I can't help but compare the January 6th defendants with the Chicago 7 of the recent Netflix show

[Hamlette]

If you haven't seen it, do if you can. I lived it and was not sure I wanted to see it but watched it this weekend and it is excellent. Enough humor to keep you from pulling your hair out. (I thought the portrayal of Judge Hoffman showed him as sort of sane, which he was not. The conviction was overturned on appeal in large part because of Hoffman's antics during the trial. We all followed it closely.

They were tried for crossing state lines to start a riot. Sort of like what the proud boys did. But the differences are evocative.

Anyone else remember the trial? It started in Sept 1969 and went for over 6 months if I recall. If you're interested, read the 7th Cir. Court decision on appeal too. Or skim it, like I did.

[elleng]

1. Yes, I remember it, and I was in Chicago at the time;

friends and colleagues were involved, and working in Chicago's legal community, we knew what to expect from hoffman.

(AND 7th Circuit was 'mine,' argued a case there.)

[Sneederbunk]

2. Seems Chicago 7 far smarter than Trump Traitor Trash.

[The Magistrate]

3. Certainly, Ma'am

I was in the plaza outside.

[Tomconroy]

4. I remember it well. I'll have to hunt down the movie.

Most of the guys were bright and funny. None of them could have conspired together to make a ham sandwich

[marble falls]

5. No comparison at all. Not a bit. Actually offensive statement. Hoffman's "antics" didn't ...

... get them off. The law got them off. The police and Richard Daley were the anti-civil rights villains.

Read "Armies of the Night" by Norman Mailer to get a feel for those three says.


Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention Illustrated Edition
by Frank Kusch


No One Was Killed: The Democratic National Convention, August 1968
by John Schultz

Look up Mike Royco's columns on the '68 Cop riot.

It never hurts to inform one's opinion.

[bahboo]

6. saw the movie...lived the reality...

was 16 years old in the burbs at the time. Really wanted to go to Grant Park but my parents were um, adamant I don't. Wise decision. Anyway, watched it all on tv, our whole family was riveted. I agree that Hoffman was way worse than portrayed...

[oasis]

7. Anti-Vietnam War protesters and anti-democracy white supremists?

Can't see it.

I'm gonna wait for the Jan. 6 trial film before making any comparisons.

[asiliveandbreathe]

8. NO comparison..zero zip zilch..a suggestion has been by Marblefalls..read

the books..if you lived "it" then you KNOW..anti VN protest..take a visit to the VN Memorial..my two brothers came back..a lot of brothers didn't..we had NO business being in VN..

On the other hand, I have nothing but contempt for the insurrectionists..

[elleng]

9. REALLY no comparison,

as stated elsewhere.

[orleans]

10. i saw & LOVED the old version from 1987

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092780/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3

i think it ran on hbo
i watched it as often as i could
finally found a copy on vhs (or beta)--still have it somewhere

[ms liberty]

11. Can't say I remember it particularly, but I was only 10

I've read and studied it since. Loved the recent movie. All the cast did really well, but Sasha Baron Cohen was electric.