Читать книгу History of the Trial of the Chicago 7 - Bruce A. Ragsdale - Страница 35
ОглавлениеThe attorneys for the U.S. government
U.S. Attorney Thomas Foran and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Schultz argued
that:
1 The seven (originally eight) defendants conspired to provoke government violence against the demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The prosecutors acknowledged that the defendants had never met as a group, but seven had met in smaller groups to devise their strategy and to coordinate demonstrators’ resistance to the police. The testimony of government witnesses established a “tacit understanding” among the defendants and a mutual understanding of the goals of the conspiracy.
2 The defendants intended to incite violence by attracting to Chicago very large crowds to participate in ostensibly peaceful protests of the Vietnam War and social injustice. The defendants incited the demonstrators against the police, the National Guard, and the Army, and the defendants orchestrated confrontations with the intent of provoking law enforcement officers to respond with violence.
3 The defendants privately and in small gatherings, before and during the week of the convention, described their goals of disruption and confrontation, and their goal of inciting not only riots in Chicago, but a popular uprising against the government. The government attorneys cited the defendants’ rhetoric about hoping to “smash the city,” bringing “the United States military machinery to a halt,” and creating the “first steps towards the revolution” as proof that the seven organizers jointly planned to incite violence in Chicago during the Democratic Convention.
4 At least six of the original defendants crossed state lines with the intent to incite violence and thus violated the anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
5 Froines and Weiner discussed the manufacture and possible uses of incendiary devices during the convention.
