Vol. 74/No. 36      September 27, 2010

The forum—titled “Police Torturer Burge Convicted: Now What?”—is part of a series of events on torture by Chicago cops in September hosted by a number of groups and institutions, including the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Jail Jon Burge Coalition, Northwestern University, and the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

Cannon, who was released from prison in 2007, was one of more than 100, mostly Black men, tortured into “confessions” by Jon Burge, a police lieutenant on Chicago’s South Side, and officers under his command known as the “Midnight Crew.” Burge was convicted in federal court here June 28 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying about the torture in a civil lawsuit. He is scheduled to be sentenced November 5.

“In 1983 the police kicked in my door and took me to an isolated area were they expeditiously did things to me I could not imagine,” Cannon said. Referring to the exchange of accounts of police brutality at the forum, he said, “We need to keep this up.”

Mark Clements, leader of the Jail Jon Burge Coalition and a victim of cop torture who spent 28 years in prison, told the crowd, “We need a special prosecutor to investigate the claims of the remaining torture victims. We need compensation for all torture victims.”

Marvin Reeves and Ronald Kitchen, who won their release in 2009 after each served 21 years in prison for crimes they did not commit, also spoke. Reeves said that in 1988 “police kicked in my door with drawn guns and said, ‘you are under arrest.’ They put my hands behind my back and shackled them to my ankles. They said they had information that I killed three children and two women. If you know anything about the police, since I was a suspect, I became a victim. They say they ’serve and protect,’ that’s their fraud. No one served and protected me.”

Laura Anderson, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Congress, spoke during the discussion: “The conviction of Jon Burge has strengthened the fight by working people. It encourages fighters like Troy Davis, who have been framed up and are facing execution. It encourages the fight of the Cuban Five who have been locked up in prison for 12 years.” Anderson invited everyone in the room to attend the September 13 picket line demanding freedom for the Cuban Five.
 
 
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