The alleged torture was so intense that a former gang member named Satan still has nightmares about it more than 35 years after it occurred.
Anthony Holmes, now 63, was the first witness called in the obstruction of justice and perjury trial of former Chicago cop Jon Burge. Burge is accused of leading a ring of torture that may have subjected more than 100 black men to abuse and false confessions over a 22-year career.
Holmes said that Burges burst into his apartment and snatched him out of bed in May of 1973. He says he was taken to the Area 2 police station on Chicago's South Side. A plastic bag was placed over his head and wires carrying electric current were attached to his body.
"(It was) like a thousand needles going through my body," Holmes testified. "I thought I had died."
Holmes passed out and regained consciousness several times under the torture. Soon, the pain was too much and he acquiesced, signing a murder confession that got him 30 years in jail.
"Whatever he wanted me to say, I would've said it," Holmes said. "[You have] no control over the situation, it breaks you down."
Burge and his attorneys have strongly denied all of the allegations.
"He's an honorable man," Burge's attorney Bill Gamboney said during opening arguments. "He did not torture anybody, and he had no knowledge of any torture."
Prosecutors presented a different picture of a man whom they say oversaw and participated in a torture ring with great zeal.
Witnesses like Holmes will testify of abuse at Burge's hand or under his orders, as will a police detective who reported to Burge and also participated in the alleged torture.
No one should be above the law. Unfortunately, Burge is being tried for obstruction and perjury because the statute of limitations on the acts of torture expired. That should be changed.
If Burge felt he could bring cases against criminals he should have done the legal police work necessary to bring justice to victims and their families. The crimes he is of accused of committing and lying about only further diminishes the little faith African Americans and other minorities have in our criminal justice system.
21-May-10 - Its tough for a tiger to change its stripes. And in the case of the 70-year-old Julianna Farrait, wife of Frank Lucas, one of the most notorious drug kingpins in American history, prison stripes might again be a part of her wardrobe.
21-May-10 - Its tough for a tiger to change its stripes. And in the case of the 70-year-old Julianna Farrait, wife of Frank Lucas, one of the most notorious drug kingpins in American history, prison stripes might again be a part of her wardrobe.
20-May-10 - A Memphis, Tenn., man was babysitting his girlfriend's toddler when she defecated on the floor. The man reacted to the accident by beating the 2-year-old toddler to death with a basketball shoe.
17-May-10 - Geoffrey Fieger, the attorney representing the family of Aiyana Jones, a 7-year old who was shot dead during a police raid, says police are trying to cover up the truth about what exactly happened.
18-May-10 - Vicki Valentine has had to live through the foreclosure nightmare that is affecting all of America. She recently watched a crew of men break the lock on her door and take possession of the home she owned for 30 years. Her father paid off the mortgage in 1984, only to see his daughter lose the home 26 years later over a $362 water bill.
18-May-10 - President Barack Obama's very colorful, very opinionated ex-pastor, Jeremiah Wright, is making headlines yet again, but this time it is in the form of the written word. The Associated Press came across an explosive, missive written by Wright that talks about the president in a very unflattering light.
14-May-10 - Popular 'Today' show host Matt Lauer and his wife of 12 years, Annette, have split. Word on the street is that when Lauer was in Vancouver covering the Winter Olympics, he allegedly "bumped Uggs" with Whitney Houston's half-sister, Alexis Houston.
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12-May-10 - Rap megastar Lil Wayne, who is currently serving time at Riker's Island due to a 2007 gun charge, was snitched on by a fellow inmate for concealing "unauthorized music contraband."
12-May-10 - The Kellogg Foundation is awarding $75 million over five years to undo the effects of racism on children in poor communities, I cheered the efforts of the Michigan-based nonprofit.
bed5d0e, I AGREE WITH YOU. BUT WE BOTH KNOW THAT NO JURY IS GOING TO CONVICT THIS FOOL. PEOPLE ON THE JURY WILL ALWAYS LOOK AT THE BLACK CITIZEN AS A PERSON THAT DESERVED WHATEVER THE COP DID TO THEM REGARDLESS. THEY LET THE COPS WALK IN LA & NYC & I STRONGLY BELEIVE THEY WILL DO THE SAME HERE. THAT’S WHY I AM A FIRM BELEIVER IN PROTECTING MINE. IF I DIDN'T CALL THE POLICE THEN THEY HAVE NO REASON ON MY LAND. IF THEY ARE ON MY LAND THEY BETTER CHECK IN AT MY FRONT DOOR BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER. IF THEY FEEL THEY DON'T HAVE TO CHECK IN (I HAVE SIGNS THAT SAY THOSE EXACT WORDS TO ALL THAT COME ON MY LAND) THEN THE NEXT THING THEY WILL FEEL IS SOMETHING VERY HOT FROM MY HENRY RIFLE. I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PLAY WHEN IT COMES TO POLICE & MY PROPERTY. PEOPLE MAY THINK I AM WRONG BUT IT’S THE LAW REGARDLESS OF WHO YOU ARE & WHAT YOU DO FOR A LIVING. NO ONE CAN COME ON YOUR LEGALLY OWNED PROPERTY WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT OR WITHOUT LEGAL CAUSE. JUST BECAUSE YOU WHERE A BADGE DOESN’T GIVE YOU LEGAL GROUNDS TO WALK ON ANYONES PROPERTY. WHAT THESE COPS DID TO THE BLACK CITIZENS IN CHI-TOWN WAS JUST PLAN OLE POWER CRAZED COPS OUT OF CONTROL. IT HAPPENS EVERYDAY & WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN AS LONG AS THE COURTS SEE PEOPLE OF COLOR AS LESS THAN HUMAN. UNTIL THAT HAPPENS WE MIGHT AS WELL PROTECT OURSELVES LEGALLY. HELL I KNOW I AM.
The alleged torture was so intense that a former gang member named Satan still has nightmares about it more than 35 years after it occurred.
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By: bed5d0e on 6/01/2010 10:42AM
Just kill the cracker and get it over with.
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By: pdei47 on 6/01/2010 2:13PM
bed5d0e, I AGREE WITH YOU. BUT WE BOTH KNOW THAT NO JURY IS GOING TO CONVICT THIS FOOL. PEOPLE ON THE JURY WILL ALWAYS LOOK AT THE BLACK CITIZEN AS A PERSON THAT DESERVED WHATEVER THE COP DID TO THEM REGARDLESS. THEY LET THE COPS WALK IN LA & NYC & I STRONGLY BELEIVE THEY WILL DO THE SAME HERE. THAT’S WHY I AM A FIRM BELEIVER IN PROTECTING MINE. IF I DIDN'T CALL THE POLICE THEN THEY HAVE NO REASON ON MY LAND. IF THEY ARE ON MY LAND THEY BETTER CHECK IN AT MY FRONT DOOR BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER. IF THEY FEEL THEY DON'T HAVE TO CHECK IN (I HAVE SIGNS THAT SAY THOSE EXACT WORDS TO ALL THAT COME ON MY LAND) THEN THE NEXT THING THEY WILL FEEL IS SOMETHING VERY HOT FROM MY HENRY RIFLE. I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PLAY WHEN IT COMES TO POLICE & MY PROPERTY. PEOPLE MAY THINK I AM WRONG BUT IT’S THE LAW REGARDLESS OF WHO YOU ARE & WHAT YOU DO FOR A LIVING. NO ONE CAN COME ON YOUR LEGALLY OWNED PROPERTY WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT OR WITHOUT LEGAL CAUSE. JUST BECAUSE YOU WHERE A BADGE DOESN’T GIVE YOU LEGAL GROUNDS TO WALK ON ANYONES PROPERTY.
WHAT THESE COPS DID TO THE BLACK CITIZENS IN CHI-TOWN WAS JUST PLAN OLE POWER CRAZED COPS OUT OF CONTROL. IT HAPPENS EVERYDAY & WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN AS LONG AS THE COURTS SEE PEOPLE OF COLOR AS LESS THAN HUMAN. UNTIL THAT HAPPENS WE MIGHT AS WELL PROTECT OURSELVES LEGALLY. HELL I KNOW I AM.
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