This news is making the Bushies very nervous. This is a 20-year-old torture case that was pushed hard in Chicago by groups like the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee in the early 90's. The city tried to whitewash it for a long time and then slap him on the wrist. This is great news. From the Chicago Tribune:
Retired Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge was arrested at his home near Tampa, Fla., today on charges of lying in a civil case about whether he and other officers under his command tortured and physically abused suspects in police custody dating back to the 1980s, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Burge was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury in a three-count indictment unsealed today following his arrest.
The indictment alleges that Burge lied and impeded court proceedings in November 2003 when he provided false written answers to questions in a civil lawsuit alleging that he and others engaged in torture and abuse of suspects.
At a news conference in Chicago this morning, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said the charges show that Burge "broke the law when he was supposed to uphold it," and warned that others who lied about torture could eventually be charged.
The case marks the beginning of the Burge prosecution, he said, but "it is not the end of the investigation of torture and abuse."
Fitzgerald said federal prosecutors have reason to believe that others also lied during the course of civil proceedings, and said that the possibility of witnesses lying to a grand jury is still under investigation. Anyone who is not honest with investigators should now understand they are lying at their own risk, he said, and no one in the case should hang on some unwritten police code of silence to protect themselves...
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