University of Virginia Library

'conspiracy!'

art by gary kreger

The following is an account of
the circumstances at the Chicago
trial this week of eight men charged
with "conspiring to start" the 1968
Chicago riots during the Democratic
National Convention

CHICAGO (CPS) - Protesters
are milling around the Federal
Court House, selling "I am a
Chicago Conspiracy Booster" buttons,
giving out score cards, chanting,
worshipping a huge gold paper
mache pig. Someone gets bored,
rocks are thrown, and there are
some beatings. Cops order people
around.

Protesters are milling around.
"She wasn't doing anything but
standing there," and the police
move in and hit her and cart her
away.

"We're just here to protect the
building," a cop says.

"We're just here to defend the
issues that lead us into the
streets..."

"There are two nations on trial
here - the pig nation and the
nation of the future," according to
Abbie Hoffman, one of the eight
"conspirators." It is the United
States of America versus the nation
of the future. Or the world series of
injustice with the Chicago Conspiracy
vs. the Washington Kangaroos.
Downtown Daleyland. And U.S.
District Judge Julius J. Hoffman
predicts that this is going to be a
long trial.

The scene is a refined version of
the 1968 National Democratic
Convention. Instead of park permits,
the eight-men "conspiracy" is
mainly worried about a fair and
open trial. The main concern of
74-year-old Judge Hoffman is maintaining
a "dignified" courtroom.

"There seem to be two laws in
Chicago - one for the people and
one for us," says Dave Dellinger,
one of the defendants.

Judge Hoffman has banned
picture taking and electronic coverage
of the trial. He has banned
almost everything else too.

In one series of exchanges, the
defense attorneys tried to get a
bigger courtroom in which to hold
the trial so that at least members
of the underground and overground
press can attend, so that at least 18
persons named as co-conspirators
can attend, so that at least family
and friends of the defendants can
attend, so that at least a representative
from the American Civil
Liberties Union can attend.

Hoffman charged the U.S. Marshal
with the task of issuing 75
press passes on a "first come first
serve basis," except that some
media representatives were contacted
by the marshal and some
weren't. Defense attorney Leonara
Weinglass asked Judge Hoffman to
grant a press pass to a Black
Panther Party Minister of Information
and to a Black journalist.

"I don't know what the party
(the Black Panther Party) is. It is
impossible to seat all the members
of the press who deserve a place,"
he answered.

The 18 co-conspirators, Judge
Hoffman said, are members of the
public and have to stand in line
every morning to be admitted on a
first come first serve basis. This, he
said, applies to the UCLA representative,
too. As one member of
the public said, "It's like a ball
game, you want a good seat, you
get here early and stand in line."