The trial of The Chicago 8

1969 USA: The Chicago 8 (later the Chicago 7) trial opened in Chicago, Illinois. They had been indicted on March 19 in the aftermath of their Yippie demo at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Party National Convention.



Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman (seen here in the judicial robes they wore to the trial,
when they weren’t wearing American revolutionary uniforms, etc),
perhaps the best-known and certainly the most flamboyant of the Chicago 8, are both now in Yippie heaven.

Charged with conspiracy to incite riot were Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin (leaders of the Yippies – the Youth International Party), Bobby Seale (Black Panther leader), David Dellinger (chairman of the National Mobilization against the War), Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis (leaders of Students for a Democratic Society) and John Froines and Lee Weiner (local Chicago organizers). The number of defendants was reduced to seven on October 29 when Seale was bound, gagged, and sent to prison for contempt of court.

The defence attorneys were William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass; the judge was Julius Hoffman. On October 9 the United States National Guard was called in for crowd control as demonstrations grew outside the courtroom ...

Tagged: yippies, counterculture, usa, 60s, sixties, hippies, demonstrations, activism, progressive, radical, legal, law