Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The alleged victims of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge are speaking out tonight, after Burge was arrested Tuesday in Florida on federal charges of lying about torture.

Burge has long been the focus of allegations of beating and shocking confessions out of dozens of African-American suspects in the 1970s and 80s in Chicago.

"Former commander Jon Burge participated and witnessed the abuse of people in police custody…and for his lies about this torture and abuse we intend to hold him accountable," said U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

It was long believed that Burge could not be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations. CBS 2's Mike Parker spoke to some of Burge's alleged victims who have been waiting decades for this day to arrive.

"It pleases me to see that Burge got locked up and I hope they give him as much time as done gave all us," said torture victim Anthony Holmes.

Five men who collectively spent more than 100 years in state prisons after being tortured into giving false confessions appeared with local ministers and attorneys to share their feelings about the Burge charges.

Among them was Darryl Cannon, who served 24 years for murder.

"I'm thankful to be an American today, because of the fact that the man that has been skating so long, riding in his boat, catching fish and everything else - now he's in jail killing roaches," said Cannon.

The men told stories of being shocked by Burge's notorious "black box" with wires attached to their genitals and handcuffs.

"They tried to give me 33 murders, that I was going all over killing people," Holmes said. "That was a lie. But when they got through torturing me, I told them, 'man if you want me to say I was killing God, I did that too, 'cause that's how bad it was."

Holmes was arrested when he was 13 and served 33 years.

"Nobody knows the changes and feel the pain that we felt or we went through," Holmes said. "I wasn't a good guy; I wasn't a bad guy either. I didn't deserve to be tortured, choked, electrocuted."

Gregory Banks says fear and racial slurs worked too.

"They took me out of the building and to a wooded area. They told me to run n----r run," said torture victim Gregory Banks.

One of the men, who served 11 years, compared himself to a rape victim.

"The constant drumbeat of Jon Burge and the others being able to go on with their lives for years with the support of Daley and all the other administrations...that really hurt us," said torture victim David Bates.

But Bates admits he is healing.

"I feel a part of this system, I feel a part of the justice right now," Bates said. "This is how we're going to be made whole. I'm proud to be an American. Probably one of the first times in history…I'm proud to be an American. And today, we have a part of our justice."

"Today is a happy day for me because the chief of them who tortured me, who appointed them to my case in 1983, he's now in jail," Cannon said. "So he's getting a taste of what I had to go through for 24 years."

The men who spoke out with some satisfaction on this day of Jon Burge's arrest also said they hoped that justice doesn't end here.

Chicago has spent $50 million defending itself against cases of alleged torture cases tied to disgraced commander Jon Burge. Many who have spent decades seeking justice, say his arrest is just the beginning.

CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports that the executive director of Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions says the fight for justice isn't over.

"I'm not in the habit, frankly, of applauding indictments, but I've made an exception in this case," said Rob Warden, Center on Wrongful Convictions.

Warden and the center have worked for years to expose allegations of Burge's torture tactics and to help those convicted because of forced confessions. Warden says 26 years after the first allegations surfaced in a letter, he still believes then state's attorney Richard M. Daley, his first assistant Dick Devine and then criminal bureau chief Bill Kunkel could have done more to investigate.

"But did they do that? No. They swept it under the rug and basically orchestrated a conspiracy of silence," Warden said. "This has cost the taxpayers, at this point, at least $50 million."

But the mayor continues to defend himself.

"I was proud of my role as prosecutor," Daley said. "I was not the mayor, I was not the police chief. I did not promote this man in the '80s."

A special prosecutor was assigned to the Burge case a few years ago. That report placed some blame on then Chicago Police Supt. Richard Brzeczek - for failing to follow up on the letter he sent to Daley about the alleged torture.

Brzeczek declined to talk with CBS 2. A spokesperson for Dick Devine says that office did all it could do at the time.

Burge was released Tuesday afternoon on $250,000 bond after posting his residence as security. He will be arraigned at 9 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 27 before U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

In addition, some Chicago aldermen want more consequences for Burge than criminal charges.

On Wednesday morning, aldermen were calling for Burge to pay back his city pension, which he has collected despite being fired from the Police Department. Ald. Ed Smith (28th) says he wants the city to seek restitution for Burge's pension, as well as the money it cost the city in legal fees.

CBS 2's Dana Kozlov and Mike Parker contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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