The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Chicago Cops Brutalize Independent Police Investigator

Sep 28, 2015

Last New Year’s, George Roberts, a supervisor with the Independent Review Authority that investigates police misconduct, was brutalized by the Chicago police when he was stopped for a minor traffic violation near his home on the South Side. This according to a lawsuit he just filed against the Chicago Police Department.

According to the suit, officers with guns drawn pushed Roberts to the ground. One of them shouted, “Don’t make me ... shoot you!” When the cops found out that Roberts worked for the Independent Police Review Authority, things got even worse. They turned off their dashboard camera. Then, Roberts said, they handcuffed him and threw him to the ground again, so violently that he soiled himself. When he pleaded with the police to loosen the handcuffs, one of them said something to the effect of, “What are you going to tell me next, you can’t breathe?”

At first the police tried to charge Roberts with a DUI. It was New Year’s, and he admitted to drinking two rum and cokes. While this case was making its way through the courts, he was fired from his job. But he was acquitted of that charge and finally reinstated.

Apparently, Chicago police are ready to brutalize anyone on the South Side–especially someone who has the nerve to investigate police brutality!