Chicago Seven: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Defendants in 1969-1970a 1969–70 trial}}

The '''Chicago Seven''', originally the '''Chicago Eight''' and also known as the '''Conspiracy Eight''' or '''Conspiracy Seven''', were seven defendants – [[Rennie Davis]], [[David Dellinger]], [[John Froines]], [[Tom Hayden]], [[Abbie Hoffman]], [[Jerry Rubin]], and [[Lee Weiner]] – charged by the [[United States Department of Justice]] with [[conspiracy]], crossing state lines{{huh|date=July 2024}} with intent to incite a [[riot]], and other charges related to [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-Vietnam War]] and [[1960s counterculture]] protests in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]] during the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]]. The Chicago Eight became the Chicago Seven after the case against codefendant [[Bobby Seale]] was declared a [[mistrial]].

Protests against the war continued,<ref name="Steinberg" /> and [[Rennie Davis]] and [[Tom Hayden]] became directors of the Mobe office in Chicago.<ref name="Ragsdale-2008" />{{RP|1-21–2}} A [[counterculture]] group known as [[Youth International Party|Yippies]], including [[Jerry Rubin]] and [[Abbie Hoffman]], also planned a "Festival of Life", announced at a press conference on March 17,<ref name="Linder chronology">{{cite web |last=Linder |first=Douglas O. |title=The Chicago Eight Trial: A Chronology |url=https://famous-trials.com/chicago8/1371-chronology |website=Famous Trials |publisher=UMKC School of Law |access-date=6 December 2020}}</ref> as a response to what they described as the Democratic "Convention of Death".<ref name="Ragsdale-2008" />{{RP|2}}<ref name="Steinberg">{{cite news |last=Steinberg |first=Neil |title=The whole world watched: 50 years after the 1968 Chicago convention |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/8/17/18439080/the-whole-world-watched-50-years-after-the-1968-chicago-convention |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=August 17, 2018}}</ref> In January, the Yippies had issued a statement that included: "Join us in Chicago in August for an international festival of youth music and theater&nbsp;... Come all you rebels, youth spirits, rock minstrels, truth seekers, peacock freaks, poets, barricade jumpers, dancers, lovers and artists&nbsp;... We are there! There are 500,000 of us dancing in the streets, throbbing with amplifiers and harmony. We are making love in the parks&nbsp;..."<ref name="Steinberg" /><ref name="Linder Account" /> In a March meeting at [[Lake Villa, Illinois]], coordination of demonstrations was discussed by representatives from various groups; Hayden and Davis drafted a proposal that included "the campaign should not plan violence and disruption against the Democratic National Convention. It should be nonviolent and legal."<ref name="Ragsdale-2008" />{{RP|2}}<ref name="Linder Account" />

The trial began on September 24, 1969.<ref name="Ragsdale-2008" />{{RP|11-12}} In his opening statement, when prosecutor Richard Schultz mentioned Abbie Hoffman, Abbie Hoffman stood up and blew the jury a kiss, and the judge said, "The jury is directed to disregard the kiss from Mr. Hoffman."<ref name="Schultz Seale">{{cite book |last=Schultz |first=John |title=The Conspiracy Trial of the Chicago Seven: Revised Edition |date=1972 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago, Illinois |isbn=9780226760742 |pages=37–49 |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/741147.html}}</ref>

In the afternoon session of October 29, Judge Hoffman ordered Seale to be bound, gagged, and chained to a chair.<ref name="Epstein Seale" /> According to John Schultz, when the jury was allowed into the courtroom, juror Jean Fritz began weeping, and other jurors "squirmed hard in their seats at the sight."<ref>{{cite book |last=Schultz |first=John |title=The Chicago Conspiracy Trial: Revised Edition |date=1972 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago, IL |isbn=9780226760742 |pages=62–63 |url=http://www.1968.john-schultz.com/econspir.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203032541/http://www.1968.john-schultz.com/econspir.html |archive-date=December 3, 2012 }}</ref>

On November 5, 1969, after declaring a mistrial in the prosecution of Bobby Seale,<ref name="FJCSeale" /> Judge Hoffman convicted Seale on 16 charges of contempt,<ref name="Epstein Seale" /> and sentenced Seale to three months in prison on each count — acount—a total of four years, which may have been the longest contempt sentence in U.S. history at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Contempt in Chicago |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840376,00.html |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114174203/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840376,00.html |archive-date=November 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |date=November 14, 1969}}</ref>

* The 20122011 Pinchas Perry film ''The Chicago 8'' includes dialogue from some of the trial transcripts.<ref name="Bailey"/>

* The 1970 song "[[Peace Frog]]" by [[the Doors]] includes the line "Blood in the streets/ in the town of Chicago".<ref>{{cite news |last=Mayhew |first=Jess |title=Song Stories: Robby Krieger on the Origin of The Doors' "'Peace Frog"' & "'Light My Fire"' |url=https://reverb.com/news/song-stories-the-doors-peace-frog-and-light-my-fire-with-robby-krieger |access-date=27 February 2021 |work=Reverb |date=June 17, 2016 |quote=Krieger also took the time to tell the story of "Peace Frog." While many have taken this eerie recording as a protest song, one specifically about the '68 Chicago Democratic Convention, the lyrics actually pull from a poem Morrison wrote called "Abortion Stories."}}</ref>

* In 1979, ''The Chicago Conspiracy Trial'' by Ron Sossi and [[Frank Condon]] was staged by the Odyssey Theater Ensemble and is based on the trial transcripts.<ref>{{cite news |last=Martinez |first=Julio |title=The Chicago Conspiracy Trial |url=https://variety.com/2007/legit/markets-festivals/the-chicago-conspiracy-trial-1200555307/#! |access-date=17 January 2021 |work=Variety |date=October 16, 2007}}</ref> The 15th anniversary production by the Odyssey Theater Ensemble featured Allan Miller (William Kunstler), Albie Selznick (Leonard Weinglass), Paul Provenza (Abbie Hoffman) and George Murdock (Judge Hoffman).<ref>{{cite news |last=Breslauer |first=Jan |title=THEATERTheater REVIEWReview : 'Chicago': A Twisted Piece of History |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-25-ca-38314-story.html |access-date=17 January 2021 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 25, 1994}}</ref>

* A ''Far Side'' cartoon had a boy with seven captured insects looking out on his windowsill to see a bunch of insects marching and holding a sign reading "Free the Mayonnaise Jar Seven".{{CN|date=October 2024}}

* Hayden, Tom. ''Reunion: A memoir''. New York: Random House, 1988. {{ISBN?}}

* Hoffman, Abbie. ''Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture''. New York: Perigee Books (G.P. Putnam's Sones), 1980. {{ISBN?}}

* Lukas, J. Anthony. ''The Barnyard Epithet & Other Obscenities: Notes on the Chicago Conspiracy Trial''. Drawings by Irene Siegel. NYC: Harper & Row, 1970. {{ISBN?}}

* Okpaku, Joseph and Verna Sadock. ''Verdict! The Exclusive Picture Story of the Trial of the Chicago 8''. New York: The Third Press – Joseph Okpaku Publishing Co., Inc., 1970. {{ISBN?}}

* Seale, Bobby. ''Seize the Time: The story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton''. New York: Random House and Vintage Books, 1970. {{ISBN?}}