1
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Do you know what this is?

2
00:00:38,288 --> 00:00:40,790
It's for Marsha. Marsha Johnson.

3
00:00:40,874 --> 00:00:43,543
- Who's that?
- Well, she was, um...

4
00:00:44,919 --> 00:00:47,964
a transvestite from the Village
who recently died.

5
00:00:48,047 --> 00:00:49,799
She was a big activist.

6
00:00:52,802 --> 00:00:56,598
Um, we're not sure how she died yet.
Murder, maybe?

7
00:00:59,893 --> 00:01:02,937
Marsha Johnson,
a veteran of the Stonewall riots,

8
00:01:03,021 --> 00:01:05,690
and a prominent figure
among transvestites,

9
00:01:05,774 --> 00:01:08,860
was found dead in the river
near Christopher Street, Monday morning.

10
00:01:16,701 --> 00:01:19,829
Marsha, whose real name
was Malcolm Michaels Jr.,

11
00:01:19,913 --> 00:01:21,915
was last seen alive on Thursday.

12
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The police lists suicide
as the cause of death,

13
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but community leaders cite
a lack of evidence,

14
00:01:34,511 --> 00:01:38,014
and charge that police
have yet to begin an investigation

15
00:01:38,097 --> 00:01:41,309
into the death of this beloved founder
of the gay movement.

16
00:01:41,392 --> 00:01:44,604
A demonstration is planned
for next week on Christopher Street.

17
00:01:44,687 --> 00:01:49,400
Marsha was 46 years old and is survived
by four brothers and two sisters.

18
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She will be greatly missed.

19
00:02:32,986 --> 00:02:34,737
Do we have everyone?

20
00:02:34,821 --> 00:02:38,366
Let's start with the most recent incident,
which happened over the weekend.

21
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A 35-year-old transgender woman
was attacked

22
00:02:41,244 --> 00:02:43,913
outside of her home
in Jackson Heights, Queens.

23
00:02:43,997 --> 00:02:46,833
Um, last we heard was that the survivor

24
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is not yet conscious
or able to communicate,

25
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and they've not been in a position
where we could offer support.

26
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She had her head smashed
against the curb of a sidewalk

27
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by, uh, someone who has fled
and has not yet been apprehended.

28
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Keep us posted.

29
00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:03,975
And let us know
what you need.

30
00:03:04,976 --> 00:03:07,687
Remember, the Nettles case is back
in court this Friday.

31
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Yeah, we'll be there.

32
00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:26,623
I've been working for the LGBTQ
Anti-Violence project for many years,

33
00:03:26,706 --> 00:03:28,833
and I'm about to retire.

34
00:03:30,001 --> 00:03:34,047
But there's a massive number
of trans women who have been murdered,

35
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and their cases have just gone cold.

36
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And they're yelling out
from their graves...

37
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for justice.

38
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Most of them were unknown,

39
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but even famous people, cases go cold,
just like Marsha.

40
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Marsha was famous all around the world.

41
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Her case has been cold for 25 years.

42
00:04:00,365 --> 00:04:02,659
If we can't bring justice for Marsha,

43
00:04:02,742 --> 00:04:06,537
how can we bring justice
for all these other unsolved cases?

44
00:04:09,832 --> 00:04:13,378
I wanna try to give Marsha justice
before I leave.

45
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This is the memorial
that the street people laid down,

46
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where they laid Marsha's body
when they pulled Marsha out of the water.

47
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Right over the edge here.

48
00:04:40,947 --> 00:04:42,323
You're looking for '92, right?

49
00:04:42,407 --> 00:04:44,867
It was July of '92.

50
00:04:45,576 --> 00:04:48,830
Everyone knew Marsha.
Marsha was so full of life.

51
00:04:48,913 --> 00:04:51,291
It's hard for me to believe
that she would commit suicide.

52
00:04:56,379 --> 00:04:58,464
Yeah, this is her case.

53
00:05:10,059 --> 00:05:12,687
- I was there when they pulled her out.
- Yeah?

54
00:05:12,770 --> 00:05:15,148
Where did you see her floating?

55
00:05:15,231 --> 00:05:16,482
Right over there.

56
00:05:16,566 --> 00:05:19,402
She was about this...
Right there, let's say.

57
00:05:19,485 --> 00:05:21,529
And the head was up
and the feet were down.

58
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She wasn't floating flat,
she was floating down.

59
00:05:24,449 --> 00:05:26,075
And she had a hole in her head.

60
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How do you know
she had a hole in her head?

61
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- I could see it.
- Really?

62
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- You can't judge that...
- It could be the fish...

63
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I'm just saying it was a hole.
I'm not saying what happened.

64
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All I'm telling you is what I saw.

65
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She didn't look anything like we knew her.

66
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Isn't this calming
and nice to come here?

67
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They set aside this whole pier for us
so we could come and relax here.

68
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Marsha!

69
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Marsha Johnson,
Queen of the Village. One of the great...

70
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This is one of the most courageous people
in the world.

71
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I've always loved...

72
00:06:36,270 --> 00:06:39,023
I always wanted to put on drag
and I never had the courage.

73
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This is one of the people
that has the courage.

74
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And bravo for him. Her.
Or whatever he wants to be.

75
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And not only that, he doesn't give a shit

76
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whether he wears men's clothes
or women's clothes.

77
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- Right? He's totally free.
- Right. That's right.

78
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If he feels like going out as a man,
he goes out as a man.

79
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- He feels like a woman, he's a woman.
- How do you know all this?

80
00:06:58,084 --> 00:07:01,587
If he feels like wearing roller skates,
he wears roller skates. Whatever.

81
00:07:01,671 --> 00:07:03,506
I know Marsha Johnson.

82
00:07:03,589 --> 00:07:08,553
Marsha Johnson is our queen forever.

83
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You have reached
the Office of Chief Medical Examiner

84
00:07:18,438 --> 00:07:19,981
for the City of New York.

85
00:07:20,773 --> 00:07:22,650
My name is Victoria Cruz

86
00:07:22,733 --> 00:07:28,823
and I'm inquiring about a Malcolm Michaels
who was found dead in 1992.

87
00:07:28,906 --> 00:07:30,575
There was an autopsy.

88
00:07:30,658 --> 00:07:33,911
How would I be able to get
this particular information?

89
00:07:33,995 --> 00:07:35,496
Are you calling
from the media or...

90
00:07:35,580 --> 00:07:38,749
I'm calling from the Anti-Violence Project
here in New York City.

91
00:07:38,833 --> 00:07:41,461
I can give you the cause of death
and the manner of death.

92
00:07:41,544 --> 00:07:43,838
You would not be entitled
to a full autopsy report.

93
00:07:43,921 --> 00:07:46,174
If you're looking for all that paperwork,

94
00:07:46,257 --> 00:07:49,093
then the family needs to request it
in a written letter,

95
00:07:49,177 --> 00:07:51,345
and you can get the record that way.

96
00:08:02,023 --> 00:08:03,357
907.

97
00:08:08,070 --> 00:08:10,656
"The Michaels family."

98
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How are you?

99
00:08:15,661 --> 00:08:17,663
- Pleased to meet you.
- Pleased to meet you, too.

100
00:08:17,747 --> 00:08:20,124
Here, I'll take this one
'cause it's much easier to get up from.

101
00:08:20,208 --> 00:08:21,459
- Okay.
- Okay, go ahead.

102
00:08:21,542 --> 00:08:22,543
Okay.

103
00:08:23,336 --> 00:08:24,462
What do you know about the case?

104
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I really don't know anything.

105
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All we know is that
they found him in the river.

106
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We really don't know anything about that.

107
00:08:32,136 --> 00:08:33,971
That's what
we're investigating,

108
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'cause we have eyewitnesses
that report seeing him... her...

109
00:08:38,976 --> 00:08:41,646
What do you prefer me...
for me to call Marsha?

110
00:08:41,729 --> 00:08:43,481
- It doesn't matter. Okay.
- Okay.

111
00:08:43,564 --> 00:08:46,234
When was the last time you saw her alive?

112
00:08:46,317 --> 00:08:47,860
We saw her before the Fourth of July.

113
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- Monday? Tuesday?
- I don't know what day that was.

114
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It was during the week.

115
00:08:51,072 --> 00:08:54,242
She stopped by our house
and I took him to the train station.

116
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- He got on the train and that was it.
- Okay.

117
00:08:56,911 --> 00:09:00,581
Next thing we know, we got a phone call
saying that he was dead.

118
00:09:00,665 --> 00:09:04,293
Yeah, we sure did.
We went to New York and everything.

119
00:09:04,377 --> 00:09:06,879
And did you request
to see the body or no?

120
00:09:06,963 --> 00:09:08,589
My sister asked, they told her no.

121
00:09:08,673 --> 00:09:11,050
They couldn't.
They're not allowed to do that.

122
00:09:11,133 --> 00:09:12,134
Okay.

123
00:09:12,218 --> 00:09:14,845
This is the letter that we requested

124
00:09:14,929 --> 00:09:18,307
in order to get the autopsy report,
toxicology report

125
00:09:18,391 --> 00:09:21,060
and the pictures, if some were taken.

126
00:09:21,143 --> 00:09:24,522
And hopefully, we can bring
some closure to her case.

127
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Because to me, she was the Rosa Parks
of the LGBT movement.

128
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- You miss her?
- Yes, I miss him.

129
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He adopted the name
of Marsha "Pay It No Mind."

130
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Pay it no mind.
That's your problem, not mine.

131
00:09:44,083 --> 00:09:46,002
Anything he did,
he'd have you laughing.

132
00:09:46,085 --> 00:09:47,753
When he told us stories,
we didn't believe him.

133
00:09:47,837 --> 00:09:50,756
I'd tell him, "You're lying.
You didn't know Andy Warhol.

134
00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:52,550
- You didn't know those people."
- Yes, she did!

135
00:09:52,633 --> 00:09:55,553
She knew a lot of famous people.
She was famous herself.

136
00:09:56,345 --> 00:09:59,390
Well, she told us. We...
I didn't believe her.

137
00:09:59,473 --> 00:10:01,434
I thought he was joking.

138
00:10:01,517 --> 00:10:03,352
Only thing that Marsha couldn't do
was sing.

139
00:10:03,436 --> 00:10:05,605
- Horrible. Horrible.
- No, no. No.

140
00:10:07,273 --> 00:10:08,774
He could not sing.

141
00:10:08,858 --> 00:10:10,067
And now,
ladies and gentlemen...

142
00:10:11,152 --> 00:10:12,778
Miss Marsha P. Johnson!

143
00:10:19,452 --> 00:10:22,455
♪ It sent Zelda to the nuthouse ♪

144
00:10:22,538 --> 00:10:25,041
♪ It sent Scott into a drink ♪

145
00:10:25,124 --> 00:10:27,918
♪ It sent Caesar, Cleopatra ♪

146
00:10:28,002 --> 00:10:30,463
♪ And caused Ilium to sink ♪

147
00:10:31,589 --> 00:10:34,592
♪ Now let's not be pessimistic ♪

148
00:10:34,675 --> 00:10:37,762
♪ I say love is worth a try ♪

149
00:10:37,845 --> 00:10:40,681
♪ Make no mistake, unless it's fake ♪

150
00:10:40,765 --> 00:10:42,975
♪ The price you pay is high ♪

151
00:10:43,809 --> 00:10:46,812
♪ The price you pay is high ♪

152
00:10:46,896 --> 00:10:51,067
♪ The price you pay is... ♪

153
00:10:51,150 --> 00:10:55,112
♪ High ♪

154
00:10:59,283 --> 00:11:02,453
Encore! Encore!

155
00:11:25,726 --> 00:11:27,269
- Hi, Randy. Remember me?
- Hi.

156
00:11:27,353 --> 00:11:29,313
Yes. You look very familiar.

157
00:11:29,397 --> 00:11:32,233
- Yes. How are you? I like your shirt.
- Fine. And yourself?

158
00:11:32,316 --> 00:11:34,193
You got the same button, huh?

159
00:11:34,276 --> 00:11:36,278
- Yeah, how do you like that?
- How are you?

160
00:11:37,113 --> 00:11:40,074
- Well, come on in the living room.
- Okay.

161
00:11:40,157 --> 00:11:42,743
As you see,
Marsha's a big part of my life.

162
00:11:42,827 --> 00:11:44,370
Yes, I know.

163
00:11:44,453 --> 00:11:48,541
In my opinion, I want that picture someday
to be in the Schomburg Museum.

164
00:11:48,624 --> 00:11:54,338
They call her "Andy Warhol model,
prostitute, starring actress and saint."

165
00:11:55,798 --> 00:11:58,217
- Where'd you meet Marsha?
- Uh...

166
00:11:59,844 --> 00:12:03,472
I had a kid who lived with me,
who was like an adopted son, Roy.

167
00:12:03,556 --> 00:12:05,975
That's a picture of Roy and Marsha
right there.

168
00:12:06,058 --> 00:12:08,978
And one night, it was, like,
five degrees outside.

169
00:12:09,061 --> 00:12:12,189
He said, "Could Marsha come
and sleep on the living room floor?"

170
00:12:12,898 --> 00:12:16,694
So Marsha came in that night
and stayed for the next 12 years.

171
00:12:17,528 --> 00:12:19,530
What do you think
happened to her?

172
00:12:19,613 --> 00:12:23,826
Well, it certainly was not suicide.
That was an insult to the family.

173
00:12:23,909 --> 00:12:27,288
No way could Marsha in any way
have committed suicide.

174
00:12:27,872 --> 00:12:29,665
But let's face it.

175
00:12:29,748 --> 00:12:32,334
The police department,
they had made up their mind.

176
00:12:32,418 --> 00:12:34,712
"This case is over with.
We don't wanna be bothered.

177
00:12:34,795 --> 00:12:38,257
'Cause this is a nobody.
This isn't a person."

178
00:12:38,340 --> 00:12:39,300
Let me ask you a question.

179
00:12:39,383 --> 00:12:44,889
Would you be able to give us any contacts
or information that you may have?

180
00:12:51,437 --> 00:12:53,939
I have worked
to make this place more accessible.

181
00:12:58,527 --> 00:13:02,323
Somewhere I have a printout
of the names and contacts

182
00:13:02,406 --> 00:13:06,118
that I consider to be
the best leads.

183
00:13:09,830 --> 00:13:12,208
Oh, okay. Yeah. I found that.

184
00:13:15,127 --> 00:13:17,171
We began down at the river.

185
00:13:17,254 --> 00:13:19,048
Who's "we"?

186
00:13:19,131 --> 00:13:23,010
A group of Marsha's friends.
Maybe 20 people.

187
00:13:23,093 --> 00:13:24,428
And this was the...

188
00:13:25,513 --> 00:13:27,431
And the police have written us off

189
00:13:27,515 --> 00:13:29,141
as marginalized citizens.

190
00:13:30,267 --> 00:13:31,852
That was the memorial
at the pier.

191
00:13:31,936 --> 00:13:36,482
That was where her body laid
and damaged the sidewalk.

192
00:13:36,565 --> 00:13:38,067
Well, I just meant...

193
00:13:38,943 --> 00:13:43,197
What we're really here today to talk about
is what we're gonna do

194
00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:48,285
about this loss of a national treasure,
this icon of the gay community,

195
00:13:48,369 --> 00:13:50,871
this fire at Stonewall.

196
00:13:52,414 --> 00:13:56,418
The cops aren't doing their job.
They're just sitting on their fat asses.

197
00:13:56,502 --> 00:13:58,587
We have to send a message to these people.

198
00:13:58,671 --> 00:14:00,756
We demand justice here.

199
00:14:04,635 --> 00:14:07,972
Join us. Sixth precinct is not
doing their job again.

200
00:14:08,055 --> 00:14:10,140
We want some answers!

201
00:14:10,224 --> 00:14:13,561
I knew Marsha.
Marsha was the happiest person I knew.

202
00:14:13,644 --> 00:14:15,396
Yeah. Yes, she was.

203
00:14:15,479 --> 00:14:20,150
Do their job! Do their job!
Do their job! Do their job!

204
00:14:20,234 --> 00:14:22,152
We know that this wasn't
a suicide.

205
00:14:22,236 --> 00:14:23,946
You guys closed your books on it
and decided,

206
00:14:24,029 --> 00:14:25,698
because she's a marginal citizen,

207
00:14:25,781 --> 00:14:28,284
that you weren't going to do
anything about it.

208
00:14:28,367 --> 00:14:30,035
We don't agree with that,

209
00:14:30,119 --> 00:14:32,496
and we want you guys
to do your fucking jobs.

210
00:14:32,580 --> 00:14:35,583
My name is Randy Wicker.
I was the deceased's roommate.

211
00:14:35,666 --> 00:14:38,794
I think the problem is that,
first, it's been classified as a suicide,

212
00:14:38,878 --> 00:14:41,547
and I came to believe that
there was a good chance of foul play

213
00:14:41,630 --> 00:14:43,883
'cause she was talking about
the Mafia after her

214
00:14:43,966 --> 00:14:45,050
and in a very bad state.

215
00:14:45,134 --> 00:14:46,802
And we may never know what happened.

216
00:14:46,886 --> 00:14:49,096
But we wanna see
this investigation proceed

217
00:14:49,179 --> 00:14:50,848
in an orderly and thorough manner.

218
00:14:50,931 --> 00:14:53,517
And that the investigation will continue
to accumulate evidence

219
00:14:53,601 --> 00:14:54,894
if new evidence does become available.

220
00:14:54,977 --> 00:14:58,647
I don't think that it's possible
for you to schedule a meeting

221
00:14:58,731 --> 00:15:02,067
that will resolve this problem
to your satisfaction today.

222
00:15:02,151 --> 00:15:03,485
I don't think that's possible.

223
00:15:03,569 --> 00:15:07,156
We want justice here,
to find out who the hell murdered Marsha,

224
00:15:07,239 --> 00:15:12,119
while you fucking people are standing here
not doing your fucking jobs!

225
00:15:12,202 --> 00:15:15,623
- Justice for Marsha!
- Justice for Marsha!

226
00:15:29,887 --> 00:15:31,889
My name is Sylvia Rivera,

227
00:15:31,972 --> 00:15:36,101
and I'm giving permission
to have this filmed.

228
00:15:38,020 --> 00:15:42,399
When I met Marsha,
I must've been 12 years old.

229
00:15:43,692 --> 00:15:45,694
She was like a mother to me.

230
00:15:47,488 --> 00:15:50,366
Marsha was an icon of the gay movement.

231
00:15:50,449 --> 00:15:53,202
Marsha was known through the world.

232
00:15:54,370 --> 00:15:56,830
Marsha and I, we were the liberators.

233
00:15:56,914 --> 00:15:59,333
And the street people
and the drag queens were...

234
00:16:00,501 --> 00:16:02,962
the vanguard of the movement.

235
00:16:03,045 --> 00:16:07,424
We were the ones that stood the forefront
and fought the cops off.

236
00:16:07,508 --> 00:16:11,804
And we're the ones that didn't mind
getting our heads bashed in.

237
00:16:11,887 --> 00:16:13,973
When I first came to the Stonewall,

238
00:16:14,056 --> 00:16:17,059
I was the only drag queen there,
just about.

239
00:16:18,811 --> 00:16:22,439
I said, "Honey, what do you think,
I'm a boy or a girl?"

240
00:16:22,523 --> 00:16:25,150
They didn't answer,
so I decided to go in.

241
00:16:27,820 --> 00:16:29,989
'Cause it was a all-men's bar.

242
00:16:38,122 --> 00:16:43,460
The Stonewall was
a very nice campy little bar

243
00:16:43,544 --> 00:16:46,046
owned by the Mafia, you know.

244
00:16:47,089 --> 00:16:50,342
Gay people were not allowed in bars.

245
00:16:50,426 --> 00:16:54,722
The Mafia would pay off the cops.
Typical of that era.

246
00:16:54,805 --> 00:16:56,890
It was hard being a drag queen back then

247
00:16:56,974 --> 00:17:00,894
because they would take us into jail
for no reason at all.

248
00:17:00,978 --> 00:17:03,397
We lived in an era that was unreal.

249
00:17:17,453 --> 00:17:20,164
I was spaced out on black beauties
and scotch.

250
00:17:21,290 --> 00:17:23,208
We would dance, my lover and I.

251
00:17:25,127 --> 00:17:28,088
The next thing we know,
the lights came on and...

252
00:17:28,172 --> 00:17:29,798
Hey, we're being raided.

253
00:17:33,802 --> 00:17:37,556
Queens started being filed out
and being put into police cars,

254
00:17:37,639 --> 00:17:39,975
and guns had been drawn.

255
00:17:40,059 --> 00:17:42,770
Molotov cocktails were flying.

256
00:17:42,853 --> 00:17:47,566
And I'm like, "Oh, my God,
the revolution is here. Thank God."

257
00:17:48,150 --> 00:17:50,986
You've been treating us like shit
all these years?

258
00:17:51,070 --> 00:17:53,614
Uh-uh. Now it's our turn.

259
00:17:59,078 --> 00:18:02,331
When I got downtown,
the place was already on fire.

260
00:18:02,414 --> 00:18:06,376
Sylvia Rivera and them were
over in the park having a cocktail.

261
00:18:06,460 --> 00:18:08,879
And we were in the streets
turning over cars

262
00:18:08,962 --> 00:18:11,673
and, oh, my dear, blocking traffic

263
00:18:11,757 --> 00:18:14,968
and screaming and hollering
and everything.

264
00:18:15,052 --> 00:18:18,597
I mean, there was a lot of bloodshed
that night.

265
00:18:20,849 --> 00:18:24,520
And the movement started the next day.

266
00:18:29,316 --> 00:18:32,694
The world is having to notice
what it used to try to ignore.

267
00:18:32,778 --> 00:18:35,489
Homosexuals no longer meekly melt away

268
00:18:35,572 --> 00:18:38,575
under the blast of scorn,
ridicule or hatred.

269
00:18:39,159 --> 00:18:41,203
Today's gay power people are struggling

270
00:18:41,286 --> 00:18:45,666
for full economic and legal recognition
and acceptance.

271
00:18:49,461 --> 00:18:54,383
- Why are you here today?
- Darling, I want my gay rights now.

272
00:18:54,466 --> 00:18:59,346
I think it's about time the gay brothers
and sisters got their rights.

273
00:18:59,429 --> 00:19:02,850
And especially the women.

274
00:19:02,933 --> 00:19:08,647
Marsha was very good-natured.
She was funny. She laughed.

275
00:19:08,730 --> 00:19:11,692
But that shouldn't be mistaken

276
00:19:11,775 --> 00:19:16,321
for a lack of serious purpose
and political intent.

277
00:19:16,905 --> 00:19:22,119
Her mission in life is
going about spreading peace and goodwill.

278
00:19:22,202 --> 00:19:25,664
Giving license to, "You don't have to be
dressed up in a suit."

279
00:19:25,747 --> 00:19:27,457
You can express yourself.

280
00:19:27,541 --> 00:19:30,669
She became, to me, like a bodhisattva.

281
00:19:30,752 --> 00:19:33,797
A holy person who would wander the Village

282
00:19:33,881 --> 00:19:37,634
in whatever adornment she wanted,
being at peace.

283
00:19:37,718 --> 00:19:40,137
How will this affect your job?

284
00:19:40,220 --> 00:19:43,390
Darling, I don't have a job.
I'm on welfare.

285
00:19:43,473 --> 00:19:45,517
I have no intentions of getting a job

286
00:19:45,601 --> 00:19:48,729
as long as this country discriminates
against homosexuals.

287
00:19:48,812 --> 00:19:50,147
Right on.

288
00:19:50,230 --> 00:19:54,443
Justice!
Justice! Justice! Justice!

289
00:19:54,526 --> 00:19:57,196
Sylvia was always very outspoken.

290
00:19:57,279 --> 00:20:01,366
She was unrelenting.
She was... Sylvia was very in-your-face.

291
00:20:01,450 --> 00:20:04,745
Very intense eyes. A slash of a mouth.

292
00:20:04,828 --> 00:20:07,956
A guttural laugh like Marlene Dietrich.

293
00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:10,209
Sylvia was quite the serious one.

294
00:20:10,292 --> 00:20:12,753
She pushed her way to the front line.

295
00:20:13,378 --> 00:20:15,797
"Homes for the homeless!
Food for the poor!

296
00:20:15,881 --> 00:20:17,382
Gay rights! Gay rights!"

297
00:20:17,466 --> 00:20:18,550
P!

298
00:20:18,634 --> 00:20:20,594
- O!
- O!

299
00:20:20,677 --> 00:20:22,554
- W!
- W!

300
00:20:22,638 --> 00:20:24,556
- E!
- E!

301
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,225
- R!
- R!

302
00:20:26,308 --> 00:20:28,477
- Tell me what!
- Gay power!

303
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,063
- I can't hear you!
- Gay power!

304
00:20:31,146 --> 00:20:32,606
A little bit louder!

305
00:20:32,689 --> 00:20:34,775
Gay power!

306
00:20:39,738 --> 00:20:45,369
After a while, I think they knew
that they most had to concentrate

307
00:20:45,452 --> 00:20:48,622
on the area
that no one was addressing for them,

308
00:20:48,705 --> 00:20:52,793
and that only they could address.
And that was being transgender.

309
00:20:54,211 --> 00:20:58,757
Marsha and I thought one day
we needed to do something for our own.

310
00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:00,509
That's where STAR was born.

311
00:21:00,592 --> 00:21:03,220
Street Transvestites
Action Revolutionaries.

312
00:21:06,431 --> 00:21:10,435
Sylvia Lee Rivera deserves
all the credit for STAR.

313
00:21:10,519 --> 00:21:12,813
I was just one of the queens
that was behind her,

314
00:21:12,896 --> 00:21:14,982
like the vice president of STAR.

315
00:21:15,065 --> 00:21:17,234
She knew exactly
what she was talking about.

316
00:21:17,317 --> 00:21:21,697
She was talking about nobody's
representing transvestites, ya know?

317
00:21:24,658 --> 00:21:27,244
The one thing they had in common
which bonded them,

318
00:21:27,327 --> 00:21:30,038
why their name
should always be connected,

319
00:21:30,122 --> 00:21:33,000
is that they helped those
who were on the street,

320
00:21:33,083 --> 00:21:35,043
just trying to live their lives.

321
00:21:35,127 --> 00:21:39,214
And a lot of them got on the street
and ended up hooking or hustling

322
00:21:39,298 --> 00:21:42,092
to make a buck,
and they sometimes had no place to stay.

323
00:21:44,469 --> 00:21:49,141
Marsha and I started STAR House
to keep the kids off the streets.

324
00:21:52,811 --> 00:21:56,106
To get these kids
get their things together.

325
00:21:57,858 --> 00:22:01,695
STAR was part
of the people's revolution,

326
00:22:01,778 --> 00:22:06,908
and it was time for us to show the world
that we are human beings.

327
00:22:09,411 --> 00:22:13,957
I didn't know Marsha, but I
became very close friends with Sylvia.

328
00:22:15,792 --> 00:22:18,962
Back in the late '60s,

329
00:22:19,046 --> 00:22:22,507
I was going out with Frankie,
who was a bouncer at the Stonewall.

330
00:22:22,591 --> 00:22:25,218
Frankie was always cheating on me,

331
00:22:25,302 --> 00:22:28,805
and he was going out
with Sylvia's best friend at the time.

332
00:22:29,431 --> 00:22:32,517
Sylvia and I didn’t get along too well,

333
00:22:32,601 --> 00:22:36,396
so I had lost sight of her for 25 years.

334
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:41,818
One day I went to a meeting,
and who was there? Sylvia.

335
00:22:41,902 --> 00:22:47,532
She sat right across from me,
and she got up and she says, "I know you."

336
00:22:47,616 --> 00:22:49,951
And I got up, too,
and I says, "I know you, too."

337
00:22:50,035 --> 00:22:54,706
And then this button,
she had it on her left side,

338
00:22:54,790 --> 00:22:59,169
popped out and it just rolled to my feet.

339
00:22:59,252 --> 00:23:01,505
So one of the girls picked it up
and Sylvia says,

340
00:23:01,588 --> 00:23:04,549
"No, give it to her. She's one of us."

341
00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:08,970
And from that moment on,
we became very close friends.

342
00:23:09,054 --> 00:23:11,723
We spoke to each other
at least twice a week.

343
00:23:11,807 --> 00:23:15,185
And she was always there
for me and the community.

344
00:23:15,268 --> 00:23:17,062
And I will never forget that.

345
00:23:18,563 --> 00:23:22,192
When she spoke about Marsha,
there was always a tear in her eyes.

346
00:23:22,275 --> 00:23:26,363
She loved Marsha, and she said that
that was our mother.

347
00:23:28,198 --> 00:23:31,451
What's been going on
with the Marsha P. Johnson case?

348
00:23:31,535 --> 00:23:35,205
There seems to be conflicting evidence
on the last time she was seen.

349
00:23:35,831 --> 00:23:38,792
Randy said he last saw her on the second.

350
00:23:39,543 --> 00:23:41,962
- Thank you very much, doll.
- My pleasure.

351
00:23:42,045 --> 00:23:47,092
And then someone reported
seeing her on the night of the fourth.

352
00:23:47,175 --> 00:23:49,469
And the body was found on the sixth.

353
00:23:51,304 --> 00:23:54,307
So we're gonna ask more questions
of people who knew her

354
00:23:54,391 --> 00:23:57,310
or reported seeing her during that time.

355
00:23:57,394 --> 00:24:00,814
And that's what we're trying to find out.
We'll get to the bottom of it.

356
00:24:02,023 --> 00:24:03,108
Okay.

357
00:24:22,627 --> 00:24:25,422
Please leave a message
after the tone. When...

358
00:24:31,845 --> 00:24:32,971
Can I help you?

359
00:24:33,054 --> 00:24:36,391
Yes. May I speak to Daniel Massanova?

360
00:24:36,474 --> 00:24:38,935
That's me. What's the matter?
What's up?

361
00:24:39,728 --> 00:24:43,190
Daniel, my name is Victoria Cruz.
I work for the Anti-Violence Project.

362
00:24:43,273 --> 00:24:47,485
I'm working on a reopened case
from 1992...

363
00:24:47,569 --> 00:24:50,864
- What was the name of the victim?
- Marsha P. Johnson.

364
00:24:50,947 --> 00:24:53,575
Are you talking
about the girl off the water?

365
00:24:53,658 --> 00:24:54,951
Yes.

366
00:24:55,035 --> 00:24:57,454
Yeah, that was Jimmy Abreu's case.

367
00:24:57,537 --> 00:25:00,415
Jimmy is retired like I am from the NYPD.

368
00:25:00,498 --> 00:25:02,709
Okay, you wouldn't happen
to have his number, would you?

369
00:25:02,792 --> 00:25:04,044
No, I don't.

370
00:25:09,132 --> 00:25:12,344
I'm trying to get in contact
with a James Abreu.

371
00:25:12,427 --> 00:25:13,887
I'm not familiar with that.

372
00:25:16,598 --> 00:25:21,686
I don't know that person.
There is nobody here named James Abreu.

373
00:25:29,027 --> 00:25:32,239
- Daryl.
- I'm looking for a James Abreu.

374
00:25:32,322 --> 00:25:35,951
Yeah, hold on. Jimmy, phone call.

375
00:25:36,534 --> 00:25:37,535
Hello?

376
00:25:37,619 --> 00:25:39,454
- James Abreu?
- Yes.

377
00:25:39,537 --> 00:25:43,291
Hi, my name is Victoria Cruz.
I'm working for the Anti-Violence Project.

378
00:25:43,375 --> 00:25:47,462
I'm working on a reopened case
on the Marsha P. Johnson case

379
00:25:47,545 --> 00:25:52,425
that was... She was found in 1992
by Christopher Street Pier.

380
00:25:52,509 --> 00:25:53,426
Right.

381
00:25:53,510 --> 00:25:56,513
Can I meet with you
in reference to this particular case?

382
00:25:56,596 --> 00:25:57,931
Definitely not.

383
00:25:59,140 --> 00:26:00,350
Because?

384
00:26:00,433 --> 00:26:04,271
Because I'm retired from the NYPD
and you're calling me at work.

385
00:26:04,354 --> 00:26:06,940
Can we meet outside of your job?

386
00:26:07,023 --> 00:26:09,025
No, definitely not.

387
00:26:09,109 --> 00:26:11,778
I don't want to meet
in regards to anything.

388
00:26:18,326 --> 00:26:20,203
He didn't want to tell me
anything about the case.

389
00:26:20,287 --> 00:26:21,121
He doesn't wanna look back.

390
00:26:21,204 --> 00:26:22,914
I can't control
what people say to you.

391
00:26:22,998 --> 00:26:24,791
- I understand.
- I don't know who you represent.

392
00:26:24,874 --> 00:26:28,295
I don't even know
if you are who you say you are.

393
00:26:29,629 --> 00:26:32,340
- Are you a lawyer?
- No, I'm not.

394
00:26:32,424 --> 00:26:34,175
- You a private investigator?
- No.

395
00:26:34,259 --> 00:26:37,637
How about I give you a little advice?
Don't play detective yourself.

396
00:26:37,721 --> 00:26:40,015
Leave this to the people
that should handle it.

397
00:27:07,208 --> 00:27:08,209
Okay.

398
00:27:09,836 --> 00:27:12,672
This is me in '67.

399
00:27:15,216 --> 00:27:17,510
Look at the hairdos.

400
00:27:19,846 --> 00:27:25,268
I was doing shows at the time.
I just loved the stage.

401
00:27:29,522 --> 00:27:30,648
Oh.

402
00:27:33,151 --> 00:27:37,989
I used to do the catwalk in the city
till they found out I was trans,

403
00:27:38,073 --> 00:27:40,658
and then I got booted out.

404
00:27:42,994 --> 00:27:48,500
Back in the '60s, it was against the law
to be dressed in drag.

405
00:27:48,583 --> 00:27:51,086
I was very fortunate
that I was small and petite,

406
00:27:51,169 --> 00:27:54,130
so I really wasn't detectable.

407
00:27:54,214 --> 00:27:57,759
I was very careful
not to get arrested.

408
00:28:03,515 --> 00:28:05,433
X-rated.

409
00:28:07,310 --> 00:28:12,148
This is my beach outfit,
when I had the body.

410
00:28:12,232 --> 00:28:15,568
I had a 24-inch waist.

411
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,034
I've been very blessed and lucky
that my family accepted me.

412
00:28:23,118 --> 00:28:25,328
As a matter of fact,
my mother was a dressmaker,

413
00:28:25,412 --> 00:28:27,330
and she was very supportive.

414
00:28:30,291 --> 00:28:34,045
This was a friend of mine
who got murdered back in '73.

415
00:28:34,879 --> 00:28:38,508
This is him in drag. Carlos Sanchez.

416
00:28:40,552 --> 00:28:44,931
We never found out who did it or...
Cold case.

417
00:28:48,393 --> 00:28:50,562
They just didn't care.

418
00:28:50,645 --> 00:28:52,021
They were trans.

419
00:28:54,023 --> 00:28:57,068
Outcasts. Society doesn't want them.

420
00:28:58,695 --> 00:29:00,655
I've dealt with those feelings...

421
00:29:01,448 --> 00:29:03,616
my own personal experiences.

422
00:29:46,743 --> 00:29:48,495
- Victoria?
- Miss Kitty?

423
00:29:48,578 --> 00:29:49,621
Hi.

424
00:29:49,704 --> 00:29:51,372
- How are you?
- Thank you so much for coming.

425
00:29:51,456 --> 00:29:52,749
Thank you for allowing me to come.

426
00:29:54,751 --> 00:29:56,419
- Thank you.
- Sit, please.

427
00:29:56,503 --> 00:29:57,545
Thank you so much.

428
00:29:57,629 --> 00:30:00,507
You're more than welcome. Thank you.

429
00:30:00,590 --> 00:30:02,801
So, I heard so much about you.

430
00:30:02,884 --> 00:30:04,302
And was it good or bad?

431
00:30:04,385 --> 00:30:07,305
- It's all interesting.
- Yes.

432
00:30:07,388 --> 00:30:09,098
How did you meet Marsha?

433
00:30:09,182 --> 00:30:12,685
I was probably 13 or 14 at the time.

434
00:30:13,353 --> 00:30:16,689
I would always pass Sheridan Square Park.

435
00:30:16,773 --> 00:30:19,067
And when I first saw Marsha,

436
00:30:19,150 --> 00:30:26,115
she was just this elaborate,
with feathers and plumes and...

437
00:30:26,199 --> 00:30:30,829
makeup that was never put on correctly.

438
00:30:31,746 --> 00:30:35,792
And Marsha was all,
"Honey, you are fabulous,"

439
00:30:35,875 --> 00:30:38,837
and, "You would make a beautiful girl."

440
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:43,258
She used to come by
and snatch my hair up on both sides,

441
00:30:43,341 --> 00:30:45,677
and it made me feel so special.

442
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:51,391
It made me feel like
I wanted to be a part of that crowd.

443
00:30:51,474 --> 00:30:55,979
And Marsha and I remained great friends
up until the day she died.

444
00:30:56,062 --> 00:30:59,774
Have you seen this?
This was a flyer that was given out.

445
00:30:59,858 --> 00:31:04,320
I remember this poster
being posted in the window of Uplift,

446
00:31:04,404 --> 00:31:06,823
which was Randy Wicker's store.

447
00:31:06,906 --> 00:31:10,368
And Randy had, like,
this little memorial going on right there.

448
00:31:10,451 --> 00:31:12,579
Yes, I do remember this.

449
00:31:21,838 --> 00:31:25,258
I had went in there once or twice
after Marsha's death.

450
00:31:25,341 --> 00:31:29,512
Just to pay my respects to him
and offer my condolences to him.

451
00:31:29,596 --> 00:31:31,097
I actually never read this.

452
00:31:31,180 --> 00:31:33,141
"Malcolm, 46..."

453
00:31:33,725 --> 00:31:35,393
Oh, Anvil icon.

454
00:31:35,476 --> 00:31:38,646
Amazing, because the night
that she was murdered,

455
00:31:38,730 --> 00:31:41,190
her and I were supposed to
go to the Anvil together.

456
00:31:41,274 --> 00:31:43,568
Okay, tell me about that time.

457
00:31:43,651 --> 00:31:46,195
I wanna say it was the Fourth of July.

458
00:31:48,197 --> 00:31:53,161
I ran into Marsha in front of
the Christopher Street bookstore,

459
00:31:53,244 --> 00:31:56,539
and it was broad daylight.
She was in full drag.

460
00:31:56,623 --> 00:32:00,543
- How intoxicated was she?
- Marsha was always in her right mind.

461
00:32:00,627 --> 00:32:05,840
She always knew
what the main prize was, you know.

462
00:32:08,134 --> 00:32:10,762
We separated,
and we were gonna meet at midnight,

463
00:32:10,845 --> 00:32:13,556
and we were gonna
troll the streets back and forth.

464
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,391
And we were gonna go to the Anvil,

465
00:32:15,475 --> 00:32:18,436
like, at the usual time,
it was 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.

466
00:32:18,519 --> 00:32:20,396
But she never showed up.

467
00:32:21,689 --> 00:32:25,443
And then, later, I remember...

468
00:32:27,195 --> 00:32:29,238
I was down by the Stroll.

469
00:32:34,577 --> 00:32:38,623
The girl stroll, the queen stroll,
was on that left side.

470
00:32:38,706 --> 00:32:42,835
On the right side was
where all the boys used to do their thing.

471
00:32:42,919 --> 00:32:44,295
The butch queens.

472
00:32:48,383 --> 00:32:50,677
I remember the girls had put me on point.

473
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:52,428
"Miss Kitty, watch out.

474
00:32:52,512 --> 00:32:56,307
There's a car full of guidos,
you know, just driving around."

475
00:32:57,392 --> 00:33:02,021
And later that evening, I heard
that Marsha had gotten in the car.

476
00:33:04,899 --> 00:33:08,236
The thing is...
Yeah, we told her not to get in that car.

477
00:33:13,574 --> 00:33:17,036
And I never saw her again
after that, you know.

478
00:33:18,371 --> 00:33:23,209
The police from the Sixth Precinct,
they just brushed it off like...

479
00:33:24,252 --> 00:33:27,630
like another one bites the dust
type of thing, you know.

480
00:33:29,340 --> 00:33:33,136
You know,
it kind of makes me think, Victoria,

481
00:33:33,219 --> 00:33:36,806
what happens when a flower gets wilted?

482
00:33:38,433 --> 00:33:42,103
Does it just die away and it's forgotten?

483
00:33:44,022 --> 00:33:47,191
Well, hopefully, that flower
would have shed some seeds

484
00:33:47,275 --> 00:33:49,527
- that will grow into a movement.
- Right.

485
00:33:50,737 --> 00:33:52,447
That's what I hope.

486
00:34:01,372 --> 00:34:03,416
Police are investigating
a possible hate crime

487
00:34:03,499 --> 00:34:05,918
that led to the death
of a transgender woman.

488
00:34:06,002 --> 00:34:09,338
Twenty-one-year-old
Islan Nettles was attacked on the street.

489
00:34:09,422 --> 00:34:13,092
Nettles was out with another
transgender female, a friend.

490
00:34:13,176 --> 00:34:15,136
Police say the pair
met a group of men who attacked them

491
00:34:15,219 --> 00:34:18,097
once they realized Nettles and her friend
weren't born as females.

492
00:34:18,181 --> 00:34:20,224
The friend tells investigators,

493
00:34:20,308 --> 00:34:21,976
when she ran away to get help,

494
00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:26,147
the suspect was on top of Nettles,
punching her in the face.

495
00:34:26,230 --> 00:34:28,900
Nettles was punched
in the head, hit the ground.

496
00:34:28,983 --> 00:34:31,569
She lapsed into a coma and later died.

497
00:34:31,652 --> 00:34:32,987
Twenty-year-old James Dixon

498
00:34:33,071 --> 00:34:34,947
faced a judge
here at Manhattan Criminal Court.

499
00:34:35,031 --> 00:34:37,700
He's charged with manslaughter
and assault.

500
00:34:37,784 --> 00:34:41,662
This person beat my baby
with their bare hands to death.

501
00:34:41,746 --> 00:34:44,499
And I don't feel
he should walk in the streets

502
00:34:44,582 --> 00:34:46,334
'cause my baby can't walk.

503
00:34:53,466 --> 00:34:56,594
He faces anything
between 5 and 25 years.

504
00:34:56,677 --> 00:35:01,224
The child was murdered in August of 2013.

505
00:35:01,307 --> 00:35:04,143
And this has been going on,
we're going on three years already.

506
00:35:04,227 --> 00:35:06,020
The family's been in limbo.

507
00:35:07,105 --> 00:35:10,149
This is a very important case.
This place should be packed.

508
00:35:10,233 --> 00:35:13,111
There should be people outside
that couldn't get in the door.

509
00:35:14,445 --> 00:35:17,323
We had the gay marriage.
Everyone was out for gay marriage.

510
00:35:17,406 --> 00:35:20,326
We used to march these streets
up and down.

511
00:35:20,952 --> 00:35:24,789
We got arrested over here.
We handcuffed ourselves to that thing.

512
00:35:24,872 --> 00:35:27,083
The privileged people,
they got their gay marriage,

513
00:35:27,166 --> 00:35:29,961
and now they're off...
They're gone.

514
00:35:30,044 --> 00:35:32,380
And they've left
the transgender community behind.

515
00:35:32,463 --> 00:35:35,216
What about the rest of the community?
What about the T?

516
00:35:35,299 --> 00:35:39,345
Remember the T? LGBT, you know?

517
00:35:44,976 --> 00:35:51,774
As long as my people don't have
their rights all across America,

518
00:35:51,858 --> 00:35:53,693
there's no reason for celebration.

519
00:35:55,069 --> 00:35:58,781
That's how come I've been walking
for gay rights all these years.

520
00:35:58,865 --> 00:36:03,661
And in 1973,
they told me and Sylvia Rivera

521
00:36:03,744 --> 00:36:05,913
that we get to lead the Gay Pride march,

522
00:36:05,997 --> 00:36:08,624
the transvestites
in the front of the parade.

523
00:36:09,208 --> 00:36:11,711
Honey, they chickens put
all of the drag queens

524
00:36:11,794 --> 00:36:14,213
way in the back someplace.

525
00:36:14,297 --> 00:36:17,341
Honey, that was not the right thing to do.

526
00:36:17,425 --> 00:36:21,095
They don't care if you were there
at the beginning of the gay movement,

527
00:36:21,179 --> 00:36:23,181
demonstrating in drag with them.

528
00:36:23,306 --> 00:36:25,266
They don't care.

529
00:36:31,147 --> 00:36:35,526
Transgender people felt
that they were being pushed to the side.

530
00:36:35,610 --> 00:36:38,613
That their place at Stonewall,

531
00:36:38,696 --> 00:36:41,782
that their place from the beginning
was being forgotten.

532
00:36:42,617 --> 00:36:45,995
I had been promised
a spot to speak.

533
00:36:46,078 --> 00:36:49,624
And they were having a conflict
about the drag queens on stage.

534
00:36:49,707 --> 00:36:51,667
Because we were supposed
to be stereotypes.

535
00:36:51,751 --> 00:36:55,504
But if it wasn't for a drag queen,
there would be no gay liberation movement.

536
00:36:55,588 --> 00:36:56,881
We're the frontliners.

537
00:36:57,673 --> 00:37:00,801
I said, "Well, I'm gonna speak
one way or the other."

538
00:37:03,179 --> 00:37:06,933
One person, a man,
Sylvia gets up here, and...

539
00:37:07,016 --> 00:37:10,937
Just a moment, just a moment.
I would like to avoid any trouble.

540
00:37:11,020 --> 00:37:14,106
This is a day of unity for us.
I want us to be happy.

541
00:37:16,442 --> 00:37:17,526
Sylvia!

542
00:37:24,575 --> 00:37:25,910
Hi, baby!

543
00:37:48,349 --> 00:37:51,060
You all better quiet down!

544
00:37:57,566 --> 00:38:00,444
I've been trying to get up here all day

545
00:38:00,528 --> 00:38:06,242
for your gay brothers
and your gay sisters in jail!

546
00:38:06,325 --> 00:38:10,121
They're writing me
every motherfuckin' week,

547
00:38:10,204 --> 00:38:13,499
and ask for your help!

548
00:38:13,582 --> 00:38:17,420
And you all don't do
a goddamn thing for them!

549
00:38:19,005 --> 00:38:22,091
And they write STAR,
not the women's group.

550
00:38:22,633 --> 00:38:25,761
They do not write women.
They do not write men.

551
00:38:25,845 --> 00:38:30,391
They write STAR because
we're trying to do something for them.

552
00:38:30,474 --> 00:38:35,855
But you all tell me
go and hide my tail between my legs.

553
00:38:35,938 --> 00:38:38,774
I will not put up with this shit!

554
00:38:38,858 --> 00:38:42,945
I have been beaten.
I have had my nose broken.

555
00:38:43,029 --> 00:38:44,947
I have been thrown in jail.

556
00:38:45,031 --> 00:38:47,116
I have lost my job.

557
00:38:47,199 --> 00:38:50,995
I have lost my apartment
for gay liberation.

558
00:38:51,078 --> 00:38:53,289
And you all treat me this way?

559
00:38:53,372 --> 00:38:56,042
What the fuck's wrong with you all?

560
00:38:56,125 --> 00:38:57,918
Think about that!

561
00:38:59,253 --> 00:39:02,256
I believe in the gay power.

562
00:39:02,340 --> 00:39:04,633
I believe in us getting our rights,

563
00:39:04,717 --> 00:39:08,429
or else I would not be out there
fighting for our rights.

564
00:39:08,512 --> 00:39:11,223
That's all I wanted to say to your people.

565
00:39:11,307 --> 00:39:15,644
Come and see your people
at STAR House on 12th Street.

566
00:39:15,728 --> 00:39:19,482
The people that are trying
to do something for all of us,

567
00:39:19,565 --> 00:39:25,571
and not men and women
that belong to a white middle class club!

568
00:39:25,654 --> 00:39:28,366
And that's what you all belong to!

569
00:39:29,116 --> 00:39:31,577
Revolution now!

570
00:39:32,870 --> 00:39:35,956
Gay... Gay power.

571
00:39:37,833 --> 00:39:40,878
Louder! Gay power!

572
00:39:53,391 --> 00:39:56,602
I was hurt, and I felt that...

573
00:39:57,436 --> 00:40:00,940
the movement had completely betrayed...

574
00:40:02,024 --> 00:40:04,735
the drag queens and the street people.

575
00:40:06,987 --> 00:40:11,992
And I felt that the years that
I had already given them had been a waste.

576
00:40:13,994 --> 00:40:15,746
So, I went home, locked up the house.

577
00:40:15,830 --> 00:40:18,707
If it wasn't for Marsha,
I wouldn't be here right now.

578
00:40:18,791 --> 00:40:21,669
I got 60 stitches in this arm.

579
00:40:21,752 --> 00:40:24,964
She came home
and found me bleeding to death.

580
00:40:30,469 --> 00:40:33,639
After the march of 1973...

581
00:40:34,473 --> 00:40:36,809
I left the movement.

582
00:40:45,192 --> 00:40:48,112
I found myself up in Westchester.

583
00:40:50,990 --> 00:40:55,703
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to the Music Hall in Tarrytown.

584
00:40:55,786 --> 00:41:01,083
I want to give special thanks to everyone
in the audience for still supporting us.

585
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:11,177
Of course,
you get the first strange looks.

586
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:13,387
Ain't bothering me.

587
00:41:13,471 --> 00:41:16,682
Next thing,
you become friends with everybody.

588
00:41:19,351 --> 00:41:22,104
I feel that I have liberated
a lot of people

589
00:41:22,188 --> 00:41:26,233
just by living here in the suburbs,
just by being myself.

590
00:41:27,610 --> 00:41:30,070
Just by being a campy queen.

591
00:41:30,946 --> 00:41:33,324
And they appreciate. They really do.

592
00:41:38,329 --> 00:41:41,874
That's how I was letting out
most of my anger.

593
00:41:42,833 --> 00:41:45,711
But I will not forgive the movement

594
00:41:45,794 --> 00:41:50,508
for anything that they have done
to my community.

595
00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:22,706
- Give me a hug, girl.
- A hug. I'm sorry.

596
00:42:22,790 --> 00:42:25,334
Yes, girl. Oh, good to see you.

597
00:42:25,417 --> 00:42:28,087
- Mmm!
- Mmm. Nice hug.

598
00:42:28,170 --> 00:42:31,048
Yeah, I like to give good hugs.

599
00:42:31,131 --> 00:42:32,716
- Good hugs.
- So, can I open this?

600
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:34,385
- Sure.
- Thank you.

601
00:42:34,468 --> 00:42:36,679
- You can light it up if you like, too.
- Light it up?

602
00:42:36,762 --> 00:42:37,805
Incense.

603
00:42:37,888 --> 00:42:40,349
Chelsea, come here, girl.
What's the matter with you?

604
00:42:40,432 --> 00:42:43,686
- Give me a hug, baby. Blessed be.
- Blessed be. How you doin'?

605
00:42:46,397 --> 00:42:50,776
Anything you may be able to tell me
may be very, very helpful.

606
00:42:50,859 --> 00:42:54,655
I don't know anything that you can't get
better from Randy Wicker.

607
00:42:56,532 --> 00:42:59,660
Maybe you can tell me about the cops
that were around during that time?

608
00:42:59,743 --> 00:43:01,203
- I really can't.
- You can't?

609
00:43:01,287 --> 00:43:03,289
- No.
- All right.

610
00:43:03,831 --> 00:43:09,420
You went on an investigation
in a white van with Randy. Remember that?

611
00:43:12,631 --> 00:43:13,924
Do you always smoke this much,

612
00:43:14,008 --> 00:43:16,385
or is this just because
you're a little nervous?

613
00:43:16,468 --> 00:43:19,638
I always smoke this much
when I'm down here, baby.

614
00:43:22,141 --> 00:43:25,185
Honey, this is a fishing expedition.
We'll either catch something or we won't.

615
00:43:25,269 --> 00:43:27,104
We're just kind of trolling.

616
00:43:29,398 --> 00:43:30,482
Um...

617
00:43:31,775 --> 00:43:33,944
Let's start all over.

618
00:43:34,028 --> 00:43:39,325
Randy wanted to talk about Marsha
and how Marsha had died,

619
00:43:39,408 --> 00:43:41,910
and how we suspected
that she was murdered.

620
00:43:44,413 --> 00:43:48,626
And could I make some highly irregular
and very unofficial inquiries.

621
00:43:48,709 --> 00:43:52,254
And I did, and I really didn't come up
with anything. I wish I had.

622
00:43:53,797 --> 00:43:55,007
Where do you wanna go?

623
00:43:55,090 --> 00:43:57,468
I want to park the van.
We're gonna go talk to the girls.

624
00:43:57,551 --> 00:43:58,552
Yeah.

625
00:43:58,636 --> 00:44:01,722
You're gonna be out that back window
with the camera.

626
00:44:02,931 --> 00:44:05,434
Close the door
so the lights go off.

627
00:44:08,145 --> 00:44:12,191
You know, I asked around the piers
and in the neighborhood.

628
00:44:12,274 --> 00:44:15,569
And asked around
because I knew a lot of the girls

629
00:44:15,653 --> 00:44:17,279
that were just walking around,

630
00:44:17,363 --> 00:44:19,657
looking into matters
on my own, or whatever.

631
00:44:24,453 --> 00:44:27,164
How long have you
been involved in this?

632
00:44:27,247 --> 00:44:28,832
Twelve years.

633
00:44:29,583 --> 00:44:32,252
You're on the street,
with no place to go and no money.

634
00:44:33,128 --> 00:44:35,964
Most of these girls are underage.

635
00:44:36,048 --> 00:44:39,718
Most of them are more throwaways
than runaways.

636
00:44:42,137 --> 00:44:46,934
And the older ones are people like me
that started out when we were young and...

637
00:44:47,017 --> 00:44:49,853
- You're a survivor, then.
- Yes.

638
00:44:52,731 --> 00:44:56,068
I'm practically the only one still alive
from the girls I first started with.

639
00:44:58,946 --> 00:45:01,115
What happened to most of them?

640
00:45:01,740 --> 00:45:04,535
Drug overdoses, suicides...

641
00:45:05,536 --> 00:45:08,664
murdered by johns, murdered by pimps.

642
00:45:08,747 --> 00:45:12,292
A lot of girls plain fucking disappear
the way Marsha did.

643
00:45:13,293 --> 00:45:17,381
Marsha can't even be understood
in 1992 without the context of...

644
00:45:17,464 --> 00:45:20,217
Dead trannies were literally
washing up on the street.

645
00:45:20,300 --> 00:45:22,261
I mean, lying there dead, and...

646
00:45:24,471 --> 00:45:27,599
no interest shown whatsoever
in doing a damn thing about it.

647
00:45:28,267 --> 00:45:30,352
You know more about this than I do.

648
00:45:47,578 --> 00:45:50,998
Before the Anti-Violence
Project, this is where I worked

649
00:45:51,081 --> 00:45:56,920
from 1993 to 1996...

650
00:45:58,464 --> 00:46:02,634
until I was sexually assaulted
and physically assaulted

651
00:46:02,718 --> 00:46:06,597
by nurses and aides in this building.

652
00:46:11,393 --> 00:46:15,898
Right after this happened,
I couldn't feel the ground beneath me.

653
00:46:15,981 --> 00:46:21,111
And I would get up in the morning
and just walk, walk and walk and walk.

654
00:46:23,572 --> 00:46:26,116
It was like I was walking in a daze,
but when...

655
00:46:26,950 --> 00:46:28,577
I stopped there on Congress.

656
00:46:28,660 --> 00:46:32,289
I had a knife in my pocket
'cause I wanted to hurt them.

657
00:46:33,665 --> 00:46:37,628
What stopped me was
that I was thinking about my mother,

658
00:46:37,711 --> 00:46:41,340
and how would she feel
if I went to jail.

659
00:46:43,300 --> 00:46:47,888
It took me three days to get enough guts
'cause I was angry.

660
00:46:47,971 --> 00:46:50,682
And I finally made the call to AVP.

661
00:46:50,766 --> 00:46:55,187
And the person was so understanding
and knew what I was going through.

662
00:46:56,980 --> 00:47:01,485
I spoke with her for over two hours
of what I was feeling.

663
00:47:10,327 --> 00:47:13,330
The agency stood with me for a year

664
00:47:13,413 --> 00:47:16,792
that I kept on going into court,
back and forth,

665
00:47:16,875 --> 00:47:19,628
case canceled, case postponed.

666
00:47:19,711 --> 00:47:22,965
And I felt supported,
so I just wanted to give back.

667
00:47:23,048 --> 00:47:25,634
So, I volunteered
for the Anti-Violence Project.

668
00:47:27,302 --> 00:47:31,807
Fortunately for me, a space opened up
at administrative assistant,

669
00:47:31,890 --> 00:47:37,229
and from there I moved myself up
to domestic violence counselor advocate.

670
00:47:38,355 --> 00:47:42,693
I helped myself, my family
and the community.

671
00:47:45,654 --> 00:47:48,699
Was AVP involved
with the investigation then?

672
00:47:48,782 --> 00:47:49,992
- Of Marsha's case?
- Yeah.

673
00:47:50,075 --> 00:47:51,827
- Yes.
- Okay, okay. Wow, okay.

674
00:47:51,910 --> 00:47:54,037
- We've been around since 1980.
- Yeah.

675
00:47:54,121 --> 00:47:57,207
So, during that time,
we were involved in the case,

676
00:47:57,291 --> 00:48:00,669
and here's some of the flyers
that AVP had given out.

677
00:48:00,752 --> 00:48:03,839
That's Marsha.
There's her death certificate.

678
00:48:03,922 --> 00:48:07,301
We haven't got the toxicology report
or any pictures, or anything like that.

679
00:48:07,384 --> 00:48:11,555
That's what we're trying to get to see
what condition the body was in,

680
00:48:11,638 --> 00:48:14,141
and if it says
that she had a hole in the head.

681
00:48:14,224 --> 00:48:17,519
It sounds like a lot of people think
it was a murder,

682
00:48:17,603 --> 00:48:18,895
- or that she was pushed.
- Yeah.

683
00:48:18,979 --> 00:48:21,273
A lot of people think
that it was foul play.

684
00:48:21,356 --> 00:48:23,567
But they first said it was suicide.

685
00:48:24,568 --> 00:48:27,070
Some people say
she was giving things away,

686
00:48:27,154 --> 00:48:29,364
- and flowers and some of her clothing.
- Yeah.

687
00:48:29,448 --> 00:48:33,577
I says, well, sometimes a person,
when they're gonna commit suicide,

688
00:48:33,660 --> 00:48:35,203
- they give their things away.
- Yeah.

689
00:48:35,287 --> 00:48:37,539
But then, at the same time,
that's how she was all the time.

690
00:48:37,623 --> 00:48:39,916
- She was always giving...
- She was always giving things away.

691
00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:43,086
Somebody says, "I like your scarf."
"Here, darling."

692
00:48:43,170 --> 00:48:46,798
She'd give 'em the scarf,
or she would go around giving flowers.

693
00:48:46,882 --> 00:48:48,342
That's Marsha.

694
00:48:52,429 --> 00:48:56,391
She had too much to live for,
like she was looking forward to Gay Pride.

695
00:48:56,475 --> 00:48:58,185
- She showed up at Pride...
- Mmm-hmm.

696
00:48:58,268 --> 00:49:01,813
...and was her old regal self,
enjoyable self, and things like that.

697
00:49:01,897 --> 00:49:04,066
- Just normal Marsha.
- Yeah.

698
00:49:04,149 --> 00:49:05,442
Marsha!

699
00:49:05,525 --> 00:49:07,027
- Marsha!
- Marsha!

700
00:49:07,110 --> 00:49:09,863
But the police,
they didn't pay it any mind.

701
00:49:09,946 --> 00:49:13,033
Something that they were accustomed
to sweeping under the rug.

702
00:49:13,116 --> 00:49:14,701
Things that still go on.

703
00:49:15,327 --> 00:49:17,037
Nothing really has changed.

704
00:49:18,914 --> 00:49:23,752
No justice, no peace!

705
00:49:28,215 --> 00:49:29,925
So what's going on
with this case?

706
00:49:30,008 --> 00:49:33,011
They're gonna get motions.
They're getting set for motions.

707
00:49:33,095 --> 00:49:35,347
Then they're gonna
jury selection on Monday.

708
00:49:35,430 --> 00:49:36,515
Okay, okay.

709
00:49:36,598 --> 00:49:40,936
You know, he confessed already twice,
to the detective and to the witness.

710
00:49:41,019 --> 00:49:43,105
How much time do you think he's gonna get?

711
00:49:43,188 --> 00:49:44,272
Who knows?

712
00:49:45,190 --> 00:49:47,192
Back in the '70s,
we went through all this crap.

713
00:49:47,275 --> 00:49:50,696
But back then, it's just that
you didn't hear about all these killings.

714
00:49:52,072 --> 00:49:55,409
You didn't hear about it
because now there's more media coverage.

715
00:49:55,492 --> 00:49:56,576
Right. That's true, yeah.

716
00:49:57,703 --> 00:50:01,123
I gotta text my honey.
Sorry, I have some private business...

717
00:50:01,206 --> 00:50:04,793
- Oh, my God. A honey.
- I'm in love with him.

718
00:50:04,876 --> 00:50:06,586
- You're in love with him?
- Yes, I am.

719
00:50:06,670 --> 00:50:09,548
- You'll be sorry.
- Why? Why do you say that?

720
00:50:10,841 --> 00:50:13,135
♪ Foolish little girl
Fickle little girl ♪

721
00:50:13,218 --> 00:50:14,928
So, this is what I am, huh?

722
00:50:15,011 --> 00:50:17,848
♪ You didn't want him when he wanted you ♪

723
00:50:22,769 --> 00:50:28,775
♪ Love don’t need a reason ♪

724
00:50:28,859 --> 00:50:33,822
♪ Love don’t always rhyme ♪

725
00:50:33,905 --> 00:50:40,412
♪ And love is all we have for now ♪

726
00:50:40,495 --> 00:50:47,210
♪ What we don’t have is time ♪

727
00:50:49,129 --> 00:50:51,923
She tried to help
through the AIDS epidemic.

728
00:50:52,007 --> 00:50:55,093
If you were sick,
she'd sit right by you.

729
00:50:55,177 --> 00:50:58,930
She'd stop by and say, "Hey, are you okay?
Do you need something?"

730
00:50:59,848 --> 00:51:02,225
She was helping a person survive.

731
00:51:05,312 --> 00:51:07,230
I always meet these young people

732
00:51:07,314 --> 00:51:10,734
that don't have nobody
who wants to stick by them and help them.

733
00:51:10,817 --> 00:51:14,863
So I help them out with,
like, a place to stay,

734
00:51:14,946 --> 00:51:18,575
or some food to eat,
or a little change for their pockets.

735
00:51:18,658 --> 00:51:21,787
They don't call me
"Pay It No Mind" Johnson for nothing.

736
00:51:22,913 --> 00:51:26,291
And you can't find
another butterfly like that in life.

737
00:51:26,374 --> 00:51:28,919
She always changed from her cocoon.

738
00:51:29,002 --> 00:51:30,712
And you never knew
what she was gonna wear.

739
00:51:30,796 --> 00:51:32,672
You never knew what she was gonna wear.

740
00:51:32,756 --> 00:51:35,967
Did you see this morning's treatment?
Didn't you love that?

741
00:51:36,051 --> 00:51:37,469
What was this morning's treatment?

742
00:51:37,552 --> 00:51:39,471
With the little hairdo and everything.

743
00:51:39,554 --> 00:51:40,931
Did you see the fur coat I got her?

744
00:51:41,932 --> 00:51:44,184
There she is, Miss America.

745
00:51:44,267 --> 00:51:46,353
Well, tomorrow morning,
I'll give you the breakfast treatment.

746
00:51:46,436 --> 00:51:48,605
- I'm fixing breakfast for ya.
- Yes, yes, yes.

747
00:51:48,688 --> 00:51:52,150
- I'm gonna put on my Valentine outfit.
- I love it.

748
00:51:52,234 --> 00:51:53,902
- And you're gonna be...
- For breakfast?

749
00:51:53,985 --> 00:51:55,862
Yes, you're gonna be gagging.

750
00:51:57,072 --> 00:51:59,032
You'd be surprised
how many gorgeous clothes

751
00:51:59,115 --> 00:52:01,952
Randy got around here for me
that I don't even wear.

752
00:52:02,035 --> 00:52:04,287
Oh, the red velvet suit?

753
00:52:04,371 --> 00:52:07,374
Yes, and all the furs.

754
00:52:07,457 --> 00:52:09,584
We're gonna give you the treatment
tomorrow morning,

755
00:52:09,668 --> 00:52:13,004
just to get your heart ready
for heart failure.

756
00:52:28,895 --> 00:52:30,981
- Are you taping all this?
- Yeah.

757
00:52:31,064 --> 00:52:32,607
- Right now?
- Right.

758
00:52:32,691 --> 00:52:35,527
He's gonna try and
write an article to try and help us.

759
00:52:35,610 --> 00:52:37,612
I'm trying to
get some information

760
00:52:37,696 --> 00:52:39,531
about what's going on on West Street,

761
00:52:39,614 --> 00:52:42,951
with the police harassing everybody.

762
00:52:44,619 --> 00:52:46,746
In my whole time
of having any dealings

763
00:52:46,830 --> 00:52:48,540
with the Sixth Precinct Vice Squad,

764
00:52:48,623 --> 00:52:50,959
these little creeps slapped me...

765
00:52:51,960 --> 00:52:53,420
threatened to kill me,

766
00:52:53,503 --> 00:52:56,298
told me right in the precinct,
in front of everybody.

767
00:52:56,882 --> 00:53:00,093
The one with the glasses,
he says, "What are you, a girl or a boy?"

768
00:53:01,970 --> 00:53:04,097
Next thing I knew,
I was getting punched in my jaw.

769
00:53:06,433 --> 00:53:09,436
The first time,
we was all on the corner,

770
00:53:09,519 --> 00:53:11,605
and somebody had just said, "Run."

771
00:53:11,688 --> 00:53:15,817
And they just started beating on me
and kicking me in the chest.

772
00:53:15,901 --> 00:53:18,862
They do that
to a lot of people that run.

773
00:53:18,945 --> 00:53:20,447
He pulled out his gun.

774
00:53:20,530 --> 00:53:23,366
He said, "If you come back down here,
I'm gonna shoot you."

775
00:53:23,450 --> 00:53:26,161
Then the other cop said,
"I oughta throw him in the water.

776
00:53:26,244 --> 00:53:28,538
But he might be too skinny.
He might not hit the bottom."

777
00:53:28,622 --> 00:53:29,456
Yeah.

778
00:53:29,539 --> 00:53:32,709
They seem to believe
that it is their job and duty

779
00:53:32,792 --> 00:53:36,671
to extricate all transvestites,
to torture transvestites.

780
00:53:43,720 --> 00:53:48,308
How many trans murders
did AVP record in 1992?

781
00:53:48,391 --> 00:53:51,895
That summer was the worst summer ever.

782
00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:56,274
We had many, many marches.
We were demonstrating all the time,

783
00:53:56,358 --> 00:54:00,070
because that was a way
to get public and police attention.

784
00:54:00,946 --> 00:54:04,074
But anti-LGBT violence was at a peak.

785
00:54:04,157 --> 00:54:08,870
That year we had 1,300 reports
of bias crime.

786
00:54:08,954 --> 00:54:10,580
Some were from the police?

787
00:54:10,664 --> 00:54:13,917
Yeah. If you look at
the annual reports there,

788
00:54:14,626 --> 00:54:18,463
you're gonna see, whatever,
12, 18% of those

789
00:54:18,546 --> 00:54:23,176
were based on violence
perpetrated by police.

790
00:54:23,259 --> 00:54:25,595
Was this after or before Marsha's demise?

791
00:54:28,390 --> 00:54:32,394
It was going on
before what happened to Marsha...

792
00:54:33,269 --> 00:54:34,980
and it went on for a long time.

793
00:54:35,855 --> 00:54:37,399
It's that whole period.

794
00:54:37,482 --> 00:54:39,317
We were sick at heart

795
00:54:39,401 --> 00:54:43,530
about this unrelenting wave of attacks,

796
00:54:43,613 --> 00:54:48,118
particularly given the circumstances
surrounding Marsha's death.

797
00:55:12,225 --> 00:55:15,353
What was the community's
relationship with the Sixth Precinct?

798
00:55:15,437 --> 00:55:17,814
It was not positive because

799
00:55:17,897 --> 00:55:22,193
it was not an adequate response
from the police to all this violence.

800
00:55:22,277 --> 00:55:26,281
It wasn't an adequate response
from One Police Plaza

801
00:55:26,364 --> 00:55:28,742
that went all the way down
to the Sixth Precinct.

802
00:55:40,086 --> 00:55:42,547
They did not pay
sufficient attention

803
00:55:42,630 --> 00:55:45,675
to crimes like what happened to Marsha.

804
00:55:46,885 --> 00:55:49,387
It was obvious that she had been murdered,

805
00:55:49,471 --> 00:55:55,185
and it was obvious that the police weren’t
giving it the attention that it deserved.

806
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:22,212
I mean, I don't have any peace
at home anymore, doll.

807
00:56:22,295 --> 00:56:27,425
My roommate Randy's really after
the people from the Festival Committee.

808
00:56:27,509 --> 00:56:31,096
- Tommy, thank you.
- You're welcome.

809
00:56:31,179 --> 00:56:33,556
I mean, he's doing
this whole great big trip

810
00:56:33,640 --> 00:56:35,809
with all these organizations

811
00:56:35,892 --> 00:56:38,770
to change all these people around lately.

812
00:56:41,397 --> 00:56:43,650
Which can get you murdered, you know.

813
00:56:45,944 --> 00:56:49,322
Honey, and wait until they get ahold
of you for taking their money away.

814
00:56:49,405 --> 00:56:51,407
Randy tried to put me in the middle of it.

815
00:56:51,491 --> 00:56:54,911
I tell him I don't bite my tongue
for nobody.

816
00:56:54,994 --> 00:56:57,247
I tell him I don’t want to be bothered.

817
00:56:57,330 --> 00:57:03,211
So, honey, we're wondering when the Mob
is gonna come with the bullets.

818
00:57:03,294 --> 00:57:04,963
I understand you.

819
00:57:05,713 --> 00:57:08,091
And when the Mob comes,
darling, they say,

820
00:57:08,174 --> 00:57:11,302
"Why are you giving out these flyers?
What do you got against us?"

821
00:57:11,386 --> 00:57:14,139
"Oh, I don’t have anything against youse.

822
00:57:14,222 --> 00:57:16,474
It's just that my roommate suspects...

823
00:57:17,642 --> 00:57:21,438
that youse have been
racketeering and stuff."

824
00:57:47,046 --> 00:57:49,007
Hi, my name is Randy Wicker.

825
00:57:49,674 --> 00:57:51,468
I have started the campaign

826
00:57:51,551 --> 00:57:55,138
to expose and replace
the Christopher Street Festival Committee.

827
00:58:01,102 --> 00:58:02,770
I'm tired of shady operators running

828
00:58:02,854 --> 00:58:05,482
the Christopher Street Festival
on Gay Pride Day.

829
00:58:05,565 --> 00:58:08,026
Where do all those festival dollars go?

830
00:58:10,653 --> 00:58:15,450
The Christopher Street Festival Committee
is widely rumored to be Mob-controlled.

831
00:58:15,533 --> 00:58:18,870
We're gonna take this festival back,
run it for our community.

832
00:58:18,953 --> 00:58:20,246
Take back the day.

833
00:58:24,042 --> 00:58:27,045
Remember this event here,
Take Back the Day?

834
00:58:27,128 --> 00:58:28,963
Where Randy was trying to take back

835
00:58:29,047 --> 00:58:32,258
the Christopher Street Festival
from the Mob?

836
00:58:40,266 --> 00:58:43,853
I remember he had signs about it.
It was a...

837
00:58:45,271 --> 00:58:48,900
concern with him.
I don't remember a particular day.

838
00:58:48,983 --> 00:58:51,361
Who was running
the Christopher Street Festival

839
00:58:51,444 --> 00:58:53,696
during that time that you remember?

840
00:58:55,240 --> 00:58:58,368
If you take charge and make
a logical decision, people will follow.

841
00:58:59,953 --> 00:59:04,916
Heritage of Pride would organize
the annual march, rally and dance.

842
00:59:04,999 --> 00:59:09,254
And we'd march downtown
along Fifth Avenue, into the Village.

843
00:59:11,464 --> 00:59:16,970
In the Village, there was the annual
Christopher Street Liberation Festival,

844
00:59:17,887 --> 00:59:21,933
which was basically booths
and meat on a stick,

845
00:59:22,016 --> 00:59:24,394
and your standard street festival.

846
00:59:25,853 --> 00:59:29,190
The guys who ran the festival
were Ed Murphy,

847
00:59:29,274 --> 00:59:33,069
who had been a bouncer at the Stonewall,
and his friend Red Mahoney.

848
00:59:33,152 --> 00:59:35,071
And Red Mahoney was his...

849
00:59:36,030 --> 00:59:37,532
you know, um...

850
00:59:38,992 --> 00:59:40,451
assistant.

851
00:59:41,035 --> 00:59:46,207
They worked for whatever part
of the Mafia ran the gay bars at the time.

852
00:59:46,958 --> 00:59:50,253
They did their thing
and we did ours, and...

853
00:59:50,336 --> 00:59:52,422
The reason I'm bringing this up is because

854
00:59:52,505 --> 00:59:55,967
Marsha would go around saying
the Mob was after her.

855
00:59:56,050 --> 01:00:00,513
- That's why I'm asking these questions.
- I can see getting that upset.

856
01:00:00,597 --> 01:00:03,182
But the gay bar business wasn't gonna be

857
01:00:03,266 --> 01:00:05,268
where you put your folks
who could shoot well,

858
01:00:05,351 --> 01:00:08,146
and it wasn't where you put folks
who could run the business.

859
01:00:08,229 --> 01:00:12,525
It was what you did with the idiot nephew
who wasn't capable of being a mobster.

860
01:00:12,609 --> 01:00:18,364
He was capable of showing up and getting
whatever percentage at the door he got,

861
01:00:18,448 --> 01:00:20,825
and selling overpriced toilet paper.

862
01:00:21,576 --> 01:00:26,623
Well, Randy Wicker
hired Sam Ciccone

863
01:00:26,706 --> 01:00:29,208
to do an investigation,

864
01:00:29,292 --> 01:00:33,254
and there was some guy
named Jacques Garon.

865
01:00:33,338 --> 01:00:37,091
A couple of the accusations
being made about the Festival Committee

866
01:00:37,175 --> 01:00:39,761
is that it's backed by some of the Mob.

867
01:00:39,844 --> 01:00:44,390
Two, you're making a lot of money
and profit off this thing

868
01:00:44,474 --> 01:00:46,726
and nothing goes back
to the gay community.

869
01:00:46,809 --> 01:00:49,520
The first thing
is about the Mob connection.

870
01:00:49,604 --> 01:00:52,482
That rumor has been going on
for centuries.

871
01:00:52,565 --> 01:00:54,233
I've been in the committee
for seven years

872
01:00:54,317 --> 01:00:56,277
and I've never seen any Mob connection,

873
01:00:56,361 --> 01:00:58,488
'cause I wouldn't be involved
if that would be the case.

874
01:00:58,571 --> 01:01:01,574
Number two, as far as making
a lot of money? God, I wish.

875
01:01:01,658 --> 01:01:04,577
The only money that we get

876
01:01:04,661 --> 01:01:09,332
is through the sale of the booths
on Christopher Street on Friday.

877
01:01:09,415 --> 01:01:11,167
And what happens with that money?

878
01:01:11,250 --> 01:01:13,544
That money is given back in many ways.

879
01:01:13,628 --> 01:01:16,089
We help a lot of people
throughout the year.

880
01:01:16,172 --> 01:01:19,717
We don't make a big issue out of it
because we don't want to.

881
01:01:19,801 --> 01:01:23,262
It's outrageous that these kind of
people, Jacques Garon and Red Mahoney,

882
01:01:23,346 --> 01:01:26,891
are running our particular event.

883
01:01:26,974 --> 01:01:29,811
I say that we're gonna
take this festival back.

884
01:01:29,894 --> 01:01:31,771
We'll run it for our community.

885
01:01:31,854 --> 01:01:33,898
We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

886
01:01:33,981 --> 01:01:37,193
This is Randy Wicker saying
keep the faith.

887
01:01:37,276 --> 01:01:40,446
Randy was good
at antagonizing people.

888
01:01:40,530 --> 01:01:44,492
But why stop at knocking off Marsha?
Why not punish Randy?

889
01:01:55,420 --> 01:01:57,130
- Okay.
- All right.

890
01:01:57,213 --> 01:01:59,424
Here we go. Here we are again.

891
01:02:06,264 --> 01:02:09,517
- Number seven.
- Call log, that's what you're looking for?

892
01:02:09,600 --> 01:02:13,646
Yeah, call logs.
To see if there's anything we've missed.

893
01:02:15,064 --> 01:02:19,068
Maybe it's one of those two boxes there.
Shit, wouldn’t you know it.

894
01:02:19,861 --> 01:02:20,945
What's this here?

895
01:02:21,028 --> 01:02:23,406
- Ms. Vicky, do you need help?
- Nah.

896
01:02:23,489 --> 01:02:25,032
Look, Ms. Vicky.

897
01:02:25,116 --> 01:02:26,868
Wait a minute.

898
01:02:28,703 --> 01:02:29,954
Here it is.

899
01:02:30,037 --> 01:02:31,622
- Found it?
- Yeah.

900
01:02:39,756 --> 01:02:41,048
Okay.

901
01:02:54,896 --> 01:02:59,066
"Received a call.
Do you know Randy Wicker?

902
01:03:01,694 --> 01:03:06,574
Tell Randy Wicker to leave Jacques Garon,
Red Mahoney and...

903
01:03:06,657 --> 01:03:09,577
did not get name... alone,

904
01:03:09,660 --> 01:03:14,499
or what happened to Marsha Johnson
will happen to him."

905
01:03:16,250 --> 01:03:17,543
Shit.

906
01:03:30,348 --> 01:03:32,600
It was a very chilling phone call,

907
01:03:32,683 --> 01:03:37,104
particularly given the circumstances
surrounding Marsha's death

908
01:03:37,188 --> 01:03:40,817
and everything that was going on
with the Festival Committee.

909
01:03:40,900 --> 01:03:44,111
And then... I don't know
if this happened the same day.

910
01:03:44,737 --> 01:03:49,242
You received a call
from a Rodger McFarlane

911
01:03:49,325 --> 01:03:52,411
and he said he remembered seeing Marsha

912
01:03:52,495 --> 01:03:58,292
on the fifth at 4:00 a.m. in the morning
on 22nd Street.

913
01:03:58,376 --> 01:04:01,128
He said that Marsha was kind of terrified

914
01:04:01,212 --> 01:04:05,883
and was being followed by two guys
going west to the river.

915
01:04:05,967 --> 01:04:09,428
- Was that reported to the police?
- That was reported to the police.

916
01:04:09,512 --> 01:04:12,890
'Cause that determines
someone saw Marsha on the fifth,

917
01:04:12,974 --> 01:04:15,434
and her body was found on the sixth.

918
01:04:16,227 --> 01:04:19,313
We made that statement publicly known.

919
01:04:19,897 --> 01:04:22,149
It was up to the police
to follow up on it.

920
01:04:22,233 --> 01:04:25,862
Right. Then that would tie in
about Randy taking on the Mob,

921
01:04:25,945 --> 01:04:30,950
the call that you got
of Marsha being followed and her death.

922
01:04:31,033 --> 01:04:33,953
Well, those pieces certainly fit together.

923
01:04:35,872 --> 01:04:37,373
There's all these pieces here

924
01:04:37,456 --> 01:04:42,587
that point to exactly
what we were saying back then, that...

925
01:04:43,379 --> 01:04:45,381
Marsha did not die by suicide.

926
01:04:46,674 --> 01:04:48,509
In any other community,

927
01:04:48,593 --> 01:04:53,389
had a similar hero been found dead

928
01:04:53,472 --> 01:04:55,975
under unclear circumstances,

929
01:04:56,893 --> 01:05:02,565
it seems self-evident that the city
would have put real resources behind it

930
01:05:02,648 --> 01:05:04,650
to try to figure out what happened.

931
01:05:22,793 --> 01:05:24,712
Cold Case Squad,
Detective Litwin. Can I help you?

932
01:05:24,795 --> 01:05:27,757
Yes, good afternoon, Detective Litwin.
It's Victoria Cruz.

933
01:05:27,840 --> 01:05:29,759
- Hi, how are you?
- Very well, thank you.

934
01:05:29,842 --> 01:05:32,303
- And yourself?
- Very good, thank you.

935
01:05:32,386 --> 01:05:37,683
Okay, I know that you had spoken
to a couple of retired detectives,

936
01:05:37,767 --> 01:05:42,605
and they called me because I investigated
this case about two years ago.

937
01:05:42,688 --> 01:05:46,442
And I'm not gonna say
she committed suicide,

938
01:05:46,525 --> 01:05:51,280
but there's no credible evidence
that she was murdered. None.

939
01:05:51,364 --> 01:05:53,908
Let me ask you a question.

940
01:05:53,991 --> 01:05:58,621
Did the police ever record
the threats made to Randy Wicker?

941
01:05:58,704 --> 01:06:01,749
That's never come up at all.
I don't have any record of that.

942
01:06:01,832 --> 01:06:05,920
So I can't really say anything on that.

943
01:06:06,003 --> 01:06:08,547
Did AVP ever pass that on
to the police department?

944
01:06:08,631 --> 01:06:10,299
They said they did.

945
01:06:10,383 --> 01:06:11,926
And what about the sighting of Marsha

946
01:06:12,009 --> 01:06:15,680
on the fifth at 4:00 a.m.
in the morning on 22nd Street?

947
01:06:16,430 --> 01:06:20,559
She was kind of frightened
because there were two men following her

948
01:06:20,643 --> 01:06:23,729
as she was rushing down
towards the Hudson River.

949
01:06:23,813 --> 01:06:27,942
Do you know if the police ever recorded
two males following her?

950
01:06:28,025 --> 01:06:30,820
- I see no record of that in the case.
- You see no record?

951
01:06:30,903 --> 01:06:35,449
No, there was never anything
conveyed to the police

952
01:06:35,533 --> 01:06:39,120
about her being seen on the fifth
and being followed.

953
01:06:39,203 --> 01:06:41,414
So, that's new to me.

954
01:07:28,002 --> 01:07:30,463
- So how you been?
- Pretty good.

955
01:07:30,546 --> 01:07:33,424
Okay, listen.

956
01:07:33,507 --> 01:07:38,971
I have a couple of questions
to ask you because all the, um...

957
01:07:40,723 --> 01:07:43,684
- All that we've been finding out...
- Right.

958
01:07:43,768 --> 01:07:45,770
...points to the Mob.

959
01:07:47,146 --> 01:07:48,481
Okay.

960
01:07:48,564 --> 01:07:50,649
What do you know about that?

961
01:07:50,733 --> 01:07:52,151
So, Marsha...

962
01:07:53,486 --> 01:07:58,949
apparently had a fear
about the Mob or the Mafia.

963
01:07:59,533 --> 01:08:01,494
- And I don't...
- Because?

964
01:08:01,577 --> 01:08:06,040
Because I was investigating
the Christopher Street Festival Committee.

965
01:08:06,123 --> 01:08:10,336
Have you and Marsha ever had
a conversation about this subject?

966
01:08:10,419 --> 01:08:13,881
Of you taking on the Christopher Street
Festival and the Mob?

967
01:08:13,964 --> 01:08:18,260
Maybe that's why she didn't wanna go home.
She thought she was in danger.

968
01:08:19,804 --> 01:08:23,891
She probably raised the issue with me
about what I was doing.

969
01:08:23,974 --> 01:08:25,309
I don't remember that.

970
01:08:25,392 --> 01:08:27,895
But if she had, I would've laughed at it,

971
01:08:27,978 --> 01:08:30,564
because to me
it was just a political fight.

972
01:08:30,648 --> 01:08:33,234
I don't think of political fights
as being heavy duty,

973
01:08:33,317 --> 01:08:36,862
where they murder your roommate
because they don't like what you're doing.

974
01:08:37,863 --> 01:08:44,078
Heritage of Pride tried to get control of
the Festival a couple years before I did,

975
01:08:44,161 --> 01:08:45,871
and they were threatened.

976
01:08:45,955 --> 01:08:47,665
- By whom?
- By the Mob.

977
01:08:48,958 --> 01:08:54,046
They told me, "Randy, don't do this.
We tried to do it and we were threatened."

978
01:08:54,130 --> 01:08:56,757
And I said, "Well, I'm gonna do it."

979
01:08:56,841 --> 01:09:02,429
Well, on July 28th,
they've made a threat to you.

980
01:09:06,016 --> 01:09:07,101
Here.

981
01:09:08,018 --> 01:09:12,982
At 5:55 on the 28th,
just five minutes before AVP closes,

982
01:09:13,065 --> 01:09:16,235
my informant gets this call.
"Do you know Randy Wicker?"

983
01:09:16,318 --> 01:09:18,154
Matt said, "Yes." Then he said,

984
01:09:18,237 --> 01:09:23,033
"Tell Randy to leave Jacques Garon,
Red Mahoney,"

985
01:09:23,117 --> 01:09:25,953
and another person who did not get named,

986
01:09:26,036 --> 01:09:30,541
"alone or what happened to Marsha Johnson
will happen to him."

987
01:09:30,624 --> 01:09:32,001
And the person hung up.

988
01:09:32,084 --> 01:09:33,669
Oh, God.

989
01:09:38,799 --> 01:09:43,596
I am sure that he did not tell me that.
I'm willing to bet you now...

990
01:09:43,679 --> 01:09:46,348
So, you were never threatened
when you took them on?

991
01:09:47,266 --> 01:09:50,686
No. I never... Who would forget that?

992
01:09:53,647 --> 01:09:57,276
When people would tell me things
about the Mob and whatever,

993
01:09:57,359 --> 01:09:58,944
I was the one that just...

994
01:10:00,321 --> 01:10:03,699
Don't go there, you know.
I was actually...

995
01:10:03,782 --> 01:10:06,702
I look at it now,
I realize I was really in heavy denial.

996
01:10:07,411 --> 01:10:09,413
That might've been
why she ended up staying out,

997
01:10:09,496 --> 01:10:12,333
and why staying out, she winded...

998
01:10:12,416 --> 01:10:16,587
Instead of being home and safe in Hoboken,
you know, with me,

999
01:10:16,670 --> 01:10:19,048
and the dog, you know, and our family.

1000
01:10:19,131 --> 01:10:20,799
Could I say
you're blaming yourself for it?

1001
01:10:20,883 --> 01:10:24,428
Yeah, I think that...
I mean, it really bothers me.

1002
01:10:24,511 --> 01:10:26,555
I mean, I didn't know that.

1003
01:10:43,614 --> 01:10:45,574
This is a beautiful turnout.

1004
01:10:45,658 --> 01:10:47,743
And she's gonna be so proud.

1005
01:10:47,826 --> 01:10:52,331
And remember that the last name...
The middle name is Marsha P. Johnson,

1006
01:10:52,414 --> 01:10:56,418
and the P stands for
"Pay It No Mind" Johnson!

1007
01:10:59,880 --> 01:11:05,970
♪ A band of angels
Coming for me ♪

1008
01:11:06,053 --> 01:11:11,475
♪ Comin' for to carry me home ♪

1009
01:11:12,351 --> 01:11:17,690
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪

1010
01:11:17,773 --> 01:11:22,945
♪ Comin' for to carry me home ♪

1011
01:11:23,028 --> 01:11:28,867
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪

1012
01:11:28,951 --> 01:11:34,373
♪ Comin' for to carry me home ♪

1013
01:11:34,456 --> 01:11:40,754
♪ If you get there before I do ♪

1014
01:11:40,838 --> 01:11:45,884
♪ Comin' for to carry me home ♪

1015
01:11:45,968 --> 01:11:52,391
♪ Tell all my friends I'll be there soon ♪

1016
01:11:52,474 --> 01:11:57,563
♪ Comin' for to carry me home ♪

1017
01:11:57,646 --> 01:12:03,736
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪

1018
01:12:03,819 --> 01:12:06,238
♪ Comin' for to carry me home ♪

1019
01:12:06,322 --> 01:12:10,409
Thank you all. Thank you so much.
Marsha thanks you all.

1020
01:12:11,118 --> 01:12:13,537
- Yeah, Randy!
- Thank you, Randy.

1021
01:12:13,620 --> 01:12:16,832
- Bravo, Marsha!
- Bravo, Marsha!

1022
01:12:16,915 --> 01:12:20,169
♪ Comin' for to carry me home ♪

1023
01:12:20,252 --> 01:12:27,176
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪

1024
01:12:27,259 --> 01:12:33,432
♪ Comin' for to carry me home ♪

1025
01:12:58,582 --> 01:13:00,334
How long
have you lived here?

1026
01:13:00,417 --> 01:13:07,049
I've been here since a week
before Gay Pride Day this year.

1027
01:13:08,050 --> 01:13:09,927
This is my little house.

1028
01:13:13,514 --> 01:13:16,141
When I got that telegram
that Marsha was dead...

1029
01:13:16,934 --> 01:13:19,228
part of me went with her

1030
01:13:19,311 --> 01:13:24,108
because one of our pacts was that we would
always cross River Jordan together.

1031
01:13:24,191 --> 01:13:28,278
And to me, this is the River Jordan.
The Hudson River.

1032
01:13:28,362 --> 01:13:30,781
And that's when I started reaching
for the bottle

1033
01:13:30,864 --> 01:13:32,783
more heavily than I was doing.

1034
01:13:40,958 --> 01:13:43,293
After Marsha's death...

1035
01:13:46,171 --> 01:13:48,632
I came back to New York City.

1036
01:14:07,484 --> 01:14:09,194
We are your history!

1037
01:14:13,157 --> 01:14:16,660
She's not here, but she's here in spirit,
Marsha P. Johnson.

1038
01:14:16,743 --> 01:14:19,413
- She's always...
- Yeah. She'll always be with me.

1039
01:14:19,496 --> 01:14:20,622
Always.

1040
01:14:20,706 --> 01:14:23,208
She'll always be
in the front of this parade.

1041
01:14:38,557 --> 01:14:40,017
Let's put Marsh there.

1042
01:14:41,185 --> 01:14:42,895
Can't forget Marsh.

1043
01:14:58,911 --> 01:15:00,037
Records, Ms. Henry.

1044
01:15:00,120 --> 01:15:02,581
Hi, good afternoon, Ms. Henry.
My name is Victoria.

1045
01:15:02,664 --> 01:15:06,126
I sent an inquiry
in reference to getting, um,

1046
01:15:06,210 --> 01:15:09,546
the medical examiner's records
from a case back in '92,

1047
01:15:09,630 --> 01:15:11,507
and I was just wondering
if you've received it.

1048
01:15:11,590 --> 01:15:14,927
Okay, Victoria, I'm getting ready
to send you a letter

1049
01:15:15,010 --> 01:15:19,765
to say that, as of now,
our office can't locate this case file.

1050
01:15:21,266 --> 01:15:24,019
- You can't locate the case file?
- That's right.

1051
01:15:25,521 --> 01:15:27,564
Any particular reason
that it's not locatable?

1052
01:15:27,648 --> 01:15:32,152
I don't know. It's not in archives
and it's not in the container.

1053
01:15:32,819 --> 01:15:34,613
That's kind of strange.

1054
01:15:34,696 --> 01:15:37,199
These things do happen
every now and again.

1055
01:15:39,034 --> 01:15:42,788
Did some other department check that out
or your department did?

1056
01:15:42,871 --> 01:15:47,084
It's my department only
that has custody of those case files.

1057
01:15:47,167 --> 01:15:48,919
And...

1058
01:15:49,002 --> 01:15:53,882
And then in all your 1992 cases,
the only file that's missing is that one?

1059
01:15:53,966 --> 01:15:56,176
I wouldn't say that.

1060
01:15:56,260 --> 01:15:59,471
I've never said that,
and I will never say that.

1061
01:15:59,555 --> 01:16:03,016
- You searched personally?
- Yes. Correct.

1062
01:16:04,810 --> 01:16:08,772
And who can I speak to more or less
to get something really done on this case?

1063
01:16:09,940 --> 01:16:11,984
I don't know who to tell you.

1064
01:16:16,947 --> 01:16:20,534
We're here today
to support justice for Islan Nettles.

1065
01:16:20,617 --> 01:16:23,203
Today will be the start
to the trial at 9:30.

1066
01:16:23,287 --> 01:16:27,499
We're hoping that the outcome
of the trial, whenever trial ends,

1067
01:16:27,583 --> 01:16:29,835
is gonna be the maximum sentence
for James Dixon,

1068
01:16:29,918 --> 01:16:32,796
the person accused
of killing Islan Nettles.

1069
01:16:32,879 --> 01:16:34,631
That maximum sentence is 25 years,

1070
01:16:34,715 --> 01:16:37,467
and that's what we're asking the DA
to ask the judge for.

1071
01:16:43,265 --> 01:16:45,225
You've been following
Marsha's case.

1072
01:16:45,309 --> 01:16:49,271
So what has, like, this case...
Has it helped to bring some light

1073
01:16:49,354 --> 01:16:52,524
to past cases of violence
against transgender people?

1074
01:16:52,608 --> 01:16:53,609
No. On the contrary.

1075
01:16:53,692 --> 01:16:56,570
Just as most cases that come up
against trans women,

1076
01:16:56,653 --> 01:16:58,363
they plead the panic defense,

1077
01:16:58,447 --> 01:17:01,491
or they just think
they can brush it under the rug,

1078
01:17:01,575 --> 01:17:03,493
and people will pay no mind to it.

1079
01:17:03,577 --> 01:17:07,456
Can you actually speak a little bit more
to this panic defense?

1080
01:17:07,539 --> 01:17:10,792
The panic defense? Well, they didn't know
she was a trans woman.

1081
01:17:10,876 --> 01:17:15,631
There was a case back in '97,
Fitzgerald case.

1082
01:17:15,714 --> 01:17:19,426
Picked up this person in a gay bar,
male gay bar,

1083
01:17:19,509 --> 01:17:21,136
and took them home.

1084
01:17:21,219 --> 01:17:24,139
In court, he didn't know
she was a trans woman.

1085
01:17:24,222 --> 01:17:27,768
The person was stabbed multiple times,
and he got off.

1086
01:17:28,560 --> 01:17:32,356
Pleaded panic defense.
Just like now, in the Nettles case.

1087
01:17:32,439 --> 01:17:35,233
He claimed he panicked.
That's his defense.

1088
01:17:45,369 --> 01:17:47,079
The West Side Highway
is due for a fix-up.

1089
01:17:47,162 --> 01:17:48,580
It's been a long time coming.

1090
01:17:48,664 --> 01:17:50,916
There are concerns
about uprooting some people there.

1091
01:17:50,999 --> 01:17:53,460
The homeless will be asked to move
tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.

1092
01:17:53,543 --> 01:17:55,921
The plans call for
the Hudson River Boulevard,

1093
01:17:56,004 --> 01:17:59,966
trees, traffic for seven lanes
and paths for bikers, joggers and skaters.

1094
01:18:00,050 --> 01:18:03,553
The homeless will have to pack up
their few possessions and get out.

1095
01:18:03,637 --> 01:18:05,681
There's a sense of anger
and desperation here

1096
01:18:05,764 --> 01:18:09,351
for about 30 homeless people
who call Pier 54 their home.

1097
01:18:09,434 --> 01:18:13,522
What about going to a shelter, or getting
some of the services that are available?

1098
01:18:13,605 --> 01:18:15,273
Is that not an option for you?

1099
01:18:15,357 --> 01:18:18,443
The city shelters are not safe.

1100
01:18:18,527 --> 01:18:21,655
- Do you feel like it's safer here?
- Yes.

1101
01:18:22,989 --> 01:18:27,327
It's called a sweep.
Not even a fucking eviction.

1102
01:18:27,411 --> 01:18:30,872
A sweep. Like we're trash.

1103
01:18:53,854 --> 01:18:58,275
There's so many fucking buildings
in this fucking Manhattan,

1104
01:18:58,358 --> 01:19:02,821
and they can't give up
a fucking building to fucking...

1105
01:19:04,030 --> 01:19:09,453
maybe 15 people that will go in
and try to re-renovate it?

1106
01:19:09,536 --> 01:19:13,540
Marsha and I did it back in the '70s
on our own.

1107
01:19:16,293 --> 01:19:19,921
Yeah, I'm crazy,
because the world has made me crazy.

1108
01:19:21,798 --> 01:19:24,509
Don't be going in my house!

1109
01:19:24,593 --> 01:19:27,345
Excuse me, don't be going in my house!

1110
01:20:23,401 --> 01:20:26,696
Well, Marsha, we tried.
That's all I can say.

1111
01:21:16,663 --> 01:21:20,208
- Hi, Ms. Henry.
- A package was mailed out to you.

1112
01:21:20,292 --> 01:21:22,919
Okay, so you mailed us
the autopsy report.

1113
01:21:23,003 --> 01:21:27,132
I mailed you
whatever I was able to put together, okay?

1114
01:21:27,215 --> 01:21:29,676
So, we'll be receiving it
in the near future?

1115
01:21:29,759 --> 01:21:31,761
- Yes.
- Okay.

1116
01:21:32,470 --> 01:21:34,681
Thank you. You've been most helpful.

1117
01:21:39,728 --> 01:21:41,730
- Hi, Eddie. Come on in.
- Hi.

1118
01:21:43,064 --> 01:21:45,984
- Did you bring the report?
- Yeah.

1119
01:21:46,568 --> 01:21:50,572
Okay, Ms. Henry said it was only partial.
Is it a big envelope?

1120
01:21:50,655 --> 01:21:51,907
It's kind of heavy.

1121
01:21:52,699 --> 01:21:54,826
This looks flimsy.

1122
01:21:56,953 --> 01:21:59,748
"Office of the Medical Examiner,
City of New York,

1123
01:21:59,831 --> 01:22:04,210
have performed an autopsy
on the body of Malcolm Michaels

1124
01:22:04,294 --> 01:22:09,633
on the 7th day of July, 1992,
at 1:30 p.m."

1125
01:22:10,425 --> 01:22:12,510
But they classified it
as drowning at first,

1126
01:22:12,594 --> 01:22:17,140
but then they circled "possible homicide."
Like, here.

1127
01:22:18,725 --> 01:22:21,978
It looks like they found
a lot of discoloration,

1128
01:22:22,062 --> 01:22:25,315
but no evidence of trauma.

1129
01:22:25,398 --> 01:22:27,275
- Does that sound right?
- No trauma on the skull. Yeah.

1130
01:22:27,359 --> 01:22:31,279
"There is a sub... Uh..."

1131
01:22:32,864 --> 01:22:34,282
I don't know what the fuck this word is.

1132
01:22:35,825 --> 01:22:38,286
Maybe we should look at
another examiner's look at them.

1133
01:22:38,370 --> 01:22:43,291
- Or get... Right, get somebody...
- Have a professional look at this autopsy.

1134
01:22:44,000 --> 01:22:46,461
- Dr. Kildare.
- Doctor... Who's that?

1135
01:22:46,544 --> 01:22:48,213
He was before your time.

1136
01:22:49,631 --> 01:22:53,969
"Images of photos on CD."

1137
01:23:05,397 --> 01:23:06,690
Okay.

1138
01:23:11,903 --> 01:23:13,989
Oh, God.

1139
01:23:15,824 --> 01:23:17,283
Oh.

1140
01:23:28,378 --> 01:23:32,173
What we have here
is an unwitnessed drowning.

1141
01:23:33,049 --> 01:23:37,387
She went into the water
while still alive and breathing.

1142
01:23:37,470 --> 01:23:40,890
It wasn't a situation where
death occurred someplace else,

1143
01:23:40,974 --> 01:23:44,269
by whatever means...

1144
01:23:44,352 --> 01:23:47,772
and then put in the water.

1145
01:23:49,065 --> 01:23:51,526
Whether she's pushed in,

1146
01:23:51,609 --> 01:23:54,863
whether she's being chased
and falls accidentally,

1147
01:23:55,447 --> 01:23:59,284
we can't tell from the autopsy.
That depends on the police investigation.

1148
01:23:59,367 --> 01:24:01,745
Could you rule out a violent assault?

1149
01:24:01,828 --> 01:24:04,372
Yes, there's no evidence there
of violent assault.

1150
01:24:05,540 --> 01:24:09,711
There was no injury, no impact injury,
to any part of her body.

1151
01:24:09,794 --> 01:24:15,258
There was no fracture of the skull,
there was no damage to the brain at all.

1152
01:24:15,967 --> 01:24:17,343
What about
the hole in the head?

1153
01:24:18,303 --> 01:24:22,015
Well, the body gets injured after death...

1154
01:24:22,098 --> 01:24:25,351
- Okay.
- ...by floating debris and all that.

1155
01:24:25,435 --> 01:24:29,731
And the body starts breaking apart faster
in warmer water.

1156
01:24:29,814 --> 01:24:32,525
So what looks like
a gash on the left side,

1157
01:24:32,609 --> 01:24:34,944
- is really just the peeling of skin.
- Okay.

1158
01:24:35,028 --> 01:24:38,073
But it's just normal separation of skin.

1159
01:24:41,826 --> 01:24:44,204
I don't think it was a suicide.

1160
01:24:44,287 --> 01:24:46,748
It could've been an accident.
It could've...

1161
01:24:46,831 --> 01:24:48,875
They said the pier was dilapidated.

1162
01:24:48,958 --> 01:24:51,503
He could've stepped through
a hole in the pier.

1163
01:24:51,586 --> 01:24:54,380
Or people could have been following him,

1164
01:24:54,464 --> 01:24:59,010
and because there was no evidence
of any type of trauma to the body,

1165
01:24:59,094 --> 01:25:01,096
that don't mean they beat him up
and threw him in the water.

1166
01:25:01,179 --> 01:25:04,974
They could've chased him, scared him,
and he also fell through the pier.

1167
01:25:05,058 --> 01:25:08,061
Yes, that certainly
brings up the issue of homicide,

1168
01:25:08,144 --> 01:25:10,230
because if somebody's being chased...

1169
01:25:11,314 --> 01:25:13,191
and runs in front of a car,

1170
01:25:13,274 --> 01:25:18,196
or accidentally falls into the water,
runs into the water,

1171
01:25:18,279 --> 01:25:20,448
that would be called a homicide.

1172
01:25:20,532 --> 01:25:24,953
Well, we have documentation
where she was frantic, being followed.

1173
01:25:25,036 --> 01:25:29,207
Credible person giving this report
to our agency,

1174
01:25:29,290 --> 01:25:31,668
and then wasn't even investigated.

1175
01:25:36,297 --> 01:25:37,882
Well, there's no, um...

1176
01:25:39,259 --> 01:25:44,222
statute of limitation on homicide,
and that goes beyond my pay grade.

1177
01:25:55,441 --> 01:25:57,110
Something's wrong.

1178
01:25:57,986 --> 01:26:02,323
We keep on running into a brick wall
whenever we deal with the city.

1179
01:26:02,407 --> 01:26:05,785
Every time I spoke to a cop,
and they just brushed me off.

1180
01:26:05,869 --> 01:26:06,995
Something's wrong.

1181
01:26:07,078 --> 01:26:10,790
Every time I made a call,
"You have to do this and this and this."

1182
01:26:10,874 --> 01:26:12,000
Something's wrong.

1183
01:26:13,418 --> 01:26:15,336
Why this particular case?

1184
01:26:16,337 --> 01:26:20,008
I think maybe we should go up
one step higher,

1185
01:26:20,091 --> 01:26:24,137
and maybe seek some assistance
from someplace outside of New York City

1186
01:26:24,220 --> 01:26:27,223
to just look over what we have here.

1187
01:26:28,600 --> 01:26:33,104
You know, it's obvious that
the police are not cooperating with this.

1188
01:26:33,188 --> 01:26:36,774
Well, we don't have an endless pot

1189
01:26:36,858 --> 01:26:40,737
of people or time or resources.

1190
01:26:40,820 --> 01:26:44,782
And so, I'm not really sure
what is involved in that.

1191
01:26:44,866 --> 01:26:51,206
You know, just today, you all were
at the trial for Islan Nettles.

1192
01:26:51,289 --> 01:26:54,000
I mean, there are so many cases,

1193
01:26:54,083 --> 01:26:58,796
and so many have not had any resolution.

1194
01:26:59,505 --> 01:27:05,386
We've had, in the last couple of months,
a number of murders across the country.

1195
01:27:05,470 --> 01:27:08,014
When trans lives are under attack,
what do we do?

1196
01:27:08,097 --> 01:27:09,474
Stand up, fight back.

1197
01:27:10,099 --> 01:27:12,060
Eight transgender women
across the country

1198
01:27:12,143 --> 01:27:13,853
have been murdered in the last 34 days.

1199
01:27:13,937 --> 01:27:16,940
There have been more than
400 people murdered in the past decade.

1200
01:27:17,023 --> 01:27:19,692
Transgender women
face the most severe violence

1201
01:27:19,776 --> 01:27:21,903
within the LGBTQ community.

1202
01:27:21,986 --> 01:27:24,948
A transgender woman was found
strangled to death.

1203
01:27:25,031 --> 01:27:27,408
Police say she was stabbed several times.

1204
01:27:27,492 --> 01:27:30,745
In street lingo, it was a
curb stomp. He was dressed as a woman.

1205
01:27:30,828 --> 01:27:32,247
And shame on the media

1206
01:27:32,330 --> 01:27:34,457
for calling us men dressed
in women's clothing.

1207
01:27:34,540 --> 01:27:36,793
Shame on the media for that.

1208
01:27:36,876 --> 01:27:40,296
This cannot go unanswered.
I say, hands off my sister.

1209
01:27:40,380 --> 01:27:44,801
Do we not deal
with the immediate needs there

1210
01:27:44,884 --> 01:27:49,806
to go back and spend the time
to investigate this case?

1211
01:27:49,889 --> 01:27:52,850
Or even, like, what does that mean?

1212
01:27:52,934 --> 01:27:55,687
What does that mean?
Justice for Marsha.

1213
01:27:55,770 --> 01:28:02,151
Keep your hands off my sister!

1214
01:28:02,235 --> 01:28:04,362
And justice for so many others.

1215
01:28:05,029 --> 01:28:10,326
The visibility that we can do something
about a case that's been cold,

1216
01:28:10,410 --> 01:28:11,786
and then seeking justice,

1217
01:28:11,869 --> 01:28:14,706
if not for the family,
but for the community.

1218
01:28:14,789 --> 01:28:16,582
- I know...
- Because this is part of our history.

1219
01:28:16,666 --> 01:28:19,377
It is part of our history.
I completely believe that.

1220
01:28:19,460 --> 01:28:21,462
And I'm also worried about the future.

1221
01:28:21,546 --> 01:28:23,047
Keep your hands off my sister!

1222
01:28:23,131 --> 01:28:32,265
Keep your hands off my sister!
Keep your hands off my sister!

1223
01:30:02,271 --> 01:30:05,108
Whatever happened,
it must have been around here.

1224
01:30:37,140 --> 01:30:42,228
We live as who we are.
This is us. This is us being at home.

1225
01:30:44,105 --> 01:30:46,357
I don't know,
we just want to be ourselves.

1226
01:30:46,440 --> 01:30:49,026
The women we are, inside-out.

1227
01:30:50,778 --> 01:30:52,446
Right? Am I wrong?

1228
01:30:52,530 --> 01:30:55,283
She's right. Very wise of her.

1229
01:30:55,366 --> 01:30:58,369
It started out,
it was just Chelsea and me.

1230
01:30:58,452 --> 01:31:03,374
And, um, then,
people just started to come.

1231
01:31:04,375 --> 01:31:06,502
We started to think of ourselves as,

1232
01:31:06,586 --> 01:31:09,964
you know, this was the house
that Sylvia and Marsha had.

1233
01:31:10,047 --> 01:31:14,260
And we really looked at STAR House
as our reference point.

1234
01:31:17,555 --> 01:31:20,850
Aw, there they are.
I have to get this picture.

1235
01:31:23,019 --> 01:31:27,148
She'd been homeless, and she'd been living
on a pier, and that sort of thing.

1236
01:31:27,231 --> 01:31:31,652
And I said, "Hey, you're not homeless.
I got a place.

1237
01:31:31,736 --> 01:31:34,030
Long as I got a place,
you're not homeless."

1238
01:31:34,113 --> 01:31:36,824
She didn't move in right away,
but she started coming around.

1239
01:31:36,908 --> 01:31:40,328
She'd do some work in the backyard,
do some work around the house

1240
01:31:40,411 --> 01:31:41,996
in lieu of paying rent.

1241
01:31:42,079 --> 01:31:44,582
...went around the streets.

1242
01:31:44,665 --> 01:31:50,004
We have to help one another.
We really do. It's important.

1243
01:31:50,087 --> 01:31:52,048
The people in the house
really related to Sylvia.

1244
01:31:52,131 --> 01:31:54,634
She mothered them, in a way,
and gave advice.

1245
01:31:54,717 --> 01:31:56,302
She talked with them.

1246
01:31:56,385 --> 01:32:00,348
But when she sobered up,
then she was much better with them.

1247
01:32:00,431 --> 01:32:03,643
Just like cold turkey.
Bang, no more drinking.

1248
01:32:05,436 --> 01:32:08,856
We have to remember,
we must continue to fight this government

1249
01:32:08,940 --> 01:32:10,358
because this government is the one

1250
01:32:10,441 --> 01:32:13,945
that's going to keep us divided
at all time.

1251
01:32:15,571 --> 01:32:19,283
That's when she got back
into her role, I think,

1252
01:32:19,367 --> 01:32:21,911
as an activist in the community.

1253
01:32:21,994 --> 01:32:24,956
And all of a sudden, we noticed
people were coming up and saying,

1254
01:32:25,039 --> 01:32:28,668
"You're Sylvia Rivera, aren't you?
I thought you was dead!"

1255
01:32:30,127 --> 01:32:31,504
I began to realize that

1256
01:32:31,587 --> 01:32:35,591
she really had a lot of projection
in the community.

1257
01:32:39,845 --> 01:32:41,097
It's a huge party,

1258
01:32:41,180 --> 01:32:43,057
and its mission
is to fight against discrimination.

1259
01:32:43,641 --> 01:32:45,101
In the streets of Rome,

1260
01:32:45,184 --> 01:32:49,438
World Gay Pride gathered 200,000 gays,
transgender people and lesbians

1261
01:32:49,522 --> 01:32:53,109
from Italy, as well as America,
France and Germany.

1262
01:33:04,078 --> 01:33:10,001
It really gives me great
pleasure to be here in representation

1263
01:33:10,084 --> 01:33:15,089
of the gay liberation movement
and the transgender movement

1264
01:33:15,172 --> 01:33:18,259
all the way from the United States.

1265
01:33:22,430 --> 01:33:27,310
I didn't think 31 years ago
that I would have so many children,

1266
01:33:27,393 --> 01:33:30,104
but I'm proud to have liberated you.

1267
01:33:32,565 --> 01:33:34,984
Viva and love Pride,

1268
01:33:35,067 --> 01:33:39,238
and continue your struggle
all around the world!

1269
01:33:47,496 --> 01:33:49,540
The crowd went crazy.

1270
01:33:49,623 --> 01:33:51,709
At one point in between my speech,

1271
01:33:51,792 --> 01:33:55,629
they started calling me
a living myth in Italian.

1272
01:33:55,713 --> 01:33:57,465
Mistica. Mistica.

1273
01:33:59,925 --> 01:34:02,928
Oh, my God, it's hard.

1274
01:34:03,012 --> 01:34:05,097
Then people were coming up
and kissing my hand,

1275
01:34:05,181 --> 01:34:08,142
and then giving me the double kiss,

1276
01:34:08,225 --> 01:34:10,019
and going through the whole scenario

1277
01:34:10,102 --> 01:34:12,688
with the little bit of English
that they knew.

1278
01:34:12,772 --> 01:34:16,442
"Thank you for what you did at Stonewall."

1279
01:34:16,525 --> 01:34:19,528
I was really emotional
about the whole thing.

1280
01:34:19,612 --> 01:34:21,781
- Guess what?
- What?

1281
01:34:21,864 --> 01:34:25,659
Guess where Mother has keys to now, then?

1282
01:34:26,452 --> 01:34:27,536
To the church.

1283
01:34:27,620 --> 01:34:29,580
- To the church?
- Mother got a job at church.

1284
01:34:29,663 --> 01:34:31,374
What are you doing?

1285
01:34:31,457 --> 01:34:33,918
- Bagging up food and whatnot.
- And are they paying you?

1286
01:34:34,001 --> 01:34:35,628
- Yes.
- No kidding.

1287
01:34:36,962 --> 01:34:42,551
I can go home and say that
I've actually tried to make a difference.

1288
01:34:43,427 --> 01:34:45,054
That's what marriage does to you.

1289
01:34:45,137 --> 01:34:47,932
- She's made me an honest woman.
- Really? That's good.

1290
01:34:48,015 --> 01:34:52,812
I mean, me of all people, Sylvia Rivera,
had the keys to a church.

1291
01:35:08,744 --> 01:35:10,746
Sylvia Rivera was 50 years old

1292
01:35:10,830 --> 01:35:13,207
when she died of liver cancer last week.

1293
01:35:13,290 --> 01:35:17,503
Virtually up until the moment she died,
she was lobbying for legislation

1294
01:35:17,586 --> 01:35:21,632
to protect the rights
of this most despised of minorities.

1295
01:35:21,715 --> 01:35:25,886
Trans rights now!
Trans rights now!

1296
01:35:25,970 --> 01:35:29,682
Doubtless, there will be many stories
told about Sylvia.

1297
01:35:30,433 --> 01:35:33,477
Some true, some pure myth.

1298
01:35:34,270 --> 01:35:37,690
That happens with great leaders.

1299
01:35:37,773 --> 01:35:39,984
And make no mistake tonight,

1300
01:35:40,067 --> 01:35:44,655
Sylvia Rivera is the mother
of our movement,

1301
01:35:44,738 --> 01:35:46,782
a great leader of our people.

1302
01:36:11,807 --> 01:36:17,188
I'm tired of people
assaulting and murdering trans women.

1303
01:36:18,731 --> 01:36:21,817
I want it changed, and it's gonna change.

1304
01:36:22,568 --> 01:36:24,987
'Cause we're gonna keep pushing the issue
until it does.

1305
01:36:25,070 --> 01:36:28,741
Nobody's prosecuting
these people properly.

1306
01:36:28,824 --> 01:36:32,369
They don't get
what any other murderer would get.

1307
01:36:32,453 --> 01:36:35,331
They get a pat on the wrist
and a little bit of time and let go.

1308
01:36:35,414 --> 01:36:37,958
This judge and DA have to do
the right thing.

1309
01:36:38,042 --> 01:36:40,753
Prosecute him
like you would a regular person.

1310
01:36:44,715 --> 01:36:47,259
As everyone is aware,
we're here today for sentencing.

1311
01:36:47,343 --> 01:36:50,721
First, the People are gonna be reading,
I understand, a statement.

1312
01:36:51,805 --> 01:36:54,225
I'm going to be reading
a statement that was sent to me

1313
01:36:54,308 --> 01:36:58,395
by the biological father of Islan Nettles.

1314
01:36:59,271 --> 01:37:03,192
He had asked me personally
to read this on his behalf.

1315
01:37:05,528 --> 01:37:10,032
"There was a very outgoing,
free-spirited, young, promising individual

1316
01:37:10,115 --> 01:37:12,034
that had a very bright future,

1317
01:37:12,117 --> 01:37:14,453
that had the potential
to make a mark in the world.

1318
01:37:14,537 --> 01:37:16,497
And it came to a screeching halt

1319
01:37:16,580 --> 01:37:20,793
by an individual that was upset
because he was clowned by his friends,

1320
01:37:20,876 --> 01:37:24,213
because he didn't know
the women he was trying to holler at

1321
01:37:24,296 --> 01:37:26,799
was actually a transgender woman.

1322
01:37:26,882 --> 01:37:30,386
He made a conscious decision
to beat a transgender woman to death

1323
01:37:30,469 --> 01:37:31,804
because of who she was

1324
01:37:31,887 --> 01:37:34,807
and the embarrassment
he felt he had suffered.

1325
01:37:36,016 --> 01:37:38,936
I was extremely proud
of the person she became.

1326
01:37:39,019 --> 01:37:41,355
But no matter
what amount of time this man gets,

1327
01:37:41,438 --> 01:37:43,649
it will never fill the hole in my heart

1328
01:37:43,732 --> 01:37:46,193
that a person that had
such a magnificent future

1329
01:37:46,277 --> 01:37:50,823
and was my only child
and a lifelong gift had once filled."

1330
01:37:51,824 --> 01:37:53,617
Mr. Dixon, I hereby sentence you

1331
01:37:53,701 --> 01:37:55,369
to a determinate sentence of imprisonment

1332
01:37:55,452 --> 01:37:57,121
with a term of 12 years.

1333
01:37:58,163 --> 01:37:59,373
All right, we're adjourned.

1334
01:38:01,667 --> 01:38:04,253
You're crushing us.
You're killing us.

1335
01:38:05,588 --> 01:38:10,384
This young man is only going to end up
doing ten and a half years,

1336
01:38:10,467 --> 01:38:13,345
learn nothing,
come back out and do this again.

1337
01:38:13,429 --> 01:38:15,139
This needs to stop.

1338
01:38:15,222 --> 01:38:17,641
We're not letting none of this go anymore.

1339
01:39:14,990 --> 01:39:17,326
Really,
everybody goes sooner or later.

1340
01:39:18,160 --> 01:39:19,953
Tomorrow's not promised to anyone.

1341
01:39:20,079 --> 01:39:22,623
I learned that in church
when I was five years old.

1342
01:39:23,624 --> 01:39:25,459
And I've never forgotten it.

1343
01:39:25,542 --> 01:39:29,254
So, uh, every day counts.

1344
01:39:49,191 --> 01:39:50,609
Come on, girl.

1345
01:39:51,443 --> 01:39:53,112
Chin up.