Chicago, IL- A dozen protesters gathered on Friday, September 19 outside the 50th Anniversary Gala of the Illinois Humanities nonprofit, a celebration for which Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker had been named an honorary co-chair. The protesters rallied and chanted to demand that Pritzker use his executive power to grant clemency for hundreds of petitioners with credible claims of police torture and wrongful conviction.
Chicago, IL – Activists gathered at the Cook County Courthouse Wednesday morning, August 6 to support three survivors of wrongful conviction. They demanded freedom and certificates of innocence for Rico Clark, Douglas Livingston and Kevin Jackson. They also demanded that torture-cops Brian Forberg, John Foster and Kevin Eberle be held accountable for the wrongful convictions of Clark, Livingston, Jackson, and 38 other Black men.
“We won’t stop fighting until all our loved ones are free from these god-forsaken slave ships,” said Jasmine Smith, loved one of Rico Clark and co-chair of the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST), at a press conference in the courthouse.
Chicago, IL – 50 people rallied in Washington Square Park on Saturday, June 21, near the two Gold Coast properties of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. They demand that the governor grant executive clemency to the hundreds of proven survivors of police torture and wrongful conviction who are still incarcerated in Illinois.
The action was organized by the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST), one of the central campaigns of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR).
Chicago, IL – Over 30 protesters rallied in downtown Chicago, outside the office of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, to demand he grant executive clemency to all incarcerated survivors of police torture and wrongful conviction. The protest was organized by the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST), a grassroots campaign led by survivors of wrongful conviction and their loved ones.
Chicago, IL – Over 150 survivors of wrongful convictions, their family members and community members gathered on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, March 22, for an action-focused town hall meeting. The event was organized by the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST) and aimed to strengthen the movement to free all survivors of wrongful conviction and end the system of police torture that has made Chicago the torture capitol of the United States.
Chicago, IL – 75 people assembled outside of the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, September 30. One of the leaders of the protest was Jasmine Smith, a young firebrand organizer with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). Smith shouted into a well-worn megaphone, “What do we want?” The crowd roared back, “Justice!”
Chicago, IL – “This is only a pinch of what we're going to do in August,” Merawi Gerima said to 150 people who rallied outside the 18th District police station on the Near Northside of Chicago, May 19.
Chicago, IL – Over 1000 people rallied and marched from the Israeli Consulate through downtown Chicago on March 16 calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel’s genocide in Palestine and an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. Irish flags rippled in the wind alongside Palestinian, Yemeni and South African flags on Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, as the afternoon demonstration highlighted the connection between Ireland and Palestine’s history of struggle and the need for solidarity against colonial oppression.
Chicago, IL – “You can't throw a stone and not hit someone who is affected by police torture and wrongful conviction here in Chicago, the torture capital of the United States,” said Merawi Gerima, a co-chair of the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST.)
Gerima was speaking at the annual People's Hearing on Police Crimes on Saturday, February 24, at the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) in Woodlawn neighborhood on the predominantly Black South Side.
Chicago, IL – Organizers with the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention held a press conference outside City Hall on Tuesday morning to speak out against the denial of their permit applications. The Chicago Department of Transportation gave the coalition an alternate route four miles away from where the DNC is scheduled to happen.
