Trial Begins for Ex-Chicago Police Lt. Accused of Torturing More than 100 African American Men
A former police commander accused of overseeing the torture of more than 100 African American men is on trial in Chicago. Former Lieutenant Jon Burge is accused of lying when he denied in a civil lawsuit that he and other detectives had tortured anyone. He faces a maximum of forty-five years in prison if convicted of all charges.

The accusations of torture date back forty years, but Burge has avoided prosecution until now. For nearly two decades, beginning in 1971, Burge was at the epicenter of what�s been described as the systematic torture of dozens of black men to coerce confessions. In total, more than a hundred people in Chicago say they were subjected to abuse, including having guns forced into their mouths, suffocation with bags placed over their heads, and electric shocks inflicted on their genitals.

The police department fired Burge in 1993 for mistreatment of a suspect, but did not press charges. A decade later, then-Illinois-governor George Ryan released four men on death row he said Burge had extracted confessions from using torture. Public outcry eventually led Cook County to appoint two special prosecutors to look into the allegations. In 2006, prosecutors found there was evidence to show beyond a reasonable doubt that torture had occurred, but the statute of limitations had expired.

Two years ago, federal prosecutors finally brought charges against Burge, though not for torture. They say he lied in a civil suit about the torture, and they�ve charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice. The trial is expected to last six weeks.


Report: Haitian Police Shot Dead at Least 12 Prisoners After Earthquake
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti has launched an investigation into reports that Haitian police shot dead at least twelve unarmed prisoners soon after the January earthquake. The killings took place in an overcrowded jail in Les Cayes, Haiti�s third biggest city.


Aiyana Jones Buried in Detroit
In Detroit, nearly 1,000 mourners gathered Saturday for the funeral of seven-year-old Aiyana Jones, who was shot dead by police in her own home. The Rev. Al Sharpton traveled to Detroit to deliver the eulogy.


Texas Approves New Right-Wing School Curriculum
The Republican-dominated Texas State Board of Education has approved new controversial curriculum standards for US history. Before the final vote, the board�s five Democrats criticized the Republican majority for injecting their political and religious views into the standards and giving short shrift to important Latino, African American and Asian figures in history.


BP Acknowledges Oil Spill Is Larger Than Previous Estimates
The British oil company BP has been forced to admit the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is far larger than the company initially said. On Thursday, BP said it�s now capturing 5,000 barrels of oil a day from the leaking pipe�the same amount it had previously said was leaking every day. BP has declined to estimate how much oil is still escaping, but scientists say BP is siphoning just a fraction of the total leak. Independent scientists say the leak could be as large as 95,000 barrels of oil per day.


BP Oil Spill Enters Loop Current as Leak Estimate Rises
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has confirmed parts of the BP oil slick have entered the Gulf loop current, which could carry the oil to the Florida Keys and even possibly up the Atlantic Coast. Government scientists say it could take seven days for oil to reach waters off the Florida coast. US officials have also opened talks with Cuba on contingency planning in case the spill reaches Cuban shores. Oil has already reached the fragile wetlands on the Louisiana coast. On Wednesday, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said he had asked for intensified efforts to defend the coastline from incoming oil.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal: "We�ve got to be completely focused on defending this coast. The cost�the difference between keeping this oil out and having this oil in this wetlands, it literally could be life or death for many of these species."

At a congressional hearing Wednesday, a professor at Purdue University told lawmakers the oil spill may now be 95,000 barrels of oil, or four million gallons, per day�nineteen times BP�s estimate of 5,000 barrels a day.


Senate Passes Financial Reform Bill
The Senate has passed a sweeping reform of financial regulation that�s been described as the biggest overhaul of financial rules since the 1930s. The 59-to-39 vote came largely on party lines. Two Democratic senators, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Maria Cantwell of Washington, voted against the bill, saying it does not go far enough in preventing another economic meltdown. Four Republicans also broke party ranks to support the measure. Shortly before the final vote was held, President Obama praised the bill at the White House.

President Obama: "Because of financial reform, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street�s mistakes. There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts, period. If a large financial institution should ever fail, we will have the tools to wind it down without endangering the larger economy, and there will be new rules to prevent financial institutions from becoming too big to fail in the first place, so that we don�t have another AIG."

The bill now appears headed to a House-Senate conference committee, where lawmakers will work to resolve differences between the two chambers.


Jobless Benefit Claims Increase
New figures show claims for unemployment benefits have increased for the first time in five weeks. The Labor Department says jobless claims topped 471,000 last week, an increase of over five percent.


Foreclosures, Missed Payments at Record Levels
New figures show the number of homeowners behind on their mortgage payments is at a record high. The Mortgage Bankers Association says more than one in ten homeowners missed a payment in the first quarter of this year. More than 4.6 percent of homeowners were in foreclosure during the same period, also a record. Homeowners with fixed, conventional loans now mark the fastest-growing group in foreclosure, accounting for 37 percent of the total.


Cop Killers in Arkansas Tied to Patriot Movement
The two men accused of shooting dead a pair of police officers in Arkansas last week have been tied to the far-right-wing Patriot movement. Police say Jerry Ralph Kane and his sixteen-year-old son Joseph shot dead the officers on Thursday. The two Kanes were later killed in a firefight with other law enforcement officials. Authorities say the elder Kane had been involved since at least 2002 in the Patriot or sovereign citizen movement that believe the government has no legitimate authority. The car Jerry Kane was driving was registered to property that is owned by an aging white supremacist.



FDIC: 1/10 of US Banks in Trouble
In other financial news, a total of 775 banks, or one-tenth of all US banks, are now on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.�s list of "problem" institutions. The number of banks in trouble has jumped by 500 since 2008. Regulators have closed seventy-three banks so far this year.


No Federal Charges for AIG Executives
Federal prosecutors have decided not to bring charges against any executives from AIG for their roles leading up to the company�s collapse in 2008. The Justice Department had been considering charging Joseph Cassano and other top AIG officers. Cassano was the chief executive of AIG�s Financial Products unit, which made huge bets on risky mortgage securities.


Report: Israel Offered Nukes to Apartheid South Africa
The Guardian newspaper has published secret South African documents revealing that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the South Africa apartheid regime. In 1975, South Africa�s defense minister, P.W. Botha, asked Israel�s then-Defense Minister Shimon Peres for nuclear warheads. Peres, who is now Israel�s president, responded by offering warheads "in three sizes." The South African documents show that the apartheid-era military wanted the nuclear missiles as a deterrent and for potential strikes against neighboring African states. South Africa did not go ahead with the nuclear deal in part because of the cost. The documents were first uncovered by Sasha Polakow-Suransky, author of the new book The Unspoken Alliance: Israel�s Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa. The documents provide new evidence that Israel has nuclear weapons despite its policy of "ambiguity" in neither confirming nor denying their existence.


US Continues Funding Segregated West Bank Roads
Newly disclosed figures show the US continues to fund the construction of segregated roads for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. The United Arab Emirates-based newspaper The National reports the US Agency for International Development�USAID�has financed 146 miles of West Bank roads and is set to fund another seventy-four miles this year. Palestinians are either barred from the roads entirely or face severe restrictions from using them.

© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com

Top of Page