Chicago Eight

• Author: Jeffrey Lehman, Shirelle Phelps

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The trial of the Chicago Eight exemplified the state of turmoil that existed in the United States in 1968. Because the Chicago conspiracy trial opened with eight defendants, this group of radical leaders is sometimes referred to as the Chicago Eight. The trial of one defendant, BOBBY SEALE, was severed from that of the other seven; hence the name Chicago Seven is a name also used to refer to this trial.

The assassinations of Senator ROBERT F. KENNEDY and Dr. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., occurred within months of each other. The escalation of the VIETNAM WAR was unpopular with many U.S. citizens and a number of young men of draft age burned their draft registration cards or fled to Canada rather than risk their lives for a cause in which they did not believe. Protest demonstrations were prevalent. The turbulence in the United States culminated in events at the Democratic Presidential Convention in Chicago, Illinois, which led to a sensational courtroom trial.

Chicago was controlled politically by Mayor Richard J. Daley and his Democratic followers. When Chicago was chosen as the site for the Democratic Convention, groups of protestors decided to seize the opportunity to converge on

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that city to stage demonstrations and publicly espouse their views against U.S. participation in the Vietnam War. The protestors arrived from all over the nation, establishing a camp at Lincoln Park.

Mayor Daley was opposed to any incident that might cause a disturbance of the convention proceedings and taint the reputation of the city of Chicago. The demonstrators were denied a permit to assemble in Lincoln Park and were told to disband. When they refused the Chicago police tried to forcibly eject them from the park. When these efforts failed the police used tear gas and billy clubs. A riot resulted, and as news of the Chicago violence reached the nation, other groups went to Chicago to join the protestors. When the number of demonstrators reached 20,000, the NATIONAL GUARD was enlisted to quell the violence. Eight radical leaders emerged as the organizers of the demonstration movement: Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis, who had established the group known as Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS; Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, founders of the Youth International Party, or "Yippies"; Bobby Seale, leader of the BLACK PANTHER PARTY; David Dellinger, staunch opponent of the Vietnam War and renowned pacifist...