Information AboutChicago Eight |
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The Chicago Seven were seven (originally eight, when they were known as the '''Chicago Eight''') defendants charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot and other charges related to violent protests that took place in Chicago , Illinois on the occasion of the 1968 Democratic National Convention . The convention, in late August 1968, was the scene of massive demonstrations protesting the Vietnam War , which was in full swing. Thousands of people showed up with signs and banners, Tie-dye d shirts, music, dancing and poetry. A Pig , " Pigasus the Immortal", was brought into the city to be "nominated" for President. Initially, there was a Carnival atmosphere. The police were edgy. Some people responded to a night-time curfew announcement with rock-throwing. Police used tear gas, and struck people with batons. People were arrested. In the aftermath, a Grand Jury indicted eight demonstrators and eight police officers. The original eight protester/defendants, indicted by the grand jury on , Jerry Rubin , David Dellinger , Tom Hayden , Rennie Davis , John Froines , Lee Weiner , and Bobby Seale . The defense attorneys were William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass of the Center For Constitutional Rights . The judge was Julius Hoffman . The prosecutors were Richard Schultz and Tom Foran . The trial began on September 24 1969 and on October 9 the United States National Guard was called in for crowd control as demonstrations grew outside the courtroom. Early in the course of the trial, song, " Chicago ", which opened with: "So your brother's bound and gagged, and they've chained him to a chair"). Ultimately Judge Hoffman severed Seale from the case, sentencing him to four years in prison for contempt, one of the longest sentences ever handed down for that offense in American history. The Chicago Eight then became the Chicago Seven, where the defendants, particularly Yippies Hoffman and Rubin, mocked courtroom decorum as the widely publicized trial itself became a focal point for a growing legion of protesters. One day, defendants Hoffman and Rubin appeared in court dressed in judicial robes. Hoffman blew kisses at the jury. The trial extended for months, with many celebrated figures from the American left and counterculture called to testify (including folk singers Phil Ochs , Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie , writer Norman Mailer , LSD advocate Timothy Leary and Reverend Jesse Jackson ). On February 18 , 1970 , all seven defendants were found not guilty of conspiracy, two (Froines and Weiner) were acquitted completely, and five were convicted of crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot. Those five were each sentenced to five years in prison and fined $5,000 on February 20 , 1970 . At sentencing, Hoffman suggested the judge try LSD , offering to set him up with a dealer he knew in Florida. The convictions were reversed by the United States Court Of Appeals For The Seventh Circuit on November 21 , 1972 , on the grounds of bias by the judge and his refusal to permit defense attorneys to screen prospective jurors for cultural and racial bias. The Justice Department decided not to retry the case. During the trial, all the defendants and both defense attorneys had been cited for contempt and sentenced to jail, but all of those convictions were also overturned. The contempt charges were retried before a different judge, who found Dellinger, Rubin, Hoffman and Kunstler guilty of some of the charges, but opted not to sentence the defendants to jail or fines. TRIVIA
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:(1987 HBO made-for-television movie)
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