8 January 1970, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1970, Chicago Illinois, USA
Tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM, we intend to bring Mayor Richard J Daley to this courtroom in which we intend to put him on trial for the crimes against black people and brown people and young people in the city of Chicago. We are inviting the people of this city to come to the federal building at noon tomorrow to be jurors in this trial of mayor Daley.
We intend to serve the mayor of the city of Chicago with an indictment cataloguing his crimes. And this indictment, which we will serve in the morning on the mayor, will be in behalf of all black people in the city of Chicago who have been clubbed by police, all poor people who have been robbed of their homes by the mayor's urban renewal programs, all welfare recipients who have been deprived by case workers of their normal $4 monthly laundry allowance, young people with long hair who have been harassed and intimidated and malaligned and imprisoned in this city for their culture.
Tomorrow ends the fifteenth week of one of the more outrageous political trials in American history. And we think that it's appropriate that the man who is perhaps most responsible for bringing this indictment against us, be brought to trial now by the men who he has tried to turn into political scapegoats for his own criminal activity. We think that it's a time when Chicagoans should join us in trying to squeeze every bit of justice that we can out and against the man that we feel is the leading public criminal in Chicago, Mayor. Daley.
All right. We'll all answer questions.
Reporter: How are you going to serve this indictment on the mayor?
The mayor will be served as he enters the courtroom on the 23rd floor of the federal building at 10:00 AM tomorrow.
Reporter: And how will you conduct a trial if you have a trial on the mayor?
The purpose will be to try legally to make the mayor a hostile witness for the defence. Since he clearly is a hostile witness to these to the defendants, our courtroom strategy though, as to the manner in which we will put the mayor on trial, will be made clear by our activities and will not be announced at this time.
Reporter: What will you try to bring out of the mayor as a witness?
Well, I think that what we want to focus on is the criminal activity that has gone on in the name of law and order in this city. From the 'shoot to kill' order, following the tragic assassination of Dr. King, right up to the recent murder of Fred Hampton by the state's attorney's office here in Chicago. These range of crimes that we feel the courts ignore, public officials ignore, the press ignore, are going to be brought into the courtroom in a public trial of the mayor tomorrow morning.
Reporter: Don't you feel you'll have more problems talking about these things with the mayor than you have had on almost any other witness. So far.
We expect to have problems, but we expect to raise all of these issues. We think that it's an opportunity for black people and young people and decent people across this city and across this country who have been outraged by these activities and by what occurred at the democratic convention over a year ago, to now raise fully in a public arena with a mayor of Chicago under oath the central questions of this trial. And those questions have to do with who is responsible for the war in Vietnam, who is responsible for the racism in this country. Who is responsible for the neglect of our inner cities. And who responsible for trying to turn the victims of oppression into criminals while the real criminals go free, whether they're in Washington or in Chicago,
Reporter: So you're going to serve him at 10 30, what form of service is this going to be?
We will have a formal indictment of his crimes prepared and will be served personally by the defendants as he comes in the courtroom tomorrow.
Reporter: Is he a symbol of everything you say is wrong with this country?
I think that he is certainly a symbol of the real conspiracy in America. A man who probably more than any other is directly responsible for this trial and for these indictments. But we will have in the indictment a number of co-conspirators that will range from Richard Nixon to General Westmoreland, to John Mitchell, to Edward Hanrahan and local officials in Chicago.
Reporter: There's a rumour that the mayor may not appear tomorrow. Have you heard anything about that?
We understand from his office that he will be here as his subpoena indicates at 10 o'clock for regular trial proceedings in the morning.
Reporter: What do you think the judge Hoffman is going to allow this line of questioning of the mayor?
Well, the line of questioning is going to take place. The court may object. They've objected all along to the real questions being raised in this trial, but we're going to insist that these questions be raised in this courtroom while the mayor is on the stand and under oath,
Fellow defendant: He upheld one of our objections today. See that's a noticeable change.
Reporter: You mentioned this to a certain extent, but could you comment on the significance of your facing mayor Daley and the similarity between the confrontation during the democratic convention? Is this the high point of the trial? Is this a climax?
No, I don't think this is a climax it's a time when one of the real criminals is on the stand. We intend to subpoena Lyndon Johnson and General Westmoreland and other individuals who are also responsible in our judgement for the real crimes. This is really our first opportunity to have a man that we feel is directly responsible for the police riot around the Democratic Convention a year ago. And we're gonna raise the relevant questions in the courtroom tomorrow.
Reporter: When you intend to subpoena Westmoreland and LBJ?
Well, the subpoena on LBJ has I understand been issued, but we have not received any indication as to whether it's been received or what the status of that is.
Reporter: Rennie, there was an indication in the courtroom last week that you were going to call Ramsey Clark and the announcement that he was meeting with the representative of the defence and the government. Ramsey Clark told CBS on Friday that he had met with representatives of the defence and the government, but that he had not been subpoenaed. Can you shed any light on that?
Reporter: Well, not very much. It's a legal question for us [jump cut].
... and I don't think at this point that the jury feels that we're duplicating witnesses or going over incidences or parts of the evidence that have already been told.
Thanks. Thank you.