houston Police Shoot Eboni Pouncy in Friend's Apartment in Case Compared to Breonna Taylor - Democracy Now!

The 2023 edition of the Economist Intelligence Units (EIU) Democracy Index reports continued overall democratic stagnation and regression in a period characterized by growing geopolitical confrontation and the apparent powerlessness of democracies to stop violent conflict and war.

According to the 2023 Democracy Index 7.8% of the worlds population in 24 countries live in a full democracy, 37.6% in 50 countries in a flawed democracy, 15.2% in 34 countries in a hybrid regime, and 39.4% in 59 countries in an authoritarian regime. The global average score in 2023 fell from 5.29 to 5.23 compared to 2022, marking the lowest score since the index was started in 2006, and confirming a general trend of regression and stagnation in recent years according to the Economists researchers.

Greece was one of only four countries globally which registered an upgrade of classification, stepping up from flawed to full democracy after continuous efforts by Greek authorities to facilitate diaspora voting. With Chile on the other hand dropping down to flawed democracy, the total number of countries classified as full democracies remained the same. Papua New Guinea and Paraguay moved up from hybrid regimes to flawed democracies and Angola from authoritarian to hybrid regime.

From a regional perspective, western Europe, containing 15 of the 24 full democracies worldwide, was the only region to improve its average score, up from 8.36 in 2022 to 8.37 in 2023, thus overtaking North America (US and Canada, dropping from 8.37 to 8.27) as the highest ranked region. The worst performing regions were the Middle East and North Africa (down to 3.23 from 3.34) and Sub-Saharan Africa (down to 4.04 from 4.14), with Mauritius (8.14) standing out as the only full democracy. Latin America and the Caribbean experienced the eighth successive year of democratic decline, with an average score of 5.68 in 2023 compared to 5.79 in 2022.

Particularly noteworthy were deteriorations in the subregion of Central America, experiencing the biggest regression of all subregions, driven by declines in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras. A notable exception in this subregion is Costa Rica, which remains at a high 8.29 since 2022, and other than Uruguay the only country in Latin America to be classified as a full democracy. The region of Asia and Australasia, containing five full democracies (Australia, Japan, New Zeeland, South Korea & Taiwan), went down from 5.46 to 5.41 while the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia went down to 5.37 from 5.39.

A special essay included in the report provides a discussion on the evolution of war and peace in the post-World War II era, the relationship between peace and democracy, and geopolitical drivers of global conflict.

While post-Cold War conflicts have decreased compared to 1946-1991, recent years show a rise in conflicts, with 2022 seeing the highest combatant deaths since the 1980s, the report says. This suggests an era of increasing danger. The report argues that there is evidence that supports the democratic peace theory, which claims democracies are less prone to war, leading to the conclusion that the promotion of democracy could help bring about a more peaceful world.

While the democracy-peace link is evident, oversimplification may ignore other conflict drivers beyond democracys absence. Not only can lack of democracy heighten conflict risk, but rising conflicts might also weaken democracies. These conflicts, driven by geopolitical dynamics, signal a destabilizing global order and the looming threat of major power clashes. The report poitns out that the contours of a future major war are already visible.

The report argues that a reluctance on the part of the United States and Western powers to help reform the international system contributes to polarization and conflict. For too long, necessary changes to international institutions have been neglected, the essay points out. The international political system needs to be reorganised, the essay notes, and the most powerful states need to relinquish their near-monopoly over decision-making. This could be done while the values of democracy and freedom are upheld and without appeasing autocrats or violators of international law.

EIUs Democracy Index has been published annually since 2006. It makes an assessment of the state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories, only microstates are excluded. Each country receives a score on a scale from 0-10 based on a range of indicators within five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government, political participation; and political culture. Based on the average score the measured countries end up in one of four categories: full democracies (with a score of 8+ to 10); flawed democracies (6+ to 8); hybrid regimes (4+ to 6); and authoritarian regimes (0 to 4). The level of democracy in organizations of transnational governance, such as the European Union or the United Nations, is not covered.

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EIU 2023 democracy report: regression in an age of conflict - Democracy Without Borders

U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher was a rising star in the Wisconsin Republican Party before Feb. 10, when he suddenly announced his plans to retire.

Heavily recruited to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, he was seen by top Republican strategists as their best shot to block Baldwin for a third term, according toPolitico.

In a closely divided purple state, Gallagher looked like the rare Republican who could break out beyond the hardcore base and match Baldwins strength garnering bipartisan support to win statewide elections. Young, friendly, a Marine Corps veteran with a forthright style and a reputation for seeking bipartisan consensus as the chair of a committee investigating China, Gallagher was widely perceived as the face of the Wisconsin Republican Partys future.

But that was before last weeks failed vote to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a political stunt Gallagher refused to join. He enraged his pro-Trump colleagues with his sensible rejection of their effort to pin the entire broken U.S. immigration system on Mayorkas. He knew Mayorkas had been working on the bipartisan border security deal with Republicans before they reversed course and shot the whole thing down at the behest of former President Donald Trump, who wants to use border security as a wedge issue in the 2024 election. In aWall Street Journalopinion piece, he explained why he didnt believe in pursuing impeachment efforts aimed at maladministration. While repeating his partys hawkish talking points on immigration, he pointed out that none of their complaints against Mayorkas rose to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Gallaghers refusal to go along sank the impeachment effort, which lost by a single vote. Immediately, MAGA political consultant Alex Bruesewitz announced he was launching aprimary challengeagainst Gallagher.

Gallagher denies there is any relationship between the challenge from the right and his decision to leave Congress. But all of the Republican candidates whoimmediately expressed interestin running for his seat are Trump loyalists.

Gallagher is no progressive. He supported the U.S. Supreme Court decision ending federally protected abortion rights, saying the power to make abortion law should have always rested with elected officials, and he hasavoided stating his positionon a national abortion ban. He was astaunch opponentof President Joe Bidens efforts to help Americans struggling with student loan debt.

His district in northeast Wisconsin, whileheavily Republican, is also home to increasingly Democratic Green Bay and Democrats had been considering mounting a serious challenge there for the first time in years, specifically focusing on the abortion issue, with OB-GYN Dr. Kristin Lyerly considering a run against Gallagher. When Gallagher stepped down, state Democrats put out a statement saying they look forward to competing in the 8th and bringing some stability and competence back to the House.

Well see how that goes and whether the national Democratic Party decides to invest money in even more winnable House seats including the 3rd Congressional District in Wisconsin, which it failed to do last time around.

But the upshot of Gallaghers departure is that Wisconsin is losing a voice of sanity within the increasingly Trump-captured Republican Party.

Thats bad news. Gallaghers rejection of the Jan. 6 insurrection, which he memorably referred to as banana republic crap, was an important moment of truth and courage in a time of dangerous political cowardice.

Although he ultimately voted against impeaching Trump (and wasaccusedby former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), a member of the select committee that investigated Jan. 6, of acting out of fear that a vote to impeach would ruin his chances of being reelected) Gallagher called out his colleagues who were spreading the Big Lie.

In a forcefulvideohe posted while locked in his office during the Capitol attack, Gallagher addressed the Republican members of Congress who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election.

The objectors, over the last two days, have told me there is no problem having a debate: We know were not going to succeed. So were just going to object. Were going to have a debate, Gallagher said in the video, adding that other Republicans claimed, There will be no cost to this effort.

This is the cost of this effort! he declared, as protesters stormed the halls outside his office, clashing with Capitol Police, while Vice President Mike Pence was hustled to safety. This is the cost of countenancing an effort by Congress to overturn the election and telling thousands of people that there is a legitimate shot of overturning the election today, even though you know that is not true, Gallagher said.

He called on Trump to stop the insurrection. Call it off, he said. This is bigger than you. It is bigger than any member of Congress. It is about the United States of America, which is more important than any politician.

We are going to miss having a Republican member of Congress who still believes that.

This column was originally published in the Wisconsin Examiner.

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Mike Gallaghers departure is a bad sign for democracy - Nevada Current

Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, who according to Russian authorities died in prison on Friday at the age of forty-seven, was by far the most popular and effective opposition leader to challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin during his almost quarter century in power. Navalnys death at the hands of the state represents an immense setback to Russias democracy movement, but that movement has always been much bigger than just one man and will go on without him. The strategies and messages that Navalny developed for fighting the Putin regime have spread to a diverse group of Russian pro-democracy actors. That movement has proved itself resilient and able to adapt to more than a decade of increasingly harsh repression, and it will adapt to this devastating development as well. Martyrdom is an extremely powerful political narrative, and this cruel tragedy will likely cause many other Russians to devote still more effort to the struggle for freedom.

The circumstances of Navalnys death remain unclear, but whatever details may be revealed, there can be no question that responsibility lies squarely with the regime that unjustly imprisoned him and with Putin personally. The Russian states intention to murder Navalny slowly was apparent as it held him prisoner for the last three years: It tortured him and denied him adequate medical care, even as his health deteriorated from the brutal conditions of his incarceration and from the side effects of his exposure to a deadly nerve agent during a 2020 assassination attempt by Russian security services.

Navalnys rise to public prominence was a result of his insight that the Putin regimes pervasive and massive corruption posed a major political liability. His skill as a corruption investigator enabled him to expose the eye-catching, gaudy excesses on which Russias political elites frittered away the enormous wealth they stole from the Russian people. His skill as a political communicatorthe clear charisma that shone through the clever, entertaining videos he producedbrought the results of his investigations to mass audiences in Russia and around the world. As his political career developed, his critiques of the Putin regime broadened to include its widespread human rights abuses and its brutal military interventions in Ukraine and Syria.

Navalny emerged as an important political leader during Russias Bolotnaya protests of 2011-2012, as Russians took to the street over Putins return to a third term as president. This year, on the cusp of a fifth Putin term, Russias rapid descent into repression and militarism could make Navalnys vision for a democratic and peaceful Russia seem further than ever from realization. Yet Navalnys activism since 2011 has also contributed to the development of a broader democratic movement capable of continuing without him.

While Navalnys personal popularity at times drew criticism of a personalistic style of politics, in truth his political strategy always centered on movement-building. In 2013, his highly competitive campaign for Moscow mayor attracted thousands of volunteers and launched the political careers of several other oppositionists who have gone on to become important figures in their own right. In 2018, his shadow campaign for president (which he continued even after being denied access to the ballot) built a nationwide network of dozens of local offices spanning Russias huge territory that continued after the election to serve as incubators of local political and civic activism. The Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK)the nongovernmental organization Navalny founded to carry out corruption investigations and raise public awareness of how Putins elite have looted Russia for decadeshas continued to produce high-impact investigations during his imprisonment. Despite a 2021 extremist designation that forced FBK into exile as several staff were jailed, the organization remains one of the most important in Russian civil society. FBKs Navalny Live YouTube channel is one of Russias most popular, reaching millions of Russians each month. Beyond those with direct connections to Navalny are thousands more (overwhelmingly young) Russian activists who were inspired by Navalnys work to make their own efforts to build the better future for their country. He built a movement that was bigger than himself.

This is the legacy Navalny leaves for Russian society. His vision, his political skills, and his personal courage helped sustain Russias democratic movement through a period of sharply intensifying repression. Perhaps his most important political insight was his recognition of how his own moral leadershipthe sacrifices of his health and freedom he was willing to make on behalf of his causecould cut through the cynicism that so often dominates Russian political life. His martyrdom magnifies that moral leadership immeasurably.

In an interview shown in the 2022 Oscar-winning documentary about his work, Navalny is asked what message he would want to send in the event that he is killed. His message, he responds, is a simple one: You are not allowed to give up. If they [decide to kill me], it means that we are incredibly strong. We need to use this power . . . All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.This simple but powerful sentiment that has guided Navalnys life has become an even more powerful message in his deathone capable of inspiring Russians to even greater efforts to build a better future.

Dylan Myles-Primakoff is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Eurasia Center and a senior manager for Eurasia Programs at the National Endowment for Democracy.

Image: Supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny attend a rally in Moscow, Russia October 7, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

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Russia's democracy movement will survive the death of Navalny - Atlantic Council

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Community Voices: Getting rid of democracy will only make things worse - The Bakersfield Californian