Chicago Torture Justice raises money to open
The Chicago Torture Justice Memorial Foundation has $1.8 million from a Mellon Foundation Grant and a $1.25 million grant from the city to fully fund (Jon) Burge torture survivors memorial.
The Chicago Torture Justice Center was born out of reparations for survivors of police torture.
Under the command of Chicago Police Department (CPD) Commander Jon Burge, over 120 people, predominantly African-American men were tortured from 1972-1991.
Burge and officers under his command targeted communities of color, kidnapping and torturing individuals producing confessions to crimes not committed.
Burge was a Vietnam War Veteran and used war torture interrogation tactics from Operation Phoenix on the survivors, such as racial epithets, electric shock, suffocation, and brutal beatings.
Burge died September 19, 2018.