Chicago has taken a major step toward reparations for survivors of police torture and abuse. Under the orders of Jon Burge, who served as Police Commander from 1972 to 1991, Chicago police infamously subjected more than 100 black men and youth to beatings, burnings and electric shocks. Dozens of victims were coerced into providing false confessions that led to decades in prisons.
This morning, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his support for a $5.5 million reparations package for the Burge survivors and their families.
“Today, we stand together as a city to try and right those wrongs, and to bring this dark chapter of Chicago’s history to a close,” Emanuel said, according to Associated Press.
Testifying at a hearing on reparations today before the City Council finance committee, Joey Mogul, co-founder of Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, told the council to stand on the right side of history. “Nothing can erase the human rights violations,” Mogul testified, “[but] the reparations ordination will be an important step towards healing.”
