What Trees Do They Plant?
What Trees Do They Plant?
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE OVERALL VISUAL QUALITY OF THIS PROGRAM IS POOR. IT IS INHERENT TO THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM. THUS, MASTERING WILL NOT PRODUCE BETTER QUALITY. "What Trees Do They Plant? Strategy of a Confrontation" A WTTG-5 Washington, DC Special Report on the Chicago Riots. Program produced by the City of Chicago and the Daley Administration in response to what it felt was "unbalanced" media coverage of the Convention and riots - introduced as "Chicago's side of the story".
What Trees Do They Plant?
DO NOT USE Excerpt of WTTW-TV program "Fact of the Matter". Harry Homewood of the Chicago Sun-Times chats with Professor Richard C. Wade of the University of Chicago about the Chicago riots.
What Trees Do They Plant?
Yippie leader Jerry Rubin speaking to reporters at outdoor press conference after the riots, It would have been impossible to hold the Democratic National Convention in any city in the United States or throughout the world without demonstrations or disruption. Daley is right on this point. Chicago just happened to be the city. It would have been impossible to hold it anywhere because the Democratic Party has blood on its hands and because there s a struggle going on in the world today between young people and between those old menopausal men who run this country. And it s a struggle about what the future of this country s about. And young people are not going to stay neutral; they re going to be involved. And wherever the Democrats came to nominate their death candidate, young people were going to come into the streets and say no, no it can t happen. And we came to Chicago to express our counter lifestyle, to express our counter values, and to protest the convention. And it would have happen anywhere. And the violence that took place in Chicago was not particularly unusual. That violence takes place in every city of the United States every day. But it was dramatized in Chicago because the democrats met in Chicago. What happened in Chicago is not unlike what happens in Chicago every day, what happens in the South, what happens in California, what happens in New York police are brutal. Police protect the status quo and police consider enemies of the state anybody who stands up and challenges what the police protect.
What Trees Do They Plant?
Deputy Superintendent James Rochford, Chicago Police Department, giving his impression of the riots Well, to me it was pure and simple a declaration on the part of these groups of people under certain leadership that they would take over the streets of Chicago and they attempted to do that. It was a responsibility and an obligation on the part of police to see that they did not take over the streets. In my judgment it s another break down of law and order. I think the issue here is will the police permit civil disobedience. Personally I feel that if there is some dissent against the law, then the law should be changed through due process of law. But to permit individuals to take the law into their own hands is completely unacceptable to society.
What Trees Do They Plant?
DO NOT USE Excerpt of WTTW-TV program "Fact of the Matter". Professor Richard C. Wade of the University of Chicago condemning the radical left & right political wings, saying that the violence only benefits grassroots nuts like George Wallace; losers include peacemakers and the police.
What Trees Do They Plant?
Question - Do you think you were used by the radical leaders? Columbia University student Bobbi Brown I believe there were several agitators out there that would like to have. I don t think agitators in themselves could have gotten such a large crowd out there. There is a large popular support against the war in Vietnam. And people who want to use people a dupes can t get that much support. There s great feeling against the war in Vietnam.
What Trees Do They Plant?
Chicago police officer Robert J. Garber recounts being attacked during the riots. We were called to help car 60 pickup prisoners. We turned off of Jackson onto Michigan and we saw these Hippies and Yippies trying to either slash or tear the valves out of the van, the pickup van. We scared them off and they surrounded us and they started rocking us, trying to tip us over. And I told my partner grab your club and come out swinging before they tip us because we d sooner fight than roast. So we jumped out I should say I jumped out first and he stayed in the wagon to call for help. We got out, I grabbed one, I hit another one down. Somebody grabbed me from the rear and flung me into the crowd and these dirty hippie son-of-a-so-and so, they called me a mother-so-and-so and a white fascist, they said you are getting some of your own medicine. And then some citizen, I don t know who he was, but I wish I could find out, he stopped his car and jumped out with a little pinch bar. And he started helping us, otherwise I think they would have either killed me or crippled me more than what I am. Question how many of them were there? Chicago police officer Robert J. Garber Who knows. I know there were about a dozen of them on me. All I seen was feet coming at me, kicking, in the ribs, the leg. They knew what they were doing because they tried busting this and they done a good job on it. This (points to head) they got my helmet, they got my club. Then when the task force come, they finally dispersed them, but it was no picnic. They smashed our wagon, the left front headlight and from us banging into the van my right front fender is all smashed. And then the bricks and bottles come flying out of the crowds. There was probably innocent people got hurt, but they were bystanders and they had no business being there.
What Trees Do They Plant?
Robert Hunter, writer for the Chicago Defender I don t like one bit that newsmen were beaten. However you must look at it from this standpoint, many of the writers had their credentials in their coat pockets with only maybe an inch or two showing. Now with thousands of people in upheaval no policeman is going to take time to look around and see who has a press card sticking out of his pocket. Fortunately for me, I had mine on the outside of my coat at all times all of them my credentials for the hotel, my credentials for the convention for the floor, etc., etc. So they couldn t mistake me at all. I think the city has been unfairly criticized in this matter. Although we know there are acts of police brutality every day. Not a day goes by that some black person hasn t been brutalized by the police or at least they make this charge. Sometimes it s maybe 4 or 5 times a day. I m not trying to protect the policemen in any way. I m just saying that in this particular instance they reacted in the only way they had to.
What Trees Do They Plant?
DO NOT USE Excerpt of WTTW-TV program "Fact of the Matter". Professor Richard C. Wade of the University of Chicago says that anyone who acted unfairly should be punished.
What Trees Do They Plant?
Robert J. Lynskey, Deputy Chief of Patrol, Chicago Police Department, I have had stories related to me by people who are very close to me people I respect and admire who have witnessed that say they witnessed these acts. These acts, if they took place, are regrettable. They are being investigated by our internal investigations division. And if a police officer without provocation injured any person, a person from the news media or anybody else, he should be punished.
What Trees Do They Plant?
DO NOT USE Walter Cronkite interviews Mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daley inside the Chicago Amphitheater after the riots: Mayor Daley says it's unfortunate the networks didn't have the information that he had about alleged assassination threats against the democratic contenders and leaders, himself included, so, wanting to avoid any further Bobby Kennedy's, he took necessary precautions; Mayor Daley says he wouldn't change a thing, that Chicago is a good city with imperfections like "slums" and "discrimination" like every other city; they shake hands.
What Trees Do They Plant?
Question reason for being in Chicago? Keith Lampey It s very hard now, after everything that has come down, to talk about reason for being here. The important thing to me is what they make us do next and that is we re going to have to go very literally underground in this country and operate in the same way that people have been operating in Spain for the last 30 years, the way that young people are operating in Czechoslovakia against the Germans, the way people are operating in Greece against that recent fascists takeover. Our roles will be very similar to that from now on. I imagine some of us will be cutting our hair and returning to middle or working class costumes in order to swim in the sea of the people. We re targets with this long hair now. We re targets in this country. And I don t want to be shot down irrelevantly. I m willing to be shot down but it has to be meaningful.
What Trees Do They Plant?
Destroyed storefronts, merchandise, broken windows, and littered parks.
What Trees Do They Plant?
End Credits