00:00Wow. So we are a nation built on the rule of law, on checks and balances, and on the fundamental
00:07idea that power belongs to the people.
00:09Not to one person, not to one party, and not to those who believe that they are above the law.
00:16But right now those principles are being tested. Our institutions are being tested.
00:21Congress, unfortunately, has been co-opted.
00:27In our courts, unfortunately, some of them have been co-opted as well.
00:33But the defense of our democracy does not lie in the courts.
00:38The defense of our democracy lies in the hands of the people.
00:41And across this country we are seeing efforts to concentrate power, to undermine democratic institutions,
00:48to intimidate those who dare to stand up and speak out.
00:53The weaponization of government, vindictive, petty politics.
00:58We are seeing attacks on our immigrant brothers and sisters, attacks on workers, attacks on voting rights,
01:05and attacks on the very freedoms that generations before us fought to secure.
01:10As the Attorney General of New York, my job is to defend the Constitution,
01:14to protect the people of the state from harm, and to hold the powerful accountable, no matter who they are.
01:21And I will not capitulate, and I will not genuflect, and I will not bow, and I will not break,
01:28and I will not bend.
01:30And what flows through my DNA, my blood, is the ancestors of those who have been through a lot worse.
01:39And so let me be clear.
01:41The law matters in this country.
01:43And we have challenged illegal federal actions in court.
01:48And we, Democratic Attorneys General, have stood up to those who think that they can use fear and division to
01:54control our communities.
01:56But we are winning.
01:58And I guess that's why I'm a target.
02:01And we will continue to fight because no one is above the law.
02:06Reverence for the law and due process is foundational to our democracy.
02:11But defending democracy, my friends, is not the job of one leader or one Hollywood star.
02:20It is the responsibility that we all share.
02:24It belongs to the workers organizing in their unions, to the advocates protecting civil liberties,
02:30to the young people marching in the streets,
02:32and to every American who refuses to accept a future where power goes unchecked,
02:38who rejects concentrated power,
02:41who believes in good government.
02:43So today we march.
02:45We march because democracy is not simply passed down.
02:49Democracy is a project.
02:51An ongoing project.
02:53It is defended by each and every generation.
02:57Every generation that has fought for freedom
03:00and that refuses to witness an erosion of our democracy.
03:05Every individual who refuses to scapegoat immigrants
03:09and members of the trans community
03:11and people of color
03:12and women
03:14dehumanizing my friends,
03:16my neighbors,
03:17my family.
03:19Every individual who rejects authoritarianism.
03:22Every individual who rejects massed individuals
03:25asking the simple question,
03:26where are your papers?
03:29Where are your papers?
03:29Do you have papers?
03:31Every individual who rejects the intimidation and fear tactics.
03:36So today I march.
03:39I march with individuals whose names I do not know,
03:42but individuals who are a crowd of witness
03:44to all that we are seeing in our country
03:47and who simply want our country back
03:50and who want to return to normalcy.
03:55I've seen nothing but a band of warriors out here today
03:58and all across this nation.
04:01Individuals standing up for freedom,
04:03for liberty,
04:05for their democracy.
04:07So I stand with them,
04:09each of them,
04:10arm in arm,
04:11shoulder to shoulder,
04:12with no space between us,
04:14indivisible,
04:15with justice
04:16for all.
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