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2025年8月11日 星期一

Chicago 7: When Protest Went on Trial

A Nation in Turmoil


In 1968, the United States felt like a nation at war with itself. The Vietnam War was escalating, the civil rights movement was still fighting for equality, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy had left the country in shock.

That summer, the Democratic National Convention was set to take place in Chicago, a city determined to maintain control under Mayor Richard Daley. Daley promised order, which in practice meant a heavy police presence and a willingness to use force.


Activists Converge on Chicago


Anti-war activists from across the country planned to make Chicago the stage for their opposition to the war. The Youth International Party (“Yippies”), led by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, was a countercultural group that combined radical politics with theatrical protest. Members of Students for a Democratic Society, including Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis, took a more structured and policy-oriented approach. David Dellinger came to promote nonviolent protest. Others joined to voice their frustration with a government they saw as deaf to its people.

When the convention began in late August, thousands gathered in parks and on the streets. Many intended to hold peaceful rallies but the atmosphere quickly grew tense and confrontations with police escalated. Officers used tear gas and batons. The violent scenes captured shocked the nation, and a later federal investigation described the events as a “police riot.”


The Trial


By early 1969, political power in Washington had shifted. Lyndon Johnson chose not to seek another term, and Richard Nixon was elected president. The new administration targeted those it viewed as leaders of the protests.

Using the recently passed 1968 Anti-Riot Act, federal prosecutors indicted seven men on charges of conspiracy and inciting a riot: Hoffman, Rubin, Hayden, Davis, Dellinger, John Froines, and Lee Weiner. Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was also charged.

The trial began in September 1969 before Judge Julius Hoffman (no relation to Abbie Hoffman). The seven defendants were represented by William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass. From the start, the judge appeared biased toward the prosecution. Hoffman and Rubin made sarcastic remarks and used humor toward what they saw as absurd charges, and were repeatedly cited for contempt of court.

Bobby Seale’s situation became the most disturbing moment of the trial. Seale had no deep connection to the others and had been in Chicago for a very short time. His attorney, Charles Garry, was hospitalized, and Seale demanded the right to represent himself. Judge Hoffman refused, which many argued violated his constitutional rights. When Seale continued to speak out, the judge ordered him to be chained and gagged in the courtroom, an act that shocked the nation and outraged the public. Eventually, the judge declared a mistrial for Seale.


Verdict and Reversal


In February 1970, the jury acquitted all seven defendants of conspiracy but found five guilty of crossing state lines to incite a riot. Judge Hoffman also issued numerous contempt citations against the defendants and their attorneys.

Two years later, the Court of Appeals reversed all convictions due to the judge’s bias and the political misconduct during the trial.


Why It Mattered


The Chicago 7 trial became one of the most notorious trials in American history. It was more than a question of guilt or innocence. It showed the tension between the right to protest and the power of the state to suppress it. It revealed how political change in the White House could influence the pursuit of justice, and it captured a nation in conflict over the very values it claimed to uphold.