Hear Kevin Gosztola speak on the NATO3 show trial tomorrow night!
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Andy Thayer
Jan 30, 2014, 11:09:33 AM1/30/14
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The NATO3
Show Trial
with independent journalist Kevin Gosztola
Show Trial
with independent journalist Kevin Gosztola
6:30 PM Friday, Cable Channel 21
Many [2] [3] [4] have noted that the "terrorism" trial of three young NATO protesters which began last week has been a joke -- were not the stakes so high not only for the three young victims, but the state of civil liberties in Chicago in general.
Rather than revealing a nefarious plot to commit terrorism, the prosecution witnesses and their secret audio tapes have shown the Chicago Police Department and Cook County States' Attorney Anita Alvarez worked shamelessly to concoct serious crimes where none existed.
Undercover police agents plied an underage alcoholic man with alcohol, encouraging him to make boisterous, drunken statements on their hidden microphone so as to "prove" terrorism. Frustrated that they were failing to get their younger "suspects" to put their verbal bravado into action, the undercover agents repeatedly harangued their charges in an attempt to get them to commit crimes that would prove the agents' worth to their superiors. As independent journalist Kevin Gosztola of Firedoglake writes, "Random acts of typically innocent protest activity along with boastful talk from men who were drunk and behaving stupidly combine together to form the bulk of the case the state has to make to allege these men were planning terrorism."
But why would the CPD, under Chief Garry McCarthy, and the States Attorneys' Office, under Anita Alvarez, go along with these self-serving under-cover cops? Why would they pursue such a ridiculous case, breaking any number of ethical boundaries to do so? Why would McCarthy and Alvarez pursue a nakedly political agenda, either at the direct behest of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, or at least in a Mr. Smithers-like attempt to anticipate his wishes?
The answer is pretty simple. We live in Chicago, where manipulating the criminal justice system and other power relationships to pursue a pro-1% political agenda has a long tradition. This is the town take that gave us systemic racist police torture under Jon Burge and dozens of his colleagues, the CPD "Red Squad" murders of Black Panther Party leaders Mark Clark and Fred Hampton, the town that has a long history of sweetheart contracts and privatization deals at the expense of jobs and public services, the town where real democracy and public input are treated with thinly disguised contempt by the mayor, his lick-spittle City Council, and their hangers-on.
As the May 2012 NATO summit drew nearer, more and more Chicagoans became angry at the inconvenience and expense of the summit. More thoughtful Chicagoans also noticed the millions being spent on "security" at the same time that Mayor Emanuel was shutting down one-half of the city's mental health clinics, with cutbacks in other services yet to come. Yes, the summit was largely funded by the federal government -- but those were still our tax dollars that could have gone to something useful (not to mention the NATO war tax dollars themselves). And yes, much of the remaining costs were picked up by major Chicago area corporations. But that just begged the question: were these wealthy corporate titans spending their millions out of altruism (don't make us laugh!) or in return for future "considerations"?
As we charged a few weeks before the summit, many of the "security" preparations, when not devoted to lining security industry pockets, were designed to scare people away from not publicly exercising their right to dissent.
And if that didn't do the trick, why not induce some hysteria with a few well-timed "terrorism" arrests a couple of days before the summit, complete with blaring headlines that serve not only justify the security expenditures, but also scare others away from participating in 1st Amendment-protected protests against NATO and the city elites who support it?
Two-and-a-half years later, we've now come full circle with the Cook County States Attorneys' Office attempting to justify its earlier transgressions by securing convictions against the NATO3 on the thinnest of grounds. That there was no "terrorism" in May 2012 Chicago is of little consequence to Anita Alvarez and Garry McCarthy. That the lives of three young men might be further ruined as a result of this ridiculous prosecution matters little. The fates of these three young men are but career stepping stones.
Rather than revealing a nefarious plot to commit terrorism, the prosecution witnesses and their secret audio tapes have shown the Chicago Police Department and Cook County States' Attorney Anita Alvarez worked shamelessly to concoct serious crimes where none existed.
Undercover police agents plied an underage alcoholic man with alcohol, encouraging him to make boisterous, drunken statements on their hidden microphone so as to "prove" terrorism. Frustrated that they were failing to get their younger "suspects" to put their verbal bravado into action, the undercover agents repeatedly harangued their charges in an attempt to get them to commit crimes that would prove the agents' worth to their superiors. As independent journalist Kevin Gosztola of Firedoglake writes, "Random acts of typically innocent protest activity along with boastful talk from men who were drunk and behaving stupidly combine together to form the bulk of the case the state has to make to allege these men were planning terrorism."
But why would the CPD, under Chief Garry McCarthy, and the States Attorneys' Office, under Anita Alvarez, go along with these self-serving under-cover cops? Why would they pursue such a ridiculous case, breaking any number of ethical boundaries to do so? Why would McCarthy and Alvarez pursue a nakedly political agenda, either at the direct behest of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, or at least in a Mr. Smithers-like attempt to anticipate his wishes?
The answer is pretty simple. We live in Chicago, where manipulating the criminal justice system and other power relationships to pursue a pro-1% political agenda has a long tradition. This is the town take that gave us systemic racist police torture under Jon Burge and dozens of his colleagues, the CPD "Red Squad" murders of Black Panther Party leaders Mark Clark and Fred Hampton, the town that has a long history of sweetheart contracts and privatization deals at the expense of jobs and public services, the town where real democracy and public input are treated with thinly disguised contempt by the mayor, his lick-spittle City Council, and their hangers-on.
As the May 2012 NATO summit drew nearer, more and more Chicagoans became angry at the inconvenience and expense of the summit. More thoughtful Chicagoans also noticed the millions being spent on "security" at the same time that Mayor Emanuel was shutting down one-half of the city's mental health clinics, with cutbacks in other services yet to come. Yes, the summit was largely funded by the federal government -- but those were still our tax dollars that could have gone to something useful (not to mention the NATO war tax dollars themselves). And yes, much of the remaining costs were picked up by major Chicago area corporations. But that just begged the question: were these wealthy corporate titans spending their millions out of altruism (don't make us laugh!) or in return for future "considerations"?
As we charged a few weeks before the summit, many of the "security" preparations, when not devoted to lining security industry pockets, were designed to scare people away from not publicly exercising their right to dissent.
And if that didn't do the trick, why not induce some hysteria with a few well-timed "terrorism" arrests a couple of days before the summit, complete with blaring headlines that serve not only justify the security expenditures, but also scare others away from participating in 1st Amendment-protected protests against NATO and the city elites who support it?
Two-and-a-half years later, we've now come full circle with the Cook County States Attorneys' Office attempting to justify its earlier transgressions by securing convictions against the NATO3 on the thinnest of grounds. That there was no "terrorism" in May 2012 Chicago is of little consequence to Anita Alvarez and Garry McCarthy. That the lives of three young men might be further ruined as a result of this ridiculous prosecution matters little. The fates of these three young men are but career stepping stones.
* * * * * *
Independent journalist Kevin Gosztola of Firedoglake is one of the few reporters who has been following the trial of the NATO3 every day from day 1. This Friday at 6:30 PM, Kevin will appear with GLN's Andy Thayer on Chicago Access Network TV, Cable Channel 21, to discuss the NATO3 trial and what it says about the power structure in our city and the erosion of civil liberties. Please tune in.
...and check out Kevin's articles on the trial here:
Defense Attorneys for ‘NATO 3′ Focus on Police Infiltration as Trial Begins
In the ‘NATO 3′ Trial, Prosecutors Deeply Troubled by Focus on Chicago Police Conduct
At ‘NATO 3′ Trial, Undercover Cop Defends Chicago Police Spying on Activist Communities
Chicago Police Officer Gives Theory on Why ‘NATO 3′ Drove Vehicle Nearby Obama’s Headquarters
Chicago Police Officer Testifies Sign Made by ‘NATO 3′ Could Be Used as Weapon Because of Screws
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