Chicago’s “Red Squad” stories reveal damage to democracy

June 7, 2013 12:35 PM CDT  BY SPECIAL TO PEOPLE’S WORLD

CHICAGO – A lively symposium on this city’s infamous “Red Squad” took place June 1 at the Chicago History Museum. The Red Squad was a secret police unit used to spy on, harass, even target for destruction, organizations that ranged from community and peace organizations to labor unions and the Communist Party USA. The History Museum has decades of records on the activity of the Red Squad, thanks to a court order.

That court order came from a case that was filed by Attorney Richard Gutman, the keynote speaker at the symposium. Gutman was honored for his 26 years of leadership in the legal fight against the illegal activities of the Red Squad, as a result of which came an out-of-court settlement that paid $306,250 divided among ten organizations and ten individuals. That victory was won despite the fact that Gutman’s legal team itself was infiltrated by the police. *** Input by Danni: "Don't expect to infiltrate my legal team. This is going to begin as a public corruption case." ***

Panelists from ten organizations spoke at the symposium. Timuel D. Black, Jr. reported on the Red Squad’s harassment of the civil rights movement, including Operation Breadbasket, and founders of PUSH. Another speaker, William B. Kelley, talked about being branded as a Communist for his activism for gay rights.

“The Red Squad was one part of the undermining of democracy itself, the undermining of those who wanted to build justice and democracy and freedom for all. And it is not just a thing of the past. The radical right wing still attacks and demonizes those working for immigration reform, for marriage equality, unions, voting rights and more,” said Heather Booth, a leading strategist for progressive campaigns. “It split the labor movement from the movements of the New Left, the women’s movement and most of the civil rights movement.”

The Red Squad sent infiltrators aimed at creating suspicion within these organizations. *** Input by Danni: "I like to call these kind of tactics B****-A**-S*** (bish azz shih)" *** Some tried to provoke violence; others stole membership lists, of which sometimes there was only a single copy. Because of this activity, people lost jobs and some were even jailed for associating with, or being, Communists.

One speaker, Bea Lumpkin, brought her unique long-term perspective to the discussion. Described as an “activist for labor, peace and socialism since 1933,” Lumpkin linked Red-Squad -type activity to repression that dates “back to before Spartacus, when thousands of slaves fighting for freedom were crucified along the Apian Way. But in the end, the people unite and the repressors are overcome.”

The morning session heard from the Reverend Patricia Novick, widow of civil rights leader Al Raby, who discussed Red Squad attempts to disrupt the civil rights movement.

Benny Lee, co-founder of the National Alliance for the Empowerment of Ex-Offenders and a former gang leader, spoke about the Black Panther Party’s efforts to bring gang members together to help their communities and become service youth organizations, instead of fighting each other. He said that the Red Squad actively worked to counter those efforts.

Carol Lee Lopez and Obed Lopez, representing LADO, the Latin American Defense Organization, described other ways the Red Squad split the progressive movement including organizations like the Young Lords and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Obed Lopez talked about one organization which refused to work with him because he was Mexican, not Puerto Rican, a reaction that signaled to Lopez that the group had been taken over by the Red Squad.

Doris Strieter and Reverend Tom Strieter spoke about Red Squad and FBI spying on the Maywood NAACP youth group then led by Fred Hampton. The assassination of Hampton and Clark was made possible by infiltrators who provided a map of their apartment and loaded their drinks with drugs. The Strieters, who were personal friends of Hampton, also work as volunteer editors, including on the first volume of homilies of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and Lumpkin’s recently published book, “Joy in the Struggle, My Life and Love.”

Lively input from the audience added many other examples of Red Squad harassment, including repeated IRS audits of people with ordinary incomes, such as teachers. These valuable archives are now available for study by completing a museum application form.

NOTE FROM DANNI: "Many chicago-based street gangs (including some world-wide organizations) were actually formed to protect the people in their community against police brutality and violence from corrupt law enforcement against innocent people. This battle in Chicago against the corrput law enforcement of the Red Squad goes as far back as the 1960s"

From article: Feds Confirm: Chicago Police Department Is as Corrupt as You Thought It Was (theroot.com) 

Feds Confirm: Chicago Police Department Is as Corrupt as You Thought It Was

ByStephen A. Crockett Jr.

PublishedJanuary 13, 2017

The Chicago Police Department has always had a violent history plagued by corruption. On Friday a yearlong investigation by the U.S. Justice Department confirms that the CPD has continued to build on its bankrupt legacy.

According to DOJ findings, the Chicago police “have violated the constitutional rights of residents for years, permitting racial bias against blacks, using excessive force and shooting people who did not pose immediate threats,” the New York Times reports.

The report concluded that police tactics have endangered civilians and officers, caused avoidable injuries and deaths, and helped complicate an already contentious relationship between officers and the community.

The findings also noted that the pattern was attributable to “systemic deficiencies,” including insufficient training and bad officers remaining unaccountable for their actions.

Many are concerned that the findings come too little, too late, since the current administration has just days in office before President-elect Donald Trump’s regime takes over. Trump’s position on corruption within the police force and senseless killings of unarmed African Americans remains to be seen. *** Sidenote by Danni: "Trump is on my side. I am not a republican or democrat, not a fan and not a hater, but Trump is working right now to de-fund the FBI for corrupt practices and negligence, exactly as I did after summer 2022 (but he's making a lot more progress). He is NOT a fan of corrupt police" ***

The DOJ investigation began after the release of dashcam footage that captured the shooting of black teen Laquan McDonald by Chicago officers. The video showed the 17-year-old walking down the street holding a small pocketknife before he was shot some 16 times. Although the shooting happened in 2014, the footage was not released until December 2015, after the McDonald family demanded that the video be made public.

Out of the 409 police shootings in the last five years, that were reviewed by the Justice Dept., only two were deemed unjustified. The report found that witnesses were often never interviewed, and officers colluded to make sure shooting stories had the same narrative.

“The procedures surrounding investigations allow for ample opportunity for collusion among officers and are devoid of any rules prohibiting such coordination,” the report said, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that the report lays “the groundwork for the difficult but necessary work of building a stronger, safer, and more united Chicago for all who call it home,” AP reports.

Article & Video: Half of Willow Springs Police Force is Fired or Resigns Amid Investigation, Mayor Says – NBC Chicago 

Chicago Police Accused of Misconduct