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From: Democracy Now

Decades after torture allegations were first leveled against former Chicago police commander Jon Burge, a federal jury has found him guilty of lying about torturing prisoners into making confessions. Burge has long been accused of overseeing the systematic torture of more than 100 African American men. Two years ago federal prosecutors finally brought charges against Burge—not for torture, but for lying about it. On Monday afternoon, after a five-week trial, Jon Burge was found guilty on all counts of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying about the abuse. He could face up to forty-five years in prison. [includes rush transcript]

Jon Burge Guilty Of Torture!

Burge’s Victims React To Guilty Verdict

Jon Burge returns to court for bond hearing

On May 24, as many as 100 people turned out to our rally, “Take a Stand Against Torture,” which took place on the first day of the trial of Jon Burge, the notorious police torturer, who is in court on obstruction of Justice charges.

Our rally was picked up by all local news stations in Chicago.  Mark Clements, who is a Burge torture victim, led the rally and was interviewed by countless news outlets (and still is).  Stanley Howard spoke to the rally via cell phone from his prison cell.  Stanley and Ronnie Kitchen have since spoken out about their torture on the National Public Radio station here.

We held our handmade signs, we read the names of all those still incarcerated who were tortured by Burge, and we had their pictures posted on placards.

Our demands for new hearings and trials for all torture victims, stop paying cops who torture, and jail cops who torture was heard loud and clear.

If Mayor Daley was in his office that day, I’m sure he heard us, with our chanting and drumming, “POLICE TORTURE IS A CRIME, JON BURGE SHOULD BE DOING TIME.”  And Mark’s favorite, “I say JAIL, you say BURGE, JAIL BURGE!”

The struggle continues!!

Segment on the trial from Democracy Now! featuring Flint Taylor and Darrell Cannon.

A former police commander accused of overseeing the torture of more than 100 African American men goes on trial today in Chicago. Former Lieutenant Jon Burge is accused of lying when he denied in a civil lawsuit that he and other detectives had tortured anyone. He faces a maximum of forty-five years in prison if convicted of all charges. The accusations of torture date back forty years, but Burge has avoided prosecution until now. For nearly two decades, beginning in 1971, Burge was at the epicenter of what has been described as the systematic torture of dozens of black men to coerce confessions. In total, more than 100 people in Chicago say they were subjected to abuse, including having guns forced into their mouths, suffocation with bags placed over their heads, and electric shocks inflicted to their genitals. We speak to attorney Flint Taylor and torture victim Darrell Cannon.

Read the rush transcript…