Chicago, IL – This week, Chicago saw elections for mayor and city council in which almost all the candidates ran on platforms opposing outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Progressive victories were won in a number of wards across the city, including by Maria Hadden, a young, Black, queer woman who unseated Joe Moore in the far Northside Rogers Park neighborhood. Moore had been a progressive 25 years ago but is now a staunch ally of the mayor and a defender of big money developers. Hadden was recently a board member of Black Youth Project 100, and hers was a major win for progressives in the first round of elections.

The other big victory on Tuesday was the reelection of Carlos Ramirez Rosa. Targeted for defeat by the allies of mayor, Rosa has been the lone militant voice in the council since his election in 2015. He championed the issue of police accountability, which he highlighted one week before election day in a video he posted online, appealing for community activists to rally in his defense.

“I’m proud of the work our movement has accomplished over the past several years, fighting for community control of the police and a civilian police accountability council (CPAC). Our movement is growing in strength. Big developers, Rahm Emanuel supporters, are spending tens of thousands of dollars in a bid to unseat me,” said Rosa

His appeal worked: Rosa won comfortably, with 60% of the vote.

McCarthy, Alvarez, Emanuel: Three down

Just before Thanksgiving 2015, Rahm Emanuel was exposed for covering up the brutal police killing of Laquan McDonald. Having been elected that spring largely on the vote of Chicago’s Black community, Rahm’s approval ratings descended into single digits following the public broadcast of the video of racist cop Jason Van Dyke shooting the unarmed McDonald 16 times. There were weeks of protests with thousands of people calling for Rahm to resign. He threw his police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, under the bus, firing him after the video came out; and then voters turned against Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who was soundly defeated in her bid for another term. After her loss, protesters chanted, “Two down, one to go!”

Over the next year, the corporate media and mainstream Democratic Party officials proclaimed that Rahm had been rehabilitated. He began amassing a war chest for his 2019 reelection bid. Then the day before Van Dyke’s trial was to begin, Rahm announced that he was not going to run. Three down.

Affordable housing, public education and police accountability

Even before Rahm’s announcement, a surge of young activists, mainly Black and Latino, were already preparing to get on the ballot to run for city council. Many of them had cut their teeth fighting against gentrification and Rahm’s corrupt use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts; supporting the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU); or organizing and leading the Black Lives Matter protests that began in 2014.

Then, after Rahm’s withdrawal, 14 people, none of whom are truly reformers, filled up the ballot for mayor. The result of the election is an historic first: the two remaining candidates are Black women. Lori Lightfoot, a former head of the Chicago Police Board, came out one percent ahead of Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board. Lightfoot was aided by an endorsement from the Chicago Sun Times, which referred to her as “progressive.”

However, Jazmine Salas, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, wrote on Twitter the day before the election, “Lori Lightfoot is not a progressive!” and repeated the line multiple times in the tweet. The movement resisting police terror in the city remembers Lightfoot’s role on the Police Board, providing cover for the killer cops who murdered Rekia Boyd and “Ronnieman” Johnson.

For the Chicago Teachers Union, which endorsed Preckwinkle, this first round of the mayoral election was a victory because all those who favored the privatization of public education were defeated, including Paul Vallas, Gerry Chico and Bill Daley.

Excitement for April 2 runoff

In the election night watch parties, and on social media, the excitement in the movement was all about the races for city council. Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle, a well-known community activist, posted on Facebook Tuesday night, “Chicago! We just made history!! Elders, correct me if I’m wrong, but this must be the biggest sweep of openly left movement candidates ever in this city, or at least in recent history, right?” He pointed to the fact that Jeanette Taylor in the 20th Ward, Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez in the 33rd Ward, and Byron Sigcho-Lopez in the 25th Ward all had the most votes in their respective races. In Chicago, election law states that if a candidate does not win at least 50% of the vote in a mayoral or city council race, the top two vote-getters battle it out in a runoff. Taylor, Rodriguez Sanchez and Sigcho-Lopez seem to be the favorites for April 2 victories.

Salas summed up the results for the campaign for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), stating, “11 CPAC supporters won outright for city council seats; 14 CPAC supporters are in runoffs, and two wards have runoffs between two CPAC supporters. This means the new city council will have at least 13 members committed to CPAC and possibly 23.”

Frank Chapman of the Alliance commented, “This is definitely a progressive change in the political realignment of Chicago driven by our movement. There were movement people, CPAC people, working in the elections all over Chicago. We made an impact. Now let us quickly measure that impact, sum up what we have accomplished, and triumphantly continue to make progress.

“Our struggle, as we have proven in these elections, is much more than the figment of someone's imagination, a sacredly guarded utopian dream. Our struggle engages our people in the dirt and blood of political battles that must be fought to advance the struggle for our freedom.”

#ChicagoIL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #RahmEmanuel #Elections #CPAC

Chicago, IL – 300 people came out to rally for justice for Laquan McDonald, Sept. 5, at the courthouse at 26th and California to mark the opening of the first-degree murder trial of police officer Jason Van Dyke.

Speakers at the rally included Alderman Carlos Rosa; Rev. Otis Moss III of Trinity United Church of Christ; Esther Hernandez of Innocent Demand Justice and mother of Juan and Rosendo, wrongfully imprisoned by disgraced Detective Reynoldo Guevara; and Armanda Shackleford, mother of torture victim Gerald Reed.

The mother of Antonio Porter, another torture victim, held her cell phone to the microphone so Porter could address the crowd from inside Stateville prison. Maria Hernandez of Black Lives Matter; Muhammad Sankari of the Arab American Action Network; and Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression spoke. Jazmine Salas of the Alliance emceed the opening rally. The uncle of Steven Rosenthal, killed two weeks ago in North Lawndale, also spoke.

Many speakers celebrated the Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s previous day’s announcement that he is not running for reelection. Everyone agreed that the movement against police crimes, and especially the protests after the release of the video of the murder of Laquan McDonald were the main reason for Rahm’s decision. Joe Iosbaker of Freedom Road Socialist Organization asked, “Who defeated Rahm?” Shouts of “The people!” and “We did!” came roaring back.

The celebratory mood resulted in a note of confidence for justice for Laquan, and for community control of the police. Alderman Rosa said, “We know we could get a new mayor, but still have a racist police system.” “So when we win that civilian police accountability council, we will have the mechanism to ensure that the community has control over the police,” he added, “We will have the power to hold killer cops accountable for their crimes!”

There were solidarity rallies in New York City, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Jacksonville, Florida, as well as campuses in Arlington, Texas; Tallahassee and Tampa, Florida; a banner drop in San Francisco and a statement sent from the Dallas NAACP.

Trial judge breaks agreement, disrespects community and McDonald Family

Brian Ragsdale, a Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression leader, was one of the few community members who were allowed into the courtroom. When he emerged, he spoke to the rally. “Only about 13 of us found seats in the court room. And we had to give up some seats so the McDonald family could sit. They had to sit in the back of the courtroom, instead of in the front row as normally happens for a victim’s family.”

Several of the organizations will return to the court on Thursday morning, Sept. 6. Van Dyke has a hearing then where the judge is considering revoking his bail because he violated the court’s gag order not to speak about the case, giving interviews to two TV and media outlets.

Then the movement will come out again when the court reconvenes on Monday, Sept. 10 at 9 a.m.

#Chicago #AfricanAmerican #RahmEmanuel #Antiracism #LaquanMcDonald #JasonVanDyke

Chicago, IL – City council allies of Mayor Rahm Emanuel held a hearing in the South Side neighborhood of Roseland Tuesday night, May 15, to consider several pieces of legislation on police accountability. They attempted to use a rigged process to smother the voices of the mainly Black movement for community control of the police. For six years, the movement has supported legislation to create an elected, civilian police accountability council (CPAC).

In a clear display of the intention of the hearing organizers to intimidate the activists, especially those who are victims of police crimes or their family members, Corliss High School had a large contingent of armed Chicago police present, as well as bouncers who are used to keep order in city council. They established a line behind Alderman Ariel Reboyras, sponsor of the hearing; and staff persons from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), the body created by Emanuel after the storm of protests that followed the release of the video of the police murder of Laquan McDonald.

COPA has most of the same personnel as its predecessor, IPRA, which between 2007 and 2014 investigated the 400 cases of police shootings of civilians, and found only one of them to be unjustified. Also helping to host the hearing were members of the rubber-stamp Police Board, which for years has refused to fire officers shown to have brutalized or murdered civilians.

The movement refuses to accept Mayor Emanuel’s control of any new system of police accountability, because he covered up the video showing police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times in order to get himself reelected.

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression described the process that the mayor’s surrogate, Ariel Reboyras, tried to impose. “There was no speakers list to sign. You were issued an arbitrary ticket number to be matched to a table you would sit at.” Chapman explained that this ‘Café Conference’ model “was designed to make sure that CPAC and the demand for community control of the police would be muted and submerged in a manipulated discussion of the positives and negatives of the respective ordinances.”

Nataki Rhodes, co-chair of the Alliance, demanded that there be a panel of people presenting the various ordinances, and that the audience be allowed to respond and pose questions to the panelists. The facilitator, a consultant hired by the Chicago Police Department, complained in the face of the angry audience that she and others had “sacrificed their time” to be there. Most of the crowd clearly turned against the organizers.

A retired member of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), wrote on a big piece of paper, “We reject this process!” Kam Howard, a longtime activist in the Black community, held up the sign for the room to see, to a wave of applause from most in the room. After he did that, Rod Wilson, director of the Hope Center, stood up with a sign with the same message.

Later, Armanda Shackleford from the Alliance spoke about the torture and imprisonment of her son, Gerald Reed, a wrongfully convicted victim of the Jon Burge gang of disgraced former cops. Fighting to hold back tears, she demanded CPAC in order to win justice and see her son released from prison.

After that, the aldermen gave up. They later admitted to the press that their hearing was a failure, but said they will come up with another method for their remaining four hearings.

At the end of the hearing, Cosette Hampton, co-chair of the Black Youth Project 100, added her voice to that of the Alliance and other groups, announcing plans to show up at the remaining hearings, to resist the attempts to manufacture public support for new legislation leaving power over the police in the hands of the mayor.

#ChicagoIL #PoliceBrutality #RahmEmanuel #CPAC

SEIU Local 73 is a public sector union in Illinois and Northern Indiana representing 28,000 workers. It has a proud history of fighting for its members, including recent strikes that took place at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prominent members of Local 73 include Artemio Arreola, the janitor who played a leading role in the mega-marches for immigrant rights that started in Chicago in 2006. Local 73 was also among the first major unions in Chicago to come out in support of community control of the police, backing legislation to create an elected, civilian police accountability council (CPAC).

Unfortunately, in recent years, the local has become best known as the union that backed Mayor Rahm Emanuel even when he had become discredited in front of the city after his role in the cover-up of the murder of Laquan McDonald. 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by the racist murderer, Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, in October 2014. Rahm made sure the video of the killing wasn’t revealed until after he was safely re-elected in April 2015.

Deals with the mayor

The legacy of Local 73’s support for Emanuel began when the Chicago Teachers Union drew a line in the sand with the mayor. The CTU had elected a reform leadership in 2010. When Emanuel became mayor in 2011, he declared an agenda of austerity for the people of the city, attacking social services and public education. The CTU, in a model of class struggle unionism, took him head on.

Local 73 continued to back Emanuel, undercutting the CTU and other public sector unions. In 2014 when Emanuel announced his re-election plan, Local 73’s Brandon offered a $25,000 contribution to Emanuel. According to Joe Iosbaker, rank-and-file member of the local and co-chair of the Joint Bargaining Committee at the University of Illinois at Chicago, “Secretary Treasurer Brandon did that without any democratic discussion with the membership of Local 73.” Iosbaker also pointed out, “President Boardman should have refused to sign the check, but she didn’t.”

When SEIU in Illinois debated endorsements for mayor in the 2015 elections, Brandon was outspoken in support of Emanuel as well. The contribution and Brandon’s advocacy for Emanuel were all over the news.

In an incident even more directly going against the interests of Local 73 members, in 2015 Brandon joined an effort by Emanuel to diminish the benefits of retired and current Local 73 members. This was revealed in charges brought by Boardman against Brandon in July, 2016.

Brandon runs to the defense of Rahm

In an interview with Boardman, Fight Back! learned the full extent of Brandon’s support for the mayor. Even after Emanuel was exposed for covering up the murder of Laquan McDonald, Brandon continued to offer backing to his mayor. In early December 2015, Boardman explained, “Matt requested vacation days to go meet with the mayor. He called me from the mayor’s office to say he was thinking of appearing with Rahm in a press conference to show his support.” Her next words? “Are you an idiot? Our members want Emanuel out of office!” As a result, Brandon decided not to appear in the press conference.

In August of 2015, the Local 73 executive board and general membership meetings both endorsed a proposal to support community control of the Chicago police department. Because of the crisis of police crimes against civilians in Chicago, Local 73 had backed the CPAC legislation to hold the police accountable. Union members agreed to support CPAC to take power to supervise the police out of the hands of the mayor.

According to Joe Iosbaker, “Calling for community control of the police is because we don’t believe that the mayor has our interests at heart. But in December, when the people of Chicago woke up to the lies they were told by Emanuel, at that very moment Brandon rushes to provide him support. This is a betrayal of the members who elected him.”

#ChicagoIL #SEIULocal73 #RahmEmanuel #MaryKayHenry

Fight Back News Service is circulating following June 1 statement by Frank Chapman, Field Organizer, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR).

Mayor Rahm Emanuel,

Because you have declared that you will be introducing legislation to the City Council on June 22, 2016 we, who have been fighting for community control of the police here in Chicago, would like to inform you that we totally reject your attempts to hoodwink us into thinking your proclaimed concerns for police accountability are genuine. We will be at City Hall on June 22nd, making sure that our voices will be heard, demanding that our proposed ordinance creating an all elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) be enacted.

Here are two statements you made that we would like to address:

1. On May 13, 2016 you stated that, 'While much work still remains, we will continue to make significant strides on the road to reform. To fully fix Chicago's police accountability system, we must be thoughtful and bold and have the courage to call out and address the root causes that have eroded trust between police and Chicago's communities and some of Chicago's residents.”

Before we have that discussion, Mayor Emanuel, you need to deal with your own malfeasance while in office, for example, your complicity in the murder of Laquan McDonald and your refusal to intervene in the name of justice in the cases of Flint Farmer, Ronald Ronnieman Johnson, and numerous other cases where murders by Chicago police officers were video recorded. You could have used your executive authority long ago to move the Police Board to fire Dante Servin, the murderer of Rekia Boyd. You could presently use your executive authority to fire and press for charges against all those CPD officers who lied on their reports in the Laquan McDonald case. You could use the evidence from the over 100 videos about to be released to seek immediate prosecution of police crimes. Then you could do the most honorable of all things and resign as Mayor of Chicago. That's the kind of courage you need to have in this precise moment of history.

2. Also on May 13, 2016 you said, “We will be judged by whether our actions truly measure up to the demands of the moment. I am confident that by creating this new structure and committing to this comprehensive plan, Chicago will be better off because we are facing up to these difficult challenges and we are doing so together.”

You, Mr. Mayor, have already been judged by your actions, and the people want you to cease using your executive authority to cover up and excuse police crimes and to hand in your resignation. This is the only honorable thing you can do after 16 shots and a cover up. You should be a co-defendant of Jason Vandyke, the killer of Laquan McDonald. You are not a social reformer advancing the cause of justice for the people. You are a crime partner to all the police criminals at large in this city and we, the people, sooner or later, will bring you and your partners in crime to justice.

No Justice, No Peace!

#ChicaoIL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #RahmEmanuel #chicago #FrankChapman #CAARPR

Chicago, IL – In response to the announcement of over 1000 layoffs of teachers and staff, the Chicago Teachers Union rallied, marched and occupied the Bank of America (BoA) on LaSalle Street, Feb. 4.

Waves of union members, students and supporters from organized labor and the community filled the streets of the Loop as the march wound through the streets for several hours. At the start of the action, 16 teachers were arrested in the BoA lobby. Sarah Chambers was one of those arrested. When she was finally released at 11:30 p.m., she said, “We were there demanding that Bank of America renegotiate toxic swaps and return the money to the schools.”

Before the financial crash of 2008, the Chicago Public Schools borrowed a huge amount of money from a number of banks, with BoA among the largest. The bankers sold the loans on the false premise that they would save the schools money in the future if interest rates rose. In fact, the banks knew that a crisis was coming soon, and that interest rates would fall.

The CTU has confronted Mayor Rahm Emanuel on this matter, exposing that he won’t go to court to get relief from his banker cronies. Many other big cities have saved millions from such legal actions.

This is one of the examples that the teachers use to show that there is no need to lay off frontline workers in the schools, cut pensions or impose other attacks. As she headed home from jail, Chambers said, “CPS is broke on purpose. Rahm’s appointed Board of Ed is forcing their crisis on the backs of teachers and teacher assistants.”

The morning of the protest, the Chicago Tribune reported that Emanuel’s popularity had sunk even lower. 60% of likely voters supported the CTU, against 20% for Emanuel. With this level of solidarity, Chambers declared, “We will continue to fight back to protect our students.”

#ChicagoIL #BankOfAmerica #ChicagoTeachersUnion #RahmEmanuel #TeachersUnions

This video footage has sparked a national outrage directed rightfully at the crooked Chicago police department and corrupt Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who knew about this police crime and subsequent coverup for well over a year since the killing. In fact, the only reason State Attorney Anita Alvarez released the dashcam footage was due to a court order by a local judge. Had it not been for that court decision and dashcam video, killer cop Jason Van Dyke may never have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Since then, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has resigned due to massive protests by the people of Chicago.

The history of Chicago police department is filled with rampant racism, police crimes and corruption. Since 2007, there have been over 400 police shootings with $500 million paid out for settlements and litigation because of victims of Chicago police crimes since 2004. We can’t forget that in 1968 after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Black residents rebelled, and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley ordering police to shoot Black protesters. Fred Hampton, the chair of the Illinois Black Panther Party, was assassinated in 1969 by the Chicago police department as he slept in the bed with his pregnant fiancée. This was followed by a police cover-up .

The past few years it was uncovered that from 1970s to the early 1990s, Chicago police department detective Jon Burge was a leader in an illegal police operation which oversaw around 200 Black men in police custodybeing tortured and beaten into giving false confessions for crimes they didn’t commit. It even came to the public’s attention recently that the Chicago Police Department ran a torture site called Holman Square, where citizens were ‘disappeared’ for hours and even days and beaten into confessions. Most of the victims tortured where African American.

Protesters in Chicago have been demanding justice for the victims of police crimes, and demanding police officers be held accountable, such as killer cop Dante Servin, who murdered 22-year-old African American Rekia Boyd on March 21, 2012. Servin was cleared of all charges after Boyd’s murder and is still employed by the Chicago police department. It is no wonder that the Chicago police continue in their murderous ways. The day after Christmas, two more African Americans – Bettie Jones and Quintonia Legrier – were shot and killed by the police.

We salute the protesters in Chicago, especially the Black youth who are hitting the streets daily to demand justice and liberation for the Black community. Protests have called for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and State Attorney Anita Alvarez to resign after their involvement in the massive cover-up and delaying of justice in the murder of McDonald.

Chicago is a very important city to the Black liberation movement. In the 1930s, the majority Black workers of the meatpacking industry organized into the United Meatpacking Workers. In the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others fought to desegregate housing. King chose Chicago to launch a new civil rights movement in the North after the Student Nonviolenct Coordinating Committee organized a public school boycott that saw 250,000 students and their families stay away form the public schools twice in the 1963 and 1964. This was the largest mass mobilization by the Black movement anywhere in the country up to that point.

The past few years, the Black Lives Matter Movement and the broader movement for Black liberation has grown in this country. At this point in time, the people of Chicago are in a prime position to give the movement against police crimes a real substantive direction that can drastically change the power relations between police and oppressed communities.

Chicago has a political crisis that brings to mind Lenin’s foretelling of the day when those in power are unable to rule as they have been ruling. This is driven home by the USA Today poll that showed that 51% of the people in Chicago want the mayor to resign. Other polls have made clear that, had the McDonald murder and cover-up been revealed early this year, Emanuel would not have been re-elected, since he needed the overwhelming majority of the Black vote to get elected.

This sentiment is driven by Black Chicagoans, who have a heightened awareness of the dangers they face from the vicious brutality of the Chicago police. Every murder committed by a racist cop leads to another grieving mother or family member on the news, expressing the same thing. After the Dec. 26 murders, Bettie Jones’ brother said, “None of this needed to happen…and they say there will be an investigation into the shooting? I already know how that will turn out. We all know how that will turn out. When is this going to end?”

It won’t end until the people put an end to it. This is why we are in support of the demand raised by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Police Repression, which is demanding community control of the police in Chicago, known as a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), a radical change that would empower the people. Community control of the police isn’t a new idea. It was first proposed by the Black Panther Party of Self Defense in the late 1960s. Shortly before Fred Hampton was murdered the Black Panther Party rallied thousands in Chicago to call for community control of police. A couple of years later, the Black Panther Party put a community control of police initiative on the ballot in Berkeley, California.

Simply put, Rahm Emanuel’s resignation would be a historic victory for the people of Chicago but it isn’t enough. People need the power to decide how police in their community operates. A Civilian Police Accountability Council would give communities in Chicago elected leadership from oppressed communities that would select who the new Chicago police superintendant is. Also, CPAC would have the ability to subpoena and investigate any police crime, with elected CPAC representatives on call 24/7 to investigate police misconduct with the ability to fire corrupt police officers who brutalize Black and oppressed communities.

Recently, we have seen a Texas grand jury bring no indictments in the murder of Sandra Bland, an African American woman arrested months back and found subsequently dead in her jail cell. Just this past weekend, a Cleveland grand jury brought back no indictments in the murder of African American 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a young boy murdered by Cleveland police. Among the Black masses nationally, national oppression continues as state violence and police crimes go unpunished.

However, it is the people of Chicago, through their continued resistance and resolve who can once again inspire the masses through the struggle for community control of the police. If we can be successful in winning power over police in Chicago, we can continue to build a movement for community control of the police nationally.

Down with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County State Attorney Anita Alvarez! No to Police Crimes! Onward Towards Community Control of the Police! Liberation for the African American Nation!

#ChicagoIL #PoliceBrutality #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #RahmEmanuel #CPAC

Chicago, IL – Chanting, “How many shots? 16 shots!” the second walk-out in a week took the streets in downtown Chicago Dec 18. Protest organizers like Lamon Reccord and Rousemary Vega called for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign because he covered up the murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald for 13 months.

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said that Mayor Emanuel should go, along with State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. Chapman led the crowd in chanting, “Power to the people!” He said, “Community control of the police is needed to bring an end to police crimes against oppressed people.”

Several schools, including Fenger High on Chicago’s South Side, had scores of students leave early to respond to the call for action. A line of grade school children led the front of the march, which wound through Chicao’s Loop and the Magnificent Mile.

#ChicagoIL #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #RahmEmanuel

Chicago, IL – On Friday, Dec. 18, people in Chicago will again walk out of school and off their jobs to call for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to resign. The protesters will assemble outside Chicago City Hall, around Daley Plaza.

The protest was called in response to the cover-up of the murder of Laquan McDonald in October 2014. 13 months later, a judge ordered the city of Chicago to release the police dash cam video of police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times. It has caused the biggest wave of protests against police crimes in Chicago since the Black Lives Matter movement emerged. A walkout with over 1000 people marching was held Dec. 9.

The walk out will take place at 3:16 p.m. The time was chosen to represent the protesters’ goals of removing three people from office: Police Superintendent McCarthy (who was fired by Emanuel two weeks ago), Emanuel and Alvarez, and the 16 shots that killed Laquan McDonald.

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said, “We're reaching out to all Chicago Alliance members and allies in the movement for community control of the police to join us at 3:00 p.m. on the northeast corner of State and Lake streets. Look for our banner.”

#ChicagoIL #PoliceBrutality #RahmEmanuel #FrankChapman #ChicagoAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #LaquanMcDonald

Chicago, IL – #ResignRahm was trending today, Nov. 9, on Twitter, as high school students and office employees walked off their jobs to march outside city hall. What started as a joke Facebook event resulted in thousands of people in a protest demanding that Mayor Rahm Emanuel resign.

The event page went viral as the crisis in city hall deepened after the release two weeks ago of the video showing a Chicago cop shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. A USA Today poll found 51% of likely Chicago voters thought Emanuel should leave office.

According to Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, “Chicago has never seen this kind of crisis.”

Later in the evening, hundreds packed the police board meeting to continue to push for the firing of police officer Dante Servin, who shot and killed Rekia Boyd three years ago. One after another, activists came to the mic to speak. “Good evening, unelected board,” were the words spoken by Rachel Williams of Black Youth Project 100.

After Williams, Dorothy Holmes took her turn to condemn the board. Holmes is the mother of Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson, shot in the back by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) in October 2014. The video of the police killing her son was also released in recent days as a result of the scandal surrounding the police and the city administration. With a quivering but strong voice, she said, “You saw the video. My son was unarmed when murdered by Officer George Hernandez. [State’s Attorney] Anita Alvarez is a bald-faced liar. She needs a Department of Correction suit on. We’re not the criminals. They’re the criminals.”

Shortly after this, the crowd stormed out of the hearing. In a rally outside CPD headquarters, LaCreshia Birts, Black Youth Project 100 member and youth coordinator of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said, “This unelected board needs to be replaced by an elected, civilian police accountability council.” She called on everyone to join as the Alliance, over 40 family members and survivors of police crimes protests at 5:00 p.m. at Federal Plaza Nov. 10. The families will present complaints to the Department of Justice to demand that their cases be included in the Department of Justice investigation that is beginning to investigate the CPD.

#ChicagoIL #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #RahmEmanuel #Antiracism

Emanuel had what the corporate-owned media and the LaSalle Street bankers thought was a winning hand. He had raised over $16 million for his campaign. He had the support of President Obama, who Emanuel had served as chief of staff in Obama’s first three years in office. Chicago is the president’s home and his endorsement had helped put Emanuel in office in 2011.

What happened? For starters, Emanuel has always had a difficult time connecting with regular people, given his elite upbringing and abrasive personality. But he had the benefit of the doubt among African American voters in his first campaign because of Obama’s endorsement.

For the masses of people, Chicago is a community in crisis. Unemployment remains high: 25% among African Americans, 12% for Latinos and 7% for whites. The number of home foreclosures has dropped significantly, but poor neighborhoods continue to deal with the effects of the housing crisis. Wages are flat or lower than before the economic crisis in 2008. The assault on workers and the oppressed nationality communities of African Americans, Chicano/Mexicanos and other immigrants and Puerto Ricans has continued unabated.

Also, public sector workers have been the main target of the political attacks on unions in recent years. Nationally, Republicans have been the face of the assault, but this is a bipartisan issue, as they say in Washington. Emanuel, a Democratic mayor, has terrible relations with the labor unions representing his employees. Most famously, he declared war on the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), who rose to defend themselves, and at the same time, to fight for their students. The 2012 strike they waged – and won – set the stage for this electoral contest.

Fight-backs helped raise consciousness among voters

Rosa Luxemburg said, “Those who do not move do not notice their chains.” It’s often when workers resist cutbacks and other austerity measures that they realize they have class interests separate from the government and the employers. The organized movements to resist Emanuel’s agenda unfolded the understanding that he really is Mayor 1%.

The teachers did the heaviest lifting against Emanuel’s agenda. The Chicago Public Schools have been starved for funding for decades. Emanuel’s main campaign pledge in 2011 was to reform education. His program? A longer school day and closing schools where students weren’t performing well on standardized testing. The CTU, in a model of class struggle unionism, took him head on.

There were other anti-Emanuel fronts. His repression of Occupy Chicago and the protests against the NATO war makers was reminiscent of old man Daley’s crackdown on anti-war protests in 1968. The mental health movement captured broad sympathy and solidarity as they defended the clinics that so many people depend on – clinics that Emanuel closed.

Black and brown lives matter

Protests against police crimes started after the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner and then exploded when government prosecutors wouldn’t indict the killer cops. Chicago hasn’t had a week without marches and teach-ins since then, and existing efforts to fight for justice were rejuvenated and expanded. Young Black organizers had taken up the fight against police torture even before Ferguson, but since then, the rising tide of protest has advanced the campaign for justice for the victims of Jon Burge, the Chicago cop exposed for running a torture ring that had over 100 Black and Latino victims. The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression has been calling for an elected, Civilian Police Accountability Council for several years, but now this idea has been taken up by the groups Black Youth Project 100, We Charge Genocide and Black Lives Matter. And none other than CTU President Karen Lewis herself has come out and endorsed the idea.

Police crimes did not become a front burner issue in the elections. The corporate-owned press didn’t pose questions to mayoral or alderman candidates about it. Some of the reform candidates for alderman, especially in African American wards, as well as the mayoral challengers, addressed themselves to the mass movement. But the repeated protests against Chicago murders of young Blacks by Chicago cops made it even clearer that the city of Chicago doesn’t serve the interests of the Black community.

Chuy

Karen Lewis had begun to ignite the people’s forces around her when she announced last year that she was preparing to run against Emanuel. A serious health issue changed that plan. When she withdrew, her choice for a champion was Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

Garcia has been an activist since the 1970s. He was part of the movement for electoral reform that elected Harold Washington, the first Black mayor in Chicago. That coalition of community forces in the Black, Chicano/Mexicano and Puerto Rican communities ended the white racist rule of the Democratic Party regulars.

Garcia was next elected a state senator. His role in fighting gentrification in the Pilsen neighborhood caused Mayor Richard M. Daley to target him. Daley brought in major resources to defeat Garcia in a reelection campaign in 1998. During the years out of public office, Garcia continued as a community activist. He was an important figure in the massive immigrant rights movement that emerged in 2006. In 2010, he was elected Cook County Commissioner.

Rahm has to go

The runoff elections will be dramatic. Most of the attention will be on Chuy versus Rahm, but the alderman elections will be important as well. The city council under Emanuel has put up even less opposition to his corporate agenda than they did under his predecessor. Garcia will need allies in the city council to go against the agenda of the 1%. The CTU had endorsed a number of candidates, including David Moore, who won the 17th Ward election, and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, winner in the 35th Ward. They also backed CTU members Tara Stamps (37th Ward), Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th Ward) and Tim Meegan (33rd Ward). The CTU platform brings these Black, Latino and working class candidates together with Garcia.

Kelly Hayes of the Chicago Light Brigade is an organizer for reparations for survivors of Chicago Police Department torture. In her view, Emanuel’s failure in round one has strengthened the movements that have been fighting him. In a piece on Truthout, she wrote, “Our respective battles have now been met with an unforeseen window of opportunity, as this mayor has never been more vulnerable.”

Her article was posted the morning after the election, and just hours after the latest exposé about police torture and abuse in Chicago. The Guardian of London released an article late on Feb. 24 about a “black site,” a secret interrogation center of the Chicago Police Department, where there is no record of prisoners that can be obtained by lawyers or their families; where arrestees disappear from 12 to 24 to 72 hours; and where there is a growing account of torture, including beatings by police and shackling for prolonged periods. This has unleashed a new storm of controversy, which will raise the prominence in the runoff election for the issue of police crimes, especially against the Black community.

Frank Chapman of the Alliance said, “Emanuel is the block in the road for all the things we the people need in Chicago: money for schools and clinics, an end to police crimes and the end of attacks on our democratic rights more generally. He has to be defeated to open up the possibility of victory on those fronts.”

#ChicagoIL #Labor #PeoplesStruggles #PublicSectorUnions #RahmEmanuel #Elections

Chicago, IL – Thousands of teachers, students and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) supporters marched to Buckingham Fountain in downtown Chicago on the second day of the CTU strike, Sept. 11. The rally came after a morning of pickets at the 144 holding centers, also known as ‘contingency plan’ schools, put in place by the Chicago Public Schools board.

#ChicagoIL #ChicagoTeachersUnion #RahmEmanuel #teachersStrike #TeachersUnions

Chicago, IL – On Sept. 10, Chicago Teachers Union Local 1 went on strike after ten months at the bargaining table. They tried to use negotiations with the Chicago School Board to defend their jobs and the interests of their students. When the Chicago Public Schools refused to back away from their corporate agenda, CTU members had no choice but to strike.

Picket lines were formed at over 600 schools and anyone driving the streets of Chicago on Monday morning could see that the pickets were strong.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel told parents he would have their children in “contingency plan” schools. One parent said the contingency school in his area was supposed to receive 1000 students, but instead only 60 showed up. According to Sarah Chambers, a teacher at Saucedo School and a member of the CTU bargaining committee, “The contingency plan schools were a colossal failure. The fact that almost no students showed up at these schools displays the parents’ complete mistrust for the CPS' board of education and CPS' ability to provide a safe place for the children of Chicago.”

Battle with the city; battle for public opinion

Emanuel and the media tried to make it appear that the CTU is unreasonable. According to School Board President David Vitale, the school board made major concessions. He claimed in the press that the teachers were overpaid and yet he was offering them big raises. But the school board violated the binding contract with the teachers when it refused to honor the 4% raise in the last year of the old agreement. The measure of his generosity has to subtract the wages lost when he violated the contract last year.

The real story in this conflict is that public education has been under attack by corporate-backed politicians like Emanuel. Teachers unions are facing the fiercest assaults by both the Republicans and the Democrats because they are the only strong defense that students have. “There were more kids on our picket lines than in the Mayor’s contingency schools,” noted Chambers, indicating more parent support for striking teachers than for the CPS.

Parents support the CTU because the union fought for both their jobs and the kids. The strength of the union defeated plans to make teachers work longer work weeks than the current 58 hours; they defeated Emanuel’s plan to have them get pay raises based on improvements in test scores; they won back math, science, music and art classes, and recess for their students. Only when they couldn’t stop the attacks through bargaining did they call a strike in order to continue the fight.

20,000 march on school board headquarters

After the 30,000 union members picketed all day, 20,000 of them and their community supporters marched on the headquarters of the Chicago Public Schools in downtown Chicago starting at 3:30 p.m.

Standing outside her school, a tired but determined Chambers said, “The solidarity of the teachers and the parents in the community, united and fighting for their schools – it’s amazing. Spirits are high on the picket line. Teachers are prepared to fight for their kids and a fair contract.”

#ChicagoIL #PublicSchools #ChicagoTeachersUnion #education #RahmEmanuel #teachersStrike #Strikes #TeachersUnions

Sarah Chambers, a member of the CTU executive board and bargaining committee, made the following statement at the press conference Friday:

“My name is Sarah Chambers, and I am a special education teacher at Saucedo Academy. As a Chicago Public School Teacher, I am outraged by the Board of Education’s destructive proposals that threaten quality education in our schools. We will not allow Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Board to pass these policies that are detrimental to the children of Chicago and the educators that devote their lives every day to teaching.

Currently, the board’s proposals include the elimination of class size limits across the city, which would significantly raise the number of students in each classroom. Similar to the mantra of candidate Mitt Romney, the board has stated, and I quote ‘Studies have not proven that class size reductions have predictable and discernible positive impacts on educational outcomes.’

Numerous studies have proven and every teacher knows that class size has an enormous impact on student learning and performance. Considering that an average CPS class containing English language learners, students with special needs and students living below the poverty line, it is crucial that each and every classroom has a low student-to-teacher ratio.

Some kindergarten and primary classrooms around the city have over 40 students. Would you want your child in a classroom with over 40 students? With such overwhelming numbers, it is impossible to apply the best educational practices, such as differentiation and rigorous small group instruction.

With the Chicago Teachers Union’s proposal to lower the size of classrooms to 20 to 23 students in the primary grades, teachers will be able to provide high quality education that aligns with the class size numbers of other Illinois districts.

These low class sizes are supported at the Lab School where Board member Penny Pritzker and Mayor Rahm Emaneul’s children attend. At the Lab School, the average class size is 18 students, drastically lower than the 40 students in some CPS schools. On the Lab School’s website, director David W. Magill concludes, ‘When planned thoughtfully and funded adequately, long-term exposure to small class sizes in the early grades generates substantial advantages for students in American Schools.’ The students of CPS deserve the same quality education that Rahm Emanuel and Penny Pritzker’s children are receiving.

As CPS teachers, we want what’s best for our students, so that they can become college and career ready. We are ready and fully determined to advocate on behalf of our students by rejecting the board’s proposals, and by voting yes to a strike authorization and yes to successful learning and working conditions.”

#ChicagoIL #EducationRights #ChicagoTeachersUnion #RahmEmanuel #teachersStrike #TeachersUnions

Chicago, IL – On May 23, 4000 Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members gathered for a historic rally inside the Auditorium Theater. Outside, there was an overflow outdoor rally beneath the Bowman sculpture at Congress Drive and Michigan Avenue that included 1500 more, including parents, students and community members.

CTU presented a strong united front to make four key demands of the mayor and his appointed puppet Board of Education: smaller class sizes; better day, not a longer day; fair compensation and job protection for veteran educators.

The indoor and outdoor rallies came together on Michigan Avenue and marched through the streets in a sea of CTU red through the Loop, passing by Chicago Public Schools headquarters and eventually converging with Stand Up Chicago's mass rally to protest the Chicago Mercantile Exchange shareholders meeting. The mood throughout the rallies and the march was electric and raucous. Many cars, buses and trucks honked to show their support for the teachers and people on the sidewalks also clapped in support.

A recent poll by the Chicago Tribune shows that there is more public support for teachers than Rahm Emanuel may have calculated and it is clear that the teachers are ready to put up a fight against the mayor’s union busting tactics.

#ChicagoIL #EducationRights #ChicagoTeachersUnion #RahmEmanuel #TeachersUnions

Chicago, IL – The Mental Health Movement is fighting Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plans to close six clinics this month. On April 12, at 4:00 p.m., 30 people chained the doors shut and erected barricades. Over 100 unionized nurses and community members, including patients and members of Occupy Chicago, formed lines in front of the doors. “Health care is a right!” chanted the crowd.

After 1:00 in the morning of April 13, Chicago police cut the chains that the patients used to lock the doors and then started arresting people.

Mayor Emanuel is closing these clinics, depriving poor people of much needed care, while giving tax breaks to wealthy businesses like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The city is also spending as much as $65 million to host the war makers of NATO in May. The Mental Health Movement will be part of the march against NATO on May 20, to demand money for health care, not war.

#ChicagoIL #Healthcare #NATO #RahmEmanuel #MentalHealthMovement

Chicago, IL – The City of Chicago bowed to pressure from a growing movement against war and cutbacks. After months of denying organizers permits to protest , the Public Building Commission of Chicago wrote that, “…yes, Daley Plaza will be open to public assembly and public activity during the G8/NATO Summits in May 2012.”

At a press conference Dec. 22, in front of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office, Joe Iosbaker of the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda (CANG8) stated, “This is a clear victory for CANG8 and for all those who want to march against war and poverty when the generals, banksters and heads of state meet here on May 19.”

On Nov. 9, in an email to Iosbaker, the managers of Daley Plaza stated, “Unfortunately we are not approving any permits for the use of the plaza May 15th-22nd.” One week later, CANG8 met with city officials, including those who refused a request to state that protestors would be permitted to gather anywhere in the Loop (Chicago’s downtown) during the dates of the summits.

But after bringing together the support of labor, community, faith-based and civil liberties organizations, as well as Occupy Chicago and national and international pressure to insist on the right to protest, the city has reversed itself.

However, while making this concession, Emanuel launched new attacks last week. Andy Thayer of CANG8 denounced the draconian restrictions being threatened against marches in ordinances submitted to the Chicago City Council. Thayer explained that these could be voted on at the next City Council meeting on Jan. 18 and called on alderpersons to oppose them.

N’Dana Carter of Southside Together Organizing for Power/Mental Health Movement explained why people in Chicago will be marching against NATO and the G8. She related that Mayor Emanuel is closing half of the mental health clinics run by the city, at a time when the need is greater because of the crisis in people’s lives. She explained that the cuts coming down on the poor are coming from the richest 1%, which is who will be at the G8 and NATO summits.

Jennifer Wolan, a student from Dundee Crown High School and president of their Youth Labor Committee, spoke about why she plans to march in May. “I don’t see democracy when restrictions are put on the people, the working class and the students.” While speaking of videoing protesters, Wolan said, “I don’t see anyone planning to video the violence by NATO in Afghanistan.”

With this victory in hand, the group that gathered today is confident that they will win permits to march to within sight and sound of the summits at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #JoeIosbaker #RahmEmanuel #CANG8 #CoalitionAgainstNATOG8War #PovertyAgenda

On Dec. 14, the mayor threatened new laws that would hit protesters with arrests and hefty fines, increase curfews in the parks and give new powers for the superintendent of police to deny the use of video and audio recording equipment, among other powers.

“At a time when the mayor should be granting us permits, because we have the right to march against the criminal bankers and the warmongering generals, he’s taking a step in the wrong direction. He’s trying to take away more rights,” said Joe Iosbaker of the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda (CANG8).

Iosbaker continued, “We think this is intended to stop people from protesting.”

One day earlier, the mayor told protesters that he would protect their First Amendment rights. He also said, “I…think that…out there is an angst about middle class, working and middle class, holding on to their economic security for themselves and their children.”

Ironically, NATO, the G8, and the Emanuel administration are all carrying out attacks on working class people. The U.S. government and NATO are waging an unjust war in Afghanistan. The bankers of the wealthy nations are forcing poverty on the 99%. Emanuel, like them, is closing schools and clinics, laying off workers, and giving tax breaks to the wealthy.

Iosbaker said, “He can threaten us, but we won’t back down, because we have the right to march against war and austerity.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #JoeIosbaker #RahmEmanuel #CoalitionAgainstNATOG8WarPovertyAgenda #CANG8

Chicago, IL- After months of avoiding organizers planning the protests against the NATO and G8 Summit next spring, Mayor Rahm Emanuel finally got an earful Dec. 13. Thirty people from the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda (CANG8) packed a meeting of the Public Building Commission (PBC), which Emanuel chairs. Joe Iosbaker, Andy Thayer and Newland Smith of CANG8 all spoke to the commissioners and pressed the demands for permits to march on the summits of bankers, generals and politicians.

Iosbaker had applied for a permit for Daley Plaza back in June. The plaza is one of the few places in the Loop (Chicago’s downtown) where large crowds can assemble. The realty company, MB Realty, that manages the plaza at first told Iosbaker he had correctly submitted the application. Five months later, they told him that the city would not allow any protests to occur in the plaza during the dates of the NATO/G8 summits. Then, the Public Building Commission, which owns the plaza and employs MB Realty, responded to a letter from the National Lawyers Guild. They now say that the reason for denial is a regulation that a permit for May protests must be submitted after the first of the year.

According to Iosbaker, the letter from MB Realty was a moment where, “… the curtain is pulled aside, like in The Wizard of Oz, and the real intentions of the administration are seen: they want to deter protests.” According to Iosbaker, to achieve this objective, the Emanuel administration “… is preparing to deny permit applications. They informed their agents at MB Realty that they would not be allowing permits that week. However, MB Realty wasn’t sufficiently coached,” and so they blurted out the truth.

Andy Thayer scored a victory by forcing an exchange with Emanuel. Thayer asked whether the mayor, “…would commit to permits for either Daley Plaza or Grant Park [the only two venues in the Loop large enough for the expected turnout]. The Public Building Commission’s Executive Director tried to protect Emanuel, but Thayer insisted that, “the mayor should be able to speak for himself instead of hiding behind his staff.”

Emanuel then made three points. He said, “Protesters’ First Amendment rights will be respected; they can apply for permits after the first of the year; and permits will be granted as appropriate.”

Thayer retorted, “Without permits for venues, the right to assemble is meaningless.”

Finally, Newland Smith of CANG8 and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship quoted statements from Episcopalian, Methodist, Catholic and Jewish scholars and leaders about the need for people of faith to challenge the hardship brought on humanity by the policies of the G8 wealthy nations; and to oppose the wars waged by the powerful nations of NATO.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #JoeIosbaker #RahmEmanuel #CoalitionAgainstNATOG8WarPovertyAgenda #CANG8

Chicago, IL – People from two dozen organizations attended a press conference here, July 28, in front of the office of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. They were there with one immediate goal: to demand permits to march on the May 2012 summit of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the G8 (Group of Eight).

“Why are we here so early in this process, ten months before the NATO/G8 summit?” asked Joe Iosbaker of the United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC). To answer the question, he held up a copy of a recent Chicago Sun-Times.

On behalf of UNAC, Iosbaker had started the process of applying for protest permits in June when the Obama administration announced the summit would be held in Chicago May 15th to 22nd next year. The response from the Emanuel administration came sooner than expected, when the Sun-Times ran a front page story in which the Superintendent of Police, Garry McCarthy, said he was [preparing the 13,000 officers under his command for mass arrests](http://www.suntimes.com/6513155-417/supt.-mccarthy-to-nato-g-8-protestors-chicago-police-will-be-ready) of protestors. McCarthy also made it clear that there would be federal agencies involved in the repression of protestors as well.

The 40 activists on Thursday delivered a [letter to Emanuel](http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/nato-g8-police-repression) that was written by a committee of local anti-war and community activists. The letter demanded:

- Grant us permits to rally and march to the NATO/G8 summit - Guarantee our civil liberties - Guarantee us there will be no spying, infiltration of organizations or other attacks by the FBI or partner law enforcement agencies

###The right to protest against war and austerity

Iosbaker explained that, “The wars and economic policies of the NATO and G8 nations are not just and will be met by protest.” Following him, speaker after speaker rose to add their voices.

Jokarhi Shakur, a student leader with the Save City Colleges (SCC) coalition, reminded Emanuel that students, faculty and workers in the City Colleges were opposed to the budget cuts coming down on them. Shakur and the SCC had been the first group in town to protest the new mayor, having protested at the inauguration in May.

The peace movement in Chicago has a number of prominent activists, but none who are more recognized around the country and around the world than Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Non-Violence. She spoke of the 10 years of war that the Afghan people had suffered under NATO direction.

One of the biggest rounds of applause was received by Mark Clement of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Clement spent 28 years in prison after a Chicago cop tortured him into confessing to a crime he didn't commit. The repressive and violent nature of the Chicago Police Department is clear from his story and those of the many other victims of police torture.

Andy Thayer of the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism (CCAWR), and the Gay Liberation Network, pointed out that it was this history of police abuse that caused the city of Chicago to lose its bid to host the 2016 Olympics. He recalled the years that CCAWR spent fighting for the right to protest against the administration of Mayor Daley. In addition, he talked about the unlawful mass arrest of 800 marchers carried out by 2,000 riot police on the night the Iraq War began in 2003, and the long class action legal battle that was undertaken.

Tom Burke of the national Committee to Stop FBI Repression remarked that the mobilizations against NATO and G8 would put Chicago in the forefront of the struggle against war and austerity. “Rahm Emanuel seems to think he's in charge of an empire, like a new Napoleon. But Chicago belongs to the people of this city, and we're going to march, we're going to bring our families and our children, and we will invite our friends from around the country to join us in Chicago.”

Burke is one of the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists targeted by raids and a grand jury investigation that started in September 2010. That experience was on the minds of the activists when the third demand was added to the letter to Emanuel.

Joe Lombardo, the co-chair of UNAC, flew in from Albany, New York to speak at the press conference. He warned that McCarthy's statements “set the stage for violence on the part of the police.” He also reported that the Dept. of Justice has inquired about the August 28th meeting called by UNAC and local anti-war activists to form the coalition to lead the protests in the spring. “They're trying to silence our voices, but we won't be silenced.”

At the end of the press conference, Pat Hunt of Chicago Area Code Pink and Chicago Area Peace Action presented the letter to an aide to the mayor, and informed the woman that she would be getting a phone call in one week to learn the administration's response. “This is only the beginning of our fight,” Hunt declared to cheers from the group.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #NATO #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #RahmEmanuel #G8