Chicago Families, Insulted by U.S. Atty Zachary Fardon
WE DEMAND JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF POLICE CRIMES AND TORTURE

Frank Chapman, Field Organizer,

Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

The Chicago Sun-Times announced, going into the weekend of September 5-7 that
U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Holley have
stated that there is no "sweeping investigation of shootings by Chicago Police Officers".
This statement by the Feds was released a week after an attorney, representing cops,
wrote to the Fraternal Order of Police warning that an FBI probe of the CPD was in the
making.
 

Not only has the U.S. Attorney and the FBI denied the existence of a "sweeping
investigation", they basically rule out the need for any. Fardon and Holley issued this
rather shocking statement: "As Acting Assistant Attorney General Molly Moran stated
today, there is no open pattern-and-practice civil rights investigation of the Chicago
Police Department."
 

The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression presented (Wednesday,
August 27, 2014) to U.S. Attorney Fardon a letter/complaint addressed to U.S. Attorney
General, Eric Holder, signed by 65 victims of police crimes of murder and torture*.
This letter documents that there is in fact an "open pattern-and-practice of civil rights
violations and crimes perpetrated by the Chicago Police Department".
 

Emmett Farmer, the father of Flint Farmer (who was murdered by a police officer while
lying defenseless on the ground) was among the signers of the letter. Yet within the
next 48 hours after it was presented we witness this shameless arrogance by
representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice.
 

We live in a city, which is infamous for police torturing hundreds of innocent, young
Black and Latino people, most of whom remain incarcerated, and where too many
parents are still grief-stricken because their children were murdered by the police.
Just two weeks ago, Roshad McIntosh, age 19, the son of Cynthia Lane, was gunned down by CPD on Chicago's West Side. Many eyewitnesses from the community have
said Roshad was cooperating and surrendering to police before they executed him.
So why on earth in these circumstances would the U.S. Attorney and the FBI rush to a
news conference to assure us that they are not investigating a pattern of civil rights
violations and crimes committed by the Chicago Police Department?
 

This is unacceptable. This is an insult to the people of Chicago, to the victims and their
families and to the numerous investigating reporters who have demonstrated an open
pattern-and-practice of civil rights violations and police crimes.
 

We, like the people of Ferguson, Missouri, are demanding a federal investigation and justice for all victims of police crimes.
 
*