Chicago, IL – 100 cars surrounded the Thompson Center in Chicago’s Loop, April 20, during Governor J.B. Pritzker’s daily press briefing on COVID-19. The caravan protest was held to demand Pritzker free police torture survivor Gerald Reed and all vulnerable prisoners at Cook County Jail, Illinois Department of Corrections prisons and ICE detention centers in Illinois – especially those over 60, those with medical conditions, and those who the governor’s own Torture Commission has already confirmed are victims of police torture and therefore wrongfully convicted.

In the lead car of the caravan, Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated, “We're here because Governor Pritzker is moving too slow. Prisons and jails are death traps and we are demanding that the governor free them all and free Gerald Reed cause he never should have been in there.”

This action was organized by the Chicago Alliance, Black Lives Matter-Chicago, the Chicago Torture Justice Center, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL), and the families of police torture survivors and prisoners at Cook County Jail, juvenile detention, Illinois Department of Corrections prisons, and ICE detention centers in Illinois.

Aislinn Pulley of BLM-Chicago explained, “Gerald Reed is the face of thousands of other vulnerable prisoners and ICE detainees in Illinois who need to be released, including the immune-compromised, the elderly and the many others whose torture and wrongful convictions the governor’s own Torture Commission has confirmed.”

Kobi Guillory of the Chicago Alliance said, “Maybe Governor Pritzker thought he could ignore the cries of incarcerated people who are afraid for their lives in the death traps of prisons and jails, but he must hear the horns and chants and calls of the hundreds of people surrounding the Thompson Center right now!”

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #Antiracism #PoliticalRepression #CAARPR #GeraldReed #FreeThemAll

Reed was wrongfully convicted 29 years ago based on a confession extracted through torture by subordinates of Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. His conviction was vacated on December 18, 2019 by Judge Thomas V. Gainer, who ordered that he be given a new trial and that his tortured confession be suppressed.

The case was assigned to Judge Thomas J. Hennelly, who for 14 months entertained arguments over whether to retry or release Reed. On February 14 of this year Judge Hennelly grossly exceeded his authority and reversed Judge Gainer’s order, directing that Reed be returned to the prison for life without possibility of parole. He is now in the Illinois Department of Corrections Northern Reception and Classification center in Joliet, Illinois.

In their letter the community leaders say, “We are appealing to you in your unique capacity as Governor to immediately release Gerald Reed because recent judicial decisions in his case have been conducted outside the rule of law and in denial of his rights to due process, leaving him and his family with no other recourse.” The Governor has the power to pardon Reed or commute his sentence.

Many organizations have called on the Governor to use this power to release elderly prisoners and others at risk for the COVID-19 virus infection. The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is urging the Governor to use his power to free all survivors of police torture in Illinois.

The groups and individuals signing the letter to Gov. Pritzker are:

Frank Chapman Jazmine Salas Regina Russell Souzan Naser Nadine Naber, Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity Community Renewal Society Chicago Torture Justice Center Black Lives Matter, Chicago Diane Palmer, President SEIU Local 73 Andy Clarno, Associate Professor of Sociology and African American Studies and Coordinator of the Policing in Chicago Research Group at UIC Sheila A. Bedi, Clinical Professor of Law, Director, Community Justice & Civil Rights Clinic, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Alderman, 35th Ward Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation Stacey Krueger, Graduate Student, UIC Jenine Wehbeh, Chicago Teacher Stacey Austin, Esq. Maryam Kashani, Lead Coordinator, Believers Bail Out, www.believersbailout.org, Assistant Professor, Gender and Women's Studies & Asian American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign A. Naomi Paik, Associate Professor at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Indivisible Chicago-South Side Chicago Community Bond Fund Arab American Action Network (AAAN) U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)-Chicago chapter Byron Lopez, Alderman, 25th Ward, Chicago Jeanette Taylor, Alderman, 20th Ward, Chicago

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #Healthcare #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #JonBurge #GeraldReed #COVID19

Chicago, IL – The courtroom was packed February 14. This was my fourth Gerald Reed court hearing. Usually, there is a crowd of folks who show up to support Gerald and his mother, Armanda Shackleford, who has been fighting for her son since he was arrested, tortured and framed in 1990. Shackleford sits in the front row, wearing her Free Gerald Reed t-shirt. Together we sit for an hour, two hours, three, and hear powerful men debate the innocence of a man whose sentence was vacated a year ago.

But today was different. Two alderpersons were there, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez and Jeanette Taylor, to show their support. They joined 100 supporters of the campaign, even on the coldest day of the year, an unforgiving four degrees Fahrenheit. The word had gotten out in a big way. The movement had drawn a line in the sand to demand the court free Gerald Reed.

There should be no need for this fight. Judge Thomas Gainer already overturned Reed’s conviction in December 2018, finding that the only case against Reed was his confession that was extracted using police torture. Reed is in jail, but he can legally vote. He is kept there while the new judge, Thomas Hennelly, and special prosecutor Robert Milan determine if they can charge him again.

In court, Milan tries to weave together a version of Reed cast in shadows, a vision of a heartless murderer. Then Elliot Zinger, the defense attorney, will explain that the story Milan tells is unsupported by any real evidence. Throughout this year of proceedings, the real Gerald sits in court in his wheelchair, having been disabled by torture 29 years earlier.

Today Judge Hennelly entered around 9:30 a.m., a prompt 30 minutes late to his own hearing, and spoke about the extra research he’d been doing as of late.

“I reviewed the minutes from the TIRC decision. I don’t think that the TIRC would have any objection to me playing the recording here.” The TIRC is the Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission, a commission appointed by the governor to hear the cases of those who have been tortured by the police.

In the understated drama of the court, a man in a steel grey suit pressed play on a laptop connected to a large speaker. The audio struck up immediately, loud enough for the entire court to hear. I recognized the voice as Rob Olmstead, executive director of the TIRC. He was reviewing the medical records for Reed.

“This seems like a pretty obvious case. The metal rod in his leg was broken, there’s no evidence that it was like that before he was arrested, and it wasn’t broken while he was in jail,” he said. “And believe it or not, the rod still hasn’t been repaired.” His voice skipped up at the end of his sentence, communicating his incredulity. The rod was not repaired for 28 years. Reed had one surgery on it recently. He has yet to receive a needed second surgery, which is why he remains wheelchair-bound.

Olmstead’s focus on Reed’s torture seemed like a great sign. We were basically listening to the TIRC build the case for Gerald’s release. Maybe Hennelly is finally buckling. It is Valentine’s Day, after all.

“It doesn’t seem he’s the most credible witness in the world,” Olmstead said. Hennelly nodded when this part of the recording played. Uh oh.

The recording eventually ended, and Hennelly told the court, “The commission was as confused and perplexed as anyone else.” A strange statement to make, considering the decision to find Reed’s claim of torture credible was a rare unanimous decision by the TIRC.

Hennelly then pronounced that a discrepancy in the ruling of Judge Gainer allowed him a new verdict of Reed’s guilt. He referenced a recent denial of an appeal of innocence by another torture survivor, George Anderson. In it, Judge William Hooks wrote a diabolical 57-page order that Anderson was falsely claiming to have been a torture victim. Despite the TIRC finding Anderson’s claim to be credible, Hooks likened Anderson to a “ghost rider” trying to get in on a lawsuit by jumping on a bus after it has been hit by a car. Hennelly saw that decision and finally found what he’d been looking for the last 14 months: a racist, pseudo-logical excuse to throw a man’s life away.

“Gerald Reed, your ride on the Jon Burge torture bus is coming to a screeching halt,” he said. “I turn you over to the Department of Corrections to carry out the rest of your life sentence.” He gave a cavalier bang of his gavel. And it was over.

At 10:30 a.m. on Valentine’s day, Judge Hennelly sent Gerald Reed back to prison to serve out a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit.

“Whaaat?” I could hear the voice of Mark Clements, longtime activist and survivor of police torture himself, carry through the room. “This is racist,” said Mark. “This is so racist!”

As the bailiffs cleared the court room, people were sobbing. “We have to throw out this entire system,” an older Black woman said while we waited for the elevators. “We have to get rid of this entire thing.”

On the first floor, Brian Ragsdale of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression began to chant in a thunderous voice, “Free Gerald Reed!”

“Free Gerald Reed!” We shouted back as the bailiffs tried to shush us. “Free Gerald Reed!” For once, those whispering hallways held the voices of those who had been silenced for far too long.

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #civilianPoliceAccountabilityCouncilCPAC #JudgeThomasHennelly #GeraldReed

Fight Back! News Service is circulating the following statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Chicago Torture Justice Center, and Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity.

Judge Thomas J. Hennelly has attempted to illegally reverse the order of another judge, Thomas V. Gainer, who vacated the conviction of Gerald Reed and ordered a new trial. Gainer vacated Reed’s conviction after overwhelming evidence that his “confession” to a double murder in 1990 was the fruit of horrible torture by police working under Commander Jon Burge, torture so extreme that it broke his thigh bone.

The one hundred people packed into Hennelly’s courtroom Friday February 14, 2020 were stunned when Hennelly announced his decision to send Reed back to Prison to serve a life term. They left seething with anger, and in tears. Armanda Shackelford, Reed’s mother and a leader of the Chicago Alliance, responded in disbelief. “I never would have thought that this judge would do what he did today,” she said.

Frank Chapman, Co-Chairperson of the Chicago Alliance, declared, “Judge Hennelly's ruling today was unheard of. It was outrageous and a racist insult to Black and Brown communities.

“Gerald Reed has gone through a seemingly endless process started by the Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission. He’s been in prison almost 30 years. His evidentiary hearing regarding the torture he suffered at the hands of Jon Burge’s minions was conclusive. Judge Gainer vacated his conviction. By what right does Judge Hennelly think he can just undo this order.

“Judge Hennelly had only two options: get on with a new trial or dismiss the case. He arbitrarily conjured up a third option that really doesn’t exist: he reversed judge Gainer’s order, sending Reed back to prison to serve a natural life sentence.”

Veteran courtroom observers say that Judge Hennelly’s action is unprecedented and illegal. A Circuit Court judge has no authority to reverse the decision of another circuit court judge. Many feel that his action is cause for his removal from the bench. Reed’s attorneys are reportedly considering an appeal seeking a writ of mandamus, ordering Hennelly to correct his unlawful decision.

Civil rights lawyers recall that it was Hennelly, who as a prosecutor, led the conviction and death sentence of Burge torture victim Aaron Patterson. Patterson was spared only because Gov. George Ryan pardoned him and set him free in 2003, at the same time he emptied Death Row and declared a moratorium on executions.

“Now is the time for this governor, J. B. Pritzker, to stand up and sign the papers freeing Gerald Reed from the torture he continues to endure in prison. The people will take this demand to his door, and we’ll be there until it’s done,” Chapman declared.

The Chicago Alliance is campaigning for Gov. Pritzker to pardon all survivors of police torture in Illinois. In this case some are also demanding that Chief Judge Timothy Evans intervene.

“This turn of events in the Gerald Reed case just exposes the criminal justice system for what it is – criminal, racist, and unjust. Due process means nothing in this system,” Chapman added. “The time to end this torture is now, and the Governor has the power to do that.”

Significantly, Hennelly’s boss as a prosecutor was once none other than Robert Milan, the special prosecutor appointed to Reed’s case.

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #ChicagoAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #GeraldReed #JudgeThomasJHennelly