Media Ignores Calls for Federal Probe into Chicago Police Brutality Marie Dennis September 12, 2014 Hood Report, News 3 Comments In late August, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) sent a letter to Eric Holder asking for a federal investigation into 65 cases of police brutality in Chicago. None of the local press covered this story despite the press conference the group held on August 27. The week before the Labor Day weekend during the height of the national outcry over events in Ferguson, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) held a press conference about their letter to Attorney General Eric Holder calling for an investigation of 65 documented cases of police brutality in Chicago. How many local media sources covered this story? Zero. Frank Chapman of CAARPR compared these cases to the torture and conviction in Israel of Chicago Palestinian leader, Rasmea Odeh. Chapman’s statement connecting the victims of Chicago Police torture with a victim of torture in Israel is reminiscent of John Conroy’s 2000 book “Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture”. In this seminal study, he identifies how ordinary people can rationalize their behavior and become torturers. He uses three case studies – British forces in Northern Ireland with IRA suspects, the Israeli army and Palestinian detainees, and Chicago Police Department (CPD) interrogation of suspects. In a chapter titled “Chicago – The Public is Not Aroused”, Conroy describes the Chicago media’s lack of interest in CPD brutality cases that continues to this day. The Chicago case in his study involved Jon Burge. Burge was a Chicago Police commander in the 80s who was accused of torturing criminal suspects to obtain confessions. He was acquitted of police brutality charges in 1989 due to a hung jury. He was fired from the force in 1993 after the Police Review Board determined that he had used torture methods. His victims numbered over 200 and his case led to Governor Ryan suspending the death penalty in Illinois. He was eventually convicted in a federal court, not of police brutality, but of obstruction of justice and perjury charges. In 2011, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. So far, the Department of Justice has no plans to launch an investigation into the 65 current cases of police brutality. Related News: Chicago Commander Glenn Evans Facing 5 Years in Prison 3 Responses Ron Schwartz September 12, 2014 Actually, there was a news report (sorry I can’t recall where I saw it) in which the Holder Justice Department denied that the CPD was under investigation. Instead, it called the CPD a partner with the Justice Department in the fight against crime. {Meant to post this here} Reply XPwnUvmrSkQhuvz October 11, 2015 EjHvVOimegElfmGIXa 4952 Reply Sovereign March 31, 2016 Asking the feds to investigate their own worker bees will have no effect. The people need to file an affidavit of criminal complaint to get things across. Its a personal lawsuit against the individual rather than the city or state. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.
Ron Schwartz September 12, 2014 Actually, there was a news report (sorry I can’t recall where I saw it) in which the Holder Justice Department denied that the CPD was under investigation. Instead, it called the CPD a partner with the Justice Department in the fight against crime. {Meant to post this here} Reply
Sovereign March 31, 2016 Asking the feds to investigate their own worker bees will have no effect. The people need to file an affidavit of criminal complaint to get things across. Its a personal lawsuit against the individual rather than the city or state. Reply