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Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy and the rest of the Chicago police department continue to refuse to publicly speak about a preemptive night raid against activists on May 17. The raid took place at an apartment where activists were staying in Bridgeport on the south side of Chicago. It happened just days before the scheduled NATO summit that begins on Sunday.
Five activists are still being held in detention without charge. The forty-eight hour detention deadline is fastly approaching.
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) in a press release states, “The city has until tonight to either charge the arrestees or release them. The city has never explained its reasons for the raid, what they are charging the protesters with, nor provided any evidence of wrongdoing or criminal activity.”
In fact, McCarthy was confronted at a press conference with questions. He responded, “We’re not going to talk about it. We are just not going to talk about it. It’s an ongoing investigation that has not been completed. We are not going to talk about it.”
He added, “Protest-related activity, we’ve had twelve arrests,” when a member called him out for giving an arrest number that did not include those picked up in the raid. And he refused to address the issue even after a member of the press noted some arrestees had been released.
The NLG has released photos:
Damage to the door that was busted down
Home-brewing kit which police consider to be evidence of Molotov cocktails
Overturned apartment after unwarranted search in the apartment
Saying there is an ongoing investigation does not make it legal or acceptable to hold people incommunicado, people who are here in Chicago to exercise their First Amendment rights. If the police are going to facilitate unpermitted marches (as McCarthy said in the press conference), they should definitely be able to facilitate search warrants. They should be able to facilitate the reading of rights to activists that are arrested. (But, I guess if you are disappeared you should not be surprised that you would not be read your rights.)
The NLG plan to take legal action if the five activists remain in detention past the 48-hour mark. If they do take action, it will certainly be justified. There have been consistent reports of what one could call fascism, as police are making “routine visits” to homes and demanding people let them search because they suspect “anarchist activities” are taking place.
Here’s previous coverage of the preemptive raid.
And here’s my appearance on RT.
11 Comments
Beer brewing equipment = WMD, Orwell would be proud. It appears that Saddam was hiding his chemical weapons lab in Chicago. Be afraid be very afraid.
The Chicago Police Department and everyone with authority who had pre-knowledge of this ought to be sued out of existence, and all the individuals involved held *personally* liable for urinating on the Bill of Rights.
In fact I am virtually certain that that is exactly what will happen next, just so the world can see that America has not become a Fascist police state. Not.
Remember, only the cops may practice The Chicago Way.
In the meantime, Congress and the White House (yes dear Obamabots…the Man himself is involved in this shit) continue their relentless assault on basic constitutional rights.
I’m telling ya: CPD is merely following the example coming from the top.
From Livestream here – http://www.ustream.tv/channel/occupiechicago#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=9593819&utm_medium=social
Three still held, some ability for cops to claim the 48 hours started later than 11:30 etc … lawyers are able to visit with them, etc
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/9112-why-the-occupy-movement-frightens-the-corporate-elite
So WMD means Workings of Micro-Distillery? Boy, good thing they didn’t get caught with a 24-pack of Stella Artois or something.
I’ve read the reader comments on this story in totally mainstream MSNBC:
http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/19/11764029-blind-chinese-activist-chen-leaves-beijing-on-flight-to-us?lite
Most of the comments would fit nicely into an FDL thread. Huge concern about destruction of the Constitution. The public has caught on to what’s happening.
Like folks pointing out the irony that at least we know the whereabouts of the Chinese dissident. We still don’t know what’s happened to the Chicago Five.
Is this what the Southside has come to? The home to the machine which built Chicago is using the same tactics of Daley I in suppressing dissent. Then it was illegal an war in SE Asia. Now it is an illegal war in SE Chicago. And we all know how well that turned out for the Dems for a decade. Insanity defined remains doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. The party is over for the status quo and the gov’t overlords of the police state. Obama will sink like a rock with his over preened pandering to the elites. 4-8 years of Mitt while a new majority is built sounds like hard work but it’s the only action left for progressives.
Been looking for some work myself, i’m not too picky these days. I should have stayed with my original thoughts ’08, that McInsane could never get away with what sorryO has de-complished (from the progressive pov). So what, so Mitt.
OT, you reminded me of a Utah Phillips monolog about the public viewing of Daley I, “when he died they laid him out on his stomach so everyone could kiss him good-bye.”