PROVOKR PICK: SORKIN IS BACK
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The Vietnam War era was a volatile tipping point in America, with anti-war activity springing up all over the country. At the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, violence erupted. Activists staged protests, demonstrations, rallies, and marches against President Lyndon B. Johnson’s pro-war policies. While the planned activities began peacefully, it turned ugly when the police confronted activists with violence, attacking them with tear gas, mace, and batons. In response, protestors hurled bottles and rocks at the cops. There were numerous injuries on both sides.
The journalists covering the protests also found themselves the victims of police violence, with many of them having their cameras confiscated and destroyed by the cops. The U.S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence eventually labeled these clashes police riots.
The police made a series of arrests during these protests. The most media attention was paid to seven men arrested who came to be known as the Chicago Seven (it was initially the Chicago Eight). The initial eight defendants were Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Lee Weiner, John Froines, Bobby Seale. When Bobby Seale caused a disruption at the start of the trial, he was bound and gagged and removed from the case. Thus the eight became seven.
Aaron Sorkin, the master of political TV shows like The West Wing and The Newsroom, has turned this story into a new movie. The cast features a stellar ensemble, including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne, and more. The movie had a limited theatrical release in September, and now it’s heading to Netflix.
Watch The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix starting on October 16, 2020.
