1 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to Wrongful Conviction, False Confessions. I'm Laura and I writer. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 2: And I'm Steve Drewson. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: Today we're going to tell you about one of the 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: worst police abuse scandals in US history. For decades, on 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: the South side of Chicago, a group of white cops 6 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: turned the interrogation room into a torture chamber for black men. 7 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,440 Speaker 1: Those cops called themselves the Midnight Crew. We'll start by 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: introducing you to one innocent man who encountered the Midnight 9 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: Crew and ended up confessing to murder. Eventually, it became 10 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: all too clear that what happened to him had happened 11 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: to hundreds of others too. Let's talk about how the 12 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: Midnight Crew got exposed to daylight, and what's being done 13 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: to make sure this kind of police torture doesn't ever 14 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: happen again. You know, we've talked a lot during our 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: podcast about psychological interrogation techniques, but this is a really 16 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: different case. This is physical torture. It's the kind of 17 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: thing most people think doesn't happen in the United States, 18 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:09,279 Speaker 1: but it did, and it. 19 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 2: Did in my lifetime in Chicago. This was real. I said, 20 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 2: how can this be going on? You know, at the 21 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 2: end of the twentieth century. I mean, this is medieval, 22 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 2: This is the stuff of the Spanish Inquisition, because by 23 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:31,279 Speaker 2: and large, by the nineteen fifties, these kinds of third 24 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 2: degree tactics were no longer part of law enforcement. 25 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: You know, Steve, I never knew what the term third 26 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: degree meant before I went to law school. So for 27 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 1: our audience, it means physical abuse during interrogations, right. 28 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 2: You know. Chicago's history with police interrogations is a fascinating one. 29 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 2: The third degree thrived in Chicago in the thirties, forties 30 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 2: and fifties than a group of police reformers brought in 31 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 2: psychological enterigoce ation techniques that they believed would be less 32 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 2: likely to lead to false confessions. But in Chicago, old 33 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 2: habits die hard. 34 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: It's easy for anyone to understand why someone would falsely 35 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: confess if they're being physically abused or tortured. That's no 36 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: way to get the truth, let alone justice. Today's story 37 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: starts on July twenty seventh, nineteen eighty eight. It's summer 38 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: in Chicago, one of the hottest on record, with temperatures 39 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: topping one hundred degrees on the city's predominantly black south Side. 40 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:36,799 Speaker 3: A lot of. 41 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: Homes are older, run down, don't have air conditioning. Economic 42 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: opportunities are thin, and people sweat just to pay the bills. 43 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: So when the temperature climbs, tempers run high too. That's 44 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: true for the residents and for the police. On July 45 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: twenty seventh, though, things get way too hot in a 46 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: Southside neighborhood called Gage Park. In the middle of the night, 47 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: a brick bungalow goes up in flames. After firefighters bring 48 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: the blaze under control, police go inside. They find five bodies, 49 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: two women who had worked as teacher's aids at a 50 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: local school, and three young children. All of the kids 51 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: had been smothered with pillows. One of the women had 52 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: been beaten and strangled. The other woman had been smothered too. 53 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: She was the daughter of a Chicago cop. It's a 54 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: horrible crime, and the case quickly becomes high profile what 55 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: Chicago police call a heater. But there's no eyewitnesses, no 56 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: forensic evidence, no nothing. So police offer a two thousand 57 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: dollars reward for information. Sure Enough, just a few days later, 58 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: a prison inmate calls police and claims that his friend, 59 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: Ronald Kitchen, confessed to him over the phone. Now, prison 60 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: phone calls are recorded and monitored. A quick check of 61 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: the inmate's phone recordings reveals he was lying. No one 62 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: he spoke with had ever confessed to anything, but with 63 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: no other leads, the police decide to go after Ronald Kitchen, 64 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: and they go after him hard. In nineteen eighty eight, 65 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: Ronald was twenty two years old, and as he admits today, 66 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: he was no angel. Back then. With one young child 67 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: and a second on the way, he made a living 68 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: by selling cocaine, but he was no killer and never 69 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: had been. On the evening of August twenty fifth, Ronald 70 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: leaves his house and heads for the corner store down 71 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: the block. He's out to buy a gallon of milk 72 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: and some cookie dough for his two year old son. 73 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: Before he knows it, Ronald surrounded by police cars. One 74 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: of the officers says something about a stolen vehicle. Another 75 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: cop points a gun at him. Ronald knows he had 76 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: nothing to do with any car theft, so he figures 77 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: he'll be able to clear up the situation without much difficulty. 78 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: As the police put Ronald in handcuffs, he hollers to 79 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: his family down the block, I'll be back in forty 80 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: five minutes. Police bring Ronald to a south Side station 81 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: called Area three. They throw him into an interrogation room 82 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: and cuff his hands to an iron ring in the wall, 83 00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: and the account Ronald gives of the next sixteen hours 84 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: is harrowing. According to Ronald, an officer comes in and 85 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: asks who have you been talking to? When Ronald doesn't 86 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: know how to answer, the officer starts punching him in 87 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,359 Speaker 1: the chest and kicking his stomach. Over the next several hours, 88 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: that officer would leave, then come back again, over and 89 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: over to ask the same question, who have you been 90 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: talking to? And to continue the beatings. Sometimes he'd be 91 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 1: joined by a second officer. When that officer entered the room, 92 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: he would remove his name tag before joining the assaults. 93 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,720 Speaker 1: After hours of beatings, a third officer came into the 94 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,600 Speaker 1: room alone. He asked if Ronald was okay and if 95 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: he wanted anything to eat. When Ronald asked to call 96 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: a lawyer, he says, the officer smiled, picked up the 97 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: handset from a nearby phone, and smashed it into Ronald's skull. 98 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: Do you hear ringing? 99 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 3: Now? 100 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: Said the officer? On his way out, he turned off 101 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 1: the lights, leaving Ronald in the dark for hours. The 102 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: beatings continued, with Ronald waiting in agony for the next 103 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: round to start. The officers focused on areas of his 104 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: body where damage wouldn't be visible. At one point, officers 105 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: cuffed both his hands behind his back and used their 106 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: nightsticks to beat his genitals. But their desire to cover 107 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: their tracks didn't stop the police from targeting Ronald's head too. 108 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: They just used a phone book to cushion the blows 109 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: and avoid leaving a mark. 110 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 2: This torture session was clearly premeditated, mapped out in advance. 111 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 2: The whole time. They were also calling Ronald racial slurs. 112 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 2: The N word just rolled off their tongues. The goal 113 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 2: here was total humiliation, physical and mental. 114 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: Hours of torture went by until Ronald finally broke. He 115 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,919 Speaker 1: signed a false confession dictated by the police, admitting to 116 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: the Gage Park killings. Based on that confession, Ronald Kitchen 117 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: was charged with capital murder, meaning that he was facing 118 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,559 Speaker 1: the death penalty. At his first court appearance, Ronald told 119 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,160 Speaker 1: the judge that he'd been tortured. A few days later, 120 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: Ronald was transferred to a hospital for treatment. At the hospital, 121 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: his urine ran red with blood. Despite all of this, 122 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: Ronald's false confession was allowed into evidence against him at trial, 123 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: along with the testimony of that prison snitch who still 124 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: claimed that Ronald had admitted the killings. On September nineteenth, 125 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, Ronald Kitchen was convicted of five counts of 126 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: murder and sent to death row. There, he'd soon discovered 127 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: he wasn't alone. At least nine other residents of Illinois's 128 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: death Row had been tortured into confessing too. There was 129 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: something much bigger going on. 130 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 4: This episode is sponsored by AIG, a leading global insurance company, 131 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 4: and Paul Weiss Rifkin, Wharton and Garrison, a leading international 132 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 4: law firm. The AIG pro Bono program provides free legal 133 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 4: service and other support to many nonprofit organizations and individuals 134 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 4: most in need, and recently they announced that working to 135 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 4: reform the criminal justice system will become a key pillar 136 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 4: of the program's mission. Paul Weiss has long had an 137 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 4: unwavering commitment to providing impactful, pro bono legal assistance to 138 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 4: the most vulnerable members of our society and in support 139 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 4: of the public interest, including extensive work in the criminal 140 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 4: justice area. 141 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 1: What Ronald endured at Area three was no isolated incident. 142 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: Ronald Kitchen had encountered a group of white cops who 143 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: called themselves the Midnight Crew. The Midnight Crew closed cases 144 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: by torturing black men until they confessed, and they operated 145 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:51,359 Speaker 1: under the authority of a Chicago police detective named John Burge. 146 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 2: To understand what happened to Ronald, you have to start 147 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 2: asking some tough questions. What kind of police officer would 148 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 2: do this to another human being? What kind of person 149 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 2: would knowingly break the laws of common decency, the laws 150 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,359 Speaker 2: of humanity just to get a confession. 151 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,559 Speaker 1: When it comes to John Burge, the answer is complex. 152 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: Here's our friend John Conroy, the journalist who was investigative 153 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: reporting exposed the Midnight Crew. 154 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 3: John Burge was a very driven police officer. Initially he 155 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,599 Speaker 3: was a patrol officer, and then he was mooted to detective, 156 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 3: and then he made sergeant, and then he made lieutenant. 157 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 3: He seemed to me like somebody who would show up 158 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 3: at my family's picnic and if my elderly aunt had 159 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,080 Speaker 3: a problem starting her car on the way home, he 160 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 3: would have been the first woman out there trying to 161 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,559 Speaker 3: get it working. That just seemed to me to be 162 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 3: the kind of guy he was. On the other hand, 163 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 3: he brutally tortured people. 164 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: John Burge was a Chicago Southsider born in nineteen forty 165 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: seven who grew up in a white en class called 166 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: South Deering. 167 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 3: He grew up in a working class, white neighborhood on 168 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:10,439 Speaker 3: the South Side of Chicago that during the late nineteen sixties, 169 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,199 Speaker 3: went from white to black over the course of about 170 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 3: four years, and his family was among the last to 171 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 3: move out. He then went off to college, flunked out 172 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:29,239 Speaker 3: after about a semester, went home and enlisted in the military. 173 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: Burg served as a military police officer in South Korea 174 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: and Vietnam. For his service, he earned the Bronze Star 175 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: Medal and Purple Heart. After he returned to Chicago, Burg 176 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: joined the police force and racked up more than a 177 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:43,720 Speaker 1: dozen commendations. 178 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 3: Everyone wants torturers to be Hannibal elector or somebody like 179 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 3: that out of sounds of the ramps. Everyone wants torturers 180 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 3: to be monsters, and they're basically normal people like you 181 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:01,199 Speaker 3: and me. Burge, for instance, once saved the woman, an 182 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,079 Speaker 3: African American woman, from committing suicide. She had a gun 183 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 3: to her throat, she pulled the trigger and he got 184 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 3: his thumb in the firing mechanism and it didn't go off. 185 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: But his apparent heroism wasn't the full story, because John 186 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: Burge and his underlings ended up being accused of extracting 187 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: confessions from more than two hundred black men between nineteen 188 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 1: seventy two and nineteen ninety one using torture. 189 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 3: You know, in Chicago, the cops were under tremendous pressure 190 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 3: because we had an astronomical homicide rate. People talk about 191 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:41,320 Speaker 3: homicides in Chicago now, They were eighty percent higher in 192 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 3: the early nineties, and so, you know, they had to 193 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 3: solve crimes. They were getting information. That's another reason why 194 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 3: people do it. They actually might think that they're helping 195 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 3: out the good people of the community by torturing the 196 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 3: bad ones. You do get information when you torture people, 197 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 3: you just don't get accurate information. People will say anything 198 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 3: to stop the torture. 199 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: Accusations against the Midnight Crew started emerging just a few 200 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: months before Ronald Kitchen was convicted. In January nineteen ninety, 201 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 1: John Conroy published an investigative report in the Chicago Reader 202 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: entitled House of Screams. 203 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 3: The bird story came to me because I was writing 204 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 3: a book on torture but not torturers, and countries that 205 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 3: people normally suspected of torture, and democracies. And then a 206 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 3: friend of mine called me and said, there's this guy 207 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,840 Speaker 3: named Andrew Wilson. He claims he was given electric shock 208 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 3: by the Chicago police, and his testimony was just so 209 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 3: compelling the police could not explain away his injuries. 210 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: Andrew Wilson was a suspect in the murder of two 211 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: Chicago cops, and House of Screams told the story of 212 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: what happened to him in police custody. The rumor was 213 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,439 Speaker 1: that during Wilson's interrogation, Burge and his men used techniques 214 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: that Burge learned as a military Harry police officer back 215 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: in Vietnam. 216 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 3: Andrew Wilson emerged from the police station with these very 217 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 3: peculiar marks on his ears and his nose in the 218 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,560 Speaker 3: shape of alligator clips. They were scabs, and he had 219 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 3: parallel burns on his chest and a big burn on 220 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 3: his thigh. He said he'd been held against a hot 221 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 3: radiator while electric shock was administered by a hand crank device, 222 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 3: not dissimilar from a field telephone used in Vietnam, and 223 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 3: because he'd shot dead two cops, nobody wanted to believe him. 224 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 2: Nobody's going to have any sympathy for cop killers, and 225 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 2: Burge and his Midnight crew knew that they would be 226 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 2: more likely to get away with torturing a cop killer 227 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:43,959 Speaker 2: than anybody else. 228 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 3: You know, frankly, when we get in an uproar about torture, 229 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 3: it's over the torture of people we like, somebody like 230 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 3: say Nelson Mandela, and we are outraged. But if you 231 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 3: torture somebody whom we don't like, oh, that's no problem 232 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 3: at all. So, you know, I think the true test 233 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 3: of a society is can you stand up and defend 234 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 3: the rights of people whom you abhor. 235 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: During Andrew Wilson's trial, his attorneys started receiving letters in 236 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: Chicago police envelopes from an inside whistleblower. The department's torture problem, 237 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: it seemed, went much further than Andrew Wilson. 238 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 3: The letters provided a roadmap for anybody who wanted to investigate, 239 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 3: because they listed the people who went along with the torture, 240 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 3: and then it listed also the weak links, people who 241 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 3: didn't like Birch. They wouldn't be asked to participate in 242 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 3: the torture, but they would have been around a police 243 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 3: station would have known about it. 244 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: After Conroy's story about Andrew Wilson ran an avalanche of 245 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: other allegation came forward. There were men who had plastic 246 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: bags put over their heads, men who were waterboarded with 247 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: seven up, men who'd had their testicles stood on during interrogation. 248 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: All black men tortured by all white cops. 249 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 3: Of course, I think race was a factor in all 250 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 3: of this. A lot of the abuse that was inflicted 251 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 3: was not just physical, but it was saw verbal and 252 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 3: it was regular use of the N word. 253 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: The stories were horribly similar, and the evidence was there 254 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: from the beginning. One torture victim, Aaron Patterson, managed to 255 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: leave a visible cry for help in the interrogation room. 256 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 2: And just picture this. This guy is being tortured and 257 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 2: he's scratching this message in a metal bench with a 258 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 2: paper clip, and the message couldn't be clearer. Please threaten 259 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 2: me with violence, slapped and suffocated me with plastic No 260 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 2: lawyer or dad signed false statement to murder. Why did 261 00:15:58,880 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 2: he do this? 262 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 3: He did it. 263 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 2: Because he was afraid he wouldn't survive the torture, and 264 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 2: that even if he did survive, he was afraid that 265 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 2: no one would believe him. 266 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: Aaron did survive, and one of the other survivors was 267 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: Ronald Kitchen. 268 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 2: Ronald later realized that the second officer who participated in 269 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 2: his interrogation, the one who took off his name tag 270 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 2: before beating him, well, that was no ordinary member of 271 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 2: the Midnight Crew. That was John Birge himself. 272 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: By the time John Conroy published House of Screams, John 273 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: Burge and the Midnight Crews torture campaign had been going 274 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: on for nearly twenty years. Meanwhile, Burge had been promoted 275 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: to commander, outranking ninety nine percent of the other officers 276 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: on the Chicago Police Force. 277 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 3: So my article came out in January nineteen ninety as 278 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 3: we were approaching press time. I was really an easy 279 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 3: I thought, Oh Jesus, you know we're going to go 280 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 3: with a story that says that the Chicago police engaged 281 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 3: in torture. Nobody had said anything of the kind before. 282 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 3: I thought there would be a furre and we might ensue. 283 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:13,640 Speaker 3: Even though we had done every legal check that could 284 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 3: be done. 285 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: Burge was a powerful man, but the allegations against him 286 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: were too numerous and too similar to ignore. In nineteen 287 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: ninety one, John Burge was suspended from the Chicago Police force. 288 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 1: The local police union rushed to Burges's defense, throwing him 289 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: a fundraiser at a union hall. 290 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 3: I was there. It was packed with more than a 291 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 3: thousand people, probably most of them cops, but I'm sure 292 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 3: some of them were state's attorneys, because I know that 293 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 3: it was advertised in the State's Attorney's office. 294 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: Meanwhile, more and more allegations of police torture were coming forward, beatings, 295 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: cattle prods, Russian roulette. The Chicago Police Board held a 296 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 1: hearing in nineteen ninety two into Burges's alleged misconduct. 297 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 3: Basically, it was an employment fitness here. It was not 298 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 3: a criminal case, and the city had attorneys present the 299 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,640 Speaker 3: case against Birch, and they did a pretty darn good job. 300 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 3: I thought they actually sold the Police Board on the 301 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 3: idea that something had indeed happened here. 302 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: During the hearing, an internal police report came to light. 303 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 1: It suggested that police supervisors had known about the midnight 304 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,239 Speaker 1: cruise systemic brutality for years. In nineteen ninety three, the 305 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: Police Board found that John Birge had participated in physical 306 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,159 Speaker 1: abuse and fired him from the Chicago Police. 307 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 3: Now. The Police Board's decision was remarkable in that it 308 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 3: never used the word torture. It said, John Birge did 309 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 3: chick and or punch and or deny medical attention to 310 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:51,400 Speaker 3: and or and or and or you couldn't tell what 311 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 3: exactly do you think happened. So as a result of 312 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 3: that decision, Burge got fired, but he was allowed to 313 00:18:58,560 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 3: retire with his pension. 314 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: Another agency, the Office of Professional Standards, began investigating two 315 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: and it released a report that went a step further. 316 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: The investigation found that Chicago police had taken part in 317 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:16,640 Speaker 1: a systematic, planned torture campaign that command officers knew about. Meanwhile, 318 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,679 Speaker 1: Ronald Kitchen, one of the victims of that torture, was 319 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: still on death row for a crime he didn't commit. 320 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: And remember, he was there along with other men who 321 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: had been tortured just like him by John Burge and 322 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: the Midnight Crew. For years, Ronald's appeals failed and the 323 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: system turned a blind eye to the unthinkable abuse he suffered. 324 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,880 Speaker 1: But Ronald and the others on death row didn't stay silent. 325 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:42,919 Speaker 1: The group began finding their voices, speaking out about the 326 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 1: fact that the Midnight Crew had tortured innocent people into 327 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: falsely confessing. 328 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 2: What's amazing to me is how these men found their voice. 329 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 2: They did so by re enacting each other's trials. You 330 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 2: have to remember that when people are in prison, every 331 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 2: instinct tells you not to talk to other inmates about 332 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 2: your case. But these men, they acted out their case. 333 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 2: They played the role of prosecutor of defense, attorney of 334 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 2: police witness, and in some cases they convicted one another. 335 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:23,359 Speaker 2: That process gave them agency, and at the end of 336 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 2: the day, all of these men became great storytellers. They 337 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 2: could not only tell the story of what happened to 338 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,399 Speaker 2: each of them, but they could tell the stories of 339 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:34,960 Speaker 2: each other. 340 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,640 Speaker 1: As the Midnight Crew torture scandal blew up, Ronald's personal 341 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: fight for justice became unignorable. In two thousand and one, 342 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: Ronald got a new team of post conviction lawyers. They 343 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 1: discovered previously undisclosed evidence about that prison snitch who claimed 344 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: Ronald had confessed. Turns out, the snitch had received money 345 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: an early release from prison in exchange for his false testimony. 346 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: That evidence, plus the discovery of the Midnight Crew torture 347 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: scandal led prosecutors to agree that Ronald's conviction should be 348 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,440 Speaker 1: thrown out. On July seventh, two thousand and nine, Ronald 349 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: Kitchen became a free, exonerated man. Six weeks later, he 350 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:27,639 Speaker 1: was awarded a certificate of innocence. Those forty five minutes 351 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: that Ronald had expected to be gone they turned into 352 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: twenty one years behind bars. The Gage Park killings have 353 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: never been solved. As for the other men on death 354 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 1: row with Ronald, over the years, several of them walked free, 355 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: to those who remained in prison had their sentences commuted 356 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,399 Speaker 1: to life, and their continuing to fight their cases. And 357 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: what about John Birge, Well, as we told you, he 358 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: got kicked off the Chicago Police Force. But neither John 359 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: Burge nor any member of the Midnight Crew was ever 360 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: charged with or convicted of any act of torture because 361 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: the statute of limitations had passed by the time the 362 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 1: truth came to light. Maybe we can find some small 363 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: measure of justice though, in the fact that John Birge 364 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: did go to prison for lying about torture. In twenty ten, 365 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: Burge was sued by someone he'd tortured during the lawsuit, 366 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 1: Burge gave a sworn statement denying that any abuse had 367 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: occurred on his watch. That falsehood was enough to convict 368 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:30,199 Speaker 1: Burge of perjury. John Burge served from twenty eleven to 369 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen in federal prison, a much shorter length of 370 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: time than many of his victims spent behind bars. After 371 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: he left prison, Burge gave an interview calling the torture 372 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: victim's human vermin. He took up residence in Florida, still 373 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: collecting his police pension four thousand dollars a month. He 374 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: even drove a boat called Vigilante. 375 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 3: Well, no justice was not served in this case. I 376 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 3: mean he was sentenced to four years in prison. He 377 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:01,400 Speaker 3: didn't serve that long. Birge was convicted thirty seven years 378 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 3: after the first time. We know that he used electric shock. 379 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,880 Speaker 2: You know, at the end of the day, John Burge 380 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,159 Speaker 2: was released after only serving a few years in prison, 381 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 2: while Ronald and the other men on death row spent 382 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 2: decades in some of the harshest prisons in Illinois system. 383 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:21,639 Speaker 2: That's not justice. 384 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 1: In twenty eighteen, John Burge died at his home in Florida. 385 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: After his death, the police union posted a statement on Facebook, 386 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,879 Speaker 1: saying that the Fraternal Order of Police does not believe 387 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: the full story about the Birge case has ever been told. 388 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: They're probably right. Decades after Burge's reign of terror, allegations 389 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 1: of torture by the Midnight Crew are still coming to light. 390 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: In two thousand and nine, the State of Illinois formed 391 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 1: a Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission to review and respond 392 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:54,159 Speaker 1: to these allegations. Meanwhile, lawsuits upon lawsuits have been filed 393 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: and are still being filed. So far, the Midnight Crew 394 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,240 Speaker 1: has cost the City of Chicago one hundred million million 395 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: dollars in brutality settlements, defense costs, and reparations. 396 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:10,199 Speaker 2: A reparations ordinance passed by the city Council created a 397 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,720 Speaker 2: fund so that many of these torture survivors, those with 398 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 2: credible claims of torture, could be compensated for what happened 399 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,680 Speaker 2: to them. It was a recognition and ownership of this 400 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 2: problem by the City of Chicago, and it's never happened 401 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 2: before in the United States. 402 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,479 Speaker 1: One lawsuit filed on behalf of fifty torture victims settled 403 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: under the condition that the story of John Burge and 404 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 1: systemic Chicago police misconduct be included in the Chicago Public 405 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: Schools high school curriculum so that everyone remembers. 406 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 2: We can never forget the Chicago torture scandal, because if 407 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 2: you don't remember, then history can repeat itself. We have 408 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 2: to learn the lessons of history, and the best way 409 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 2: to do it is to teach young own minds about it. 410 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: And that's where you'll find Ronald Kitchen today. He and 411 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: other survivors of the Midnight Crew visit classrooms across Chicago 412 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: where they talk to teenagers about what they endured and 413 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: what they hope can be learned from their ordeals. And 414 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: if you pay attention to the way Chicago's kids react 415 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 1: to these stories, you'll have hope for the future. They listen, 416 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: They stay to hear the end of the story, even 417 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: after the bell rings. What do you think about all 418 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: the recent social media videos of police brutality? Students ask, 419 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,679 Speaker 1: how can we as young people make a change. For 420 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,679 Speaker 1: his part, Ronald Kitchen has no quick answers, but he 421 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: does have a quick sense of justice. As he told 422 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: students at one Chicago high school, there's no gray area 423 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,199 Speaker 1: in torture. You need to see it for what it 424 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: really is. It's black and it's white. Hello, Hey Ronald, Hey, 425 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: how you doing. It's Laura and Steve. How are you doing. 426 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:01,120 Speaker 2: I'm I'm good. 427 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,680 Speaker 1: When you visit those schools, what do you hope the 428 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 1: kids learn from hearing you speak? 429 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 5: Well, I think the meaning of going to the schools 430 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 5: is to let them know that this could happen to anybody. 431 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,199 Speaker 5: It's mind boggling because the Boogeyman not just touch me, 432 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:21,920 Speaker 5: stump me, kick me, punch me, slap me. The Boogeyman 433 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:22,880 Speaker 5: did all this to me. 434 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: And then your job became to fight the Boogeyman. Yeah, 435 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: it wasn't just one bad guy. You were fighting a 436 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: whole system that let these guys do what they did 437 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: for so long. 438 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 6: We was fight that could lad. 439 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:35,880 Speaker 5: We didn't have a rock. 440 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 6: We had a pencil and paper, and that penston paper 441 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,639 Speaker 6: came out to be stronger than that rock could evidence. 442 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 2: It's hard for people to understand how you could get 443 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:49,440 Speaker 2: the space or the time on death Row to reenact 444 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 2: these trials. 445 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 6: We had a couple of good captains back there. They 446 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 6: let us have law classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I 447 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 6: thank them for helping us with the process of gaining 448 00:26:59,400 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 6: our freedom. 449 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: You and the other guys. They're organized, worked together and 450 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: made a big, big change even though you were locked up. 451 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: You know, do you talk to kids in schools about 452 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 1: how they should come together and work to make change 453 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 1: in the same way find their own voices. 454 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 5: Yeah, that's the whole point of helping them find their voices. 455 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 5: Your voice is your best weapon. 456 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,960 Speaker 6: If we found our voices in a depth of hell, 457 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 6: your voice should be heard no. 458 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:26,120 Speaker 2: Matter what you went. 459 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:29,879 Speaker 1: What are you enjoying in life these days, Ronald? 460 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 5: My family, I think that's the best and adult fummy 461 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 5: with my little family. 462 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:37,360 Speaker 2: Did I hear you say you were on your way 463 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:39,160 Speaker 2: to get a pony? 464 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 3: Yeah? 465 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 6: Today is my daughter's birthday. She's turning nine and the 466 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,359 Speaker 6: theme is Cowboy. So uh yeah, I'm going to get 467 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 6: the pony. 468 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:46,960 Speaker 5: Now. 469 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 2: That's so nice. 470 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 5: I'm trying to get this she bugger right now, those 471 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,480 Speaker 5: pictures I will. 472 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 2: When you think of this scandal, you have to think 473 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:04,119 Speaker 2: about not only Burge and his Midnight crew. You have 474 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 2: to think about the armies of people who knew about 475 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:12,879 Speaker 2: it and kept quiet. Every time somebody was tortured. There 476 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:16,119 Speaker 2: were police officers in that station who heard the screams 477 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,600 Speaker 2: and then There were states attorneys who came in and 478 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 2: had to write out the confessions. There were lawyers who 479 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 2: heard these stories from their clients, and judges who heard 480 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 2: these stories in court. 481 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: A lot of folks had to know about what was 482 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 1: going on for so many years. 483 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 2: Well, this was a case of systemic racism, not just 484 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 2: of a few bad apples. It was an open secret 485 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 2: and not so secret open secret, and think about what 486 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 2: that does to these communities. 487 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 1: The court system may have turned a blind eye to 488 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: these defendant stories, but they must have told their family 489 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: members and their friends and their neighbors what happened to them. 490 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: Repeated story of abuse must have leaked out and saturated 491 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: the South Side. 492 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 2: An open wound that for years was not addressed. 493 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: Injustices. Like the Chicago police torture scandal are at the 494 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: root of what our country is experiencing right now, a 495 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: national reckoning with race and the criminal justice system. These 496 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: stories need to be told so that we can collectively 497 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: acknowledge the wrongs and start having a real discussion about 498 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 1: what's right. And that's the story of the Midnight Crew. 499 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: Next week we'll take you to the United Kingdom to 500 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: tell you about the Birmingham six two pubs were bombed 501 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: in one of the biggest mass murders in British history, 502 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: and six Irish men found themselves in the wrong place 503 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: at the worst time. Wrongful Conviction False Confessions is a 504 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,680 Speaker 1: production of Lava for Good Podcasts association with Signal Company 505 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 1: Number one Special thanks to our executive producers Jason Flamm 506 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: and Kevin Wardis. Our production team is headed by Senior 507 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,600 Speaker 1: producer and Pope, along with producers Joshi Hammer and Jess Shane. 508 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: Our show is mixed by Genie Montalvo. John Colbert is 509 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,800 Speaker 1: our intrepid intern. Our music was composed by Jay Ralph. 510 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: You can follow me on Instagram or Twitter at Laura 511 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 1: and I Wrider, and. 512 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 2: You can follow me on Twitter at s Drizzen. 513 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:32,719 Speaker 1: For more information on the show, visit wrongfulconvictionpodcast dot com. 514 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: Be sure to follow the show on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, 515 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at 516 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: wrong Conviction