Chicago, IL – On the morning of Monday, December 2, about 30 demonstrators, led by survivors of wrongful convictions and their loved ones, gathered in below-freezing temperatures outside the downtown Chicago office of incoming Cook County State's Attorney Eileen Burke to demand she free torture survivors and the wrongfully convicted.

Speakers gave testimony, chanted, and held signs that reinforced their demands. Burke has a lot of work to do to keep up with her predecessor Kim Foxx, who freed over 300 survivors of wrongful conviction and police torture during her eight years in office.

“Our wrongfully convicted loved ones should not have to spend another holiday in these god-forsaken slave ships called prisons,” said Jasmine Smith, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance. “Eileen Burke could free them with a stroke of her pen!”

During the program, the family and loved ones of currently incarcerated survivors, including Tamon Russell, Ramon Banks and Devon Showers, spoke. In addition, formerly incarcerated survivors of wrongful conviction spoke or were in attendance, including Mark Clements, David Lincoln, Cordell Williams, Dante Brown, and Kevin Jackson – who was only just released in September. Kevin Jackson won his freedom in court after two decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Jackson was wrongfully convicted by now-retired Sargeant Brian Forgberg, alongside Detective Kevin Eberle and John Foster.

Those three detectives are responsible for the wrongful incarceration of dozens of other survivors who are still fighting for their freedom, including Rico Clark, Lester Owens and Douglas Livingston. Despite these crimes, Foster remains on the force as the commander of Area 5, and Eberle was promoted to become the head of the FBI task force on public safety.

On her final day in office, former State’s Attorney Kim Foxx affirmed the role of the movement during her tenure when she said, “The ability to have sustained change outside of an election year comes from that movement push.”

The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and its allies intend to continue this fight until all torture survivors and the wrongfully convicted are free.

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