The Chicago 7 Conspiracy Trial

Both the “Chicago 7 trial” and the CJR coverage of it were brought about by another case of Chicago police violence that inspired another 2021 Academy Award nominated movie, ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7.’

The police violence—clubbings and tear gas assaults—were aimed at and blamed on anti-war demonstrators and their organizers at the 1968 Democratic Convention.

The organizers of the protest were indicted and charged with “conspiracy” to cross state lines to commit acts of violence to disrupt the convention. They were the defendants in the trial dramatized in the film.

Here is the text of the original March 1970 issue, transcribed and saved as a .pdf.