What began as an uneventful and relatively sober show of support for two students who were jailed for acting upon their convictions turned into something completely unexpected, inspirational and completely unheard of here in Chicago. This action represents a significant escalation in student and youth resistance to the injustices carried out within the so-called justice system. Yesterday was a day that Leo Burnett and the Chicago Police Department will not soon forget!





In response to the arrest of two students who had entered the premises of the Leo Burnett building to conduct a "people's inspection" earlier in the day, Students for Social Justice, the organizers of the action against Leo Burnett, put a call out for volunteers to perform jail solidarity. Twelve people responded to the initial call and showed up at the Chicago Police Department District 1 headquarters at approximately 7pm last night.





Upon arrival the police denied our request for information concerning the arrests and informed us that if we wanted to wait for our friends to be released we would have to wait outside of the building. After some discussion with the desk sergeant we were finally granted access to some basic information and permitted to remain in the waiting room, so long as there were no more than 3-4 people at one time.





We decided to take 2-hour shifts, with some of us remaining inside the station and others returning a couple of hours later to relieve them. This worked well for several hours until there was a shift change among the police and what can only be referred to as the �Desk Sergeant Nazi� came on duty. After first complaining that we were going in and out of the building too often, which only occurred twice during shift changes of our own (never mind that the cops go in and out every 30 minutes or so), and threatening to have someone's car towed that had pulled up in front of the building for literally 3-4 minutes just to get a handle on the situation, she said that our presence was a disruption to their place of business and a threat to their security and so she kicked us out of the building around 11pm.





The "Desk Sergeant Nazi" reminded us that our friends were both adults and suggested that it wasn't necessary for us to wait for them. This of course was unacceptable and we decided to do something about it. Here's where the story gets interesting.





Several of us remained outside the building while the remainder of our group went to make some phone calls and get some supplies. They returned with the portable sound system that was used at the earlier demonstration, a CD player and a few "special" CD's, drums, a cowbell, pots and pans, and a number of signs with slogans ranging from "Let Them Out or Let Us In!" to "This Is What A Police State Looks Like!". Calls were made to a number of people and we were able to get a few more supporters to show up. We also reached out to representatives of the campus anti-war network (CAN) just before midnight, approximately 60 of whom were entertaining themselves at a nearby restaurant/bar, but unfortunately they were unable to help us out as a result of their conference being held the following morning.





At midnight we kicked off the show. We set up the sound system right in front of the building and began blasting music from Rage Against the Machine, among other groups, including the NWA cover song "F#!@ the Police, which we set on repeat in blocks of 10-15. We hung the signs on the trees and concrete pedestals in front of the building, held them up to the windows for the cops to see, and of course picketed back and forth with them. We interspersed the music and picketing with speeches, poetry, dancing, street theater and demands for the release of Kennis, Jagernauth and all political prisoners. When this didn't seem to sufficiently motivate the cops we began to bang on the pots, pans, drums, trashcans, flag poles and cowbell as loudly as we possibly could.





This still was not enough to prompt a response from the police so we set the microphone on the ground and surrounded it with the pots, pans, drums and cowbell. We then proceeded to bang the living hell out of them to such an extent that they are no longer usable for their designed purposes. People that were coming in and out of the building told us that it sounded like WWIII inside. The sound reverberated for blocks on end and this was evidenced by the fact that we had people come from as far away as 4-5 blocks to see what was going on. One person thought that a riot was in progress.





And still our "friends" in blue and black did nothing. As cops rode by in their vehicles they would stop literally in the middle of the road with this priceless look on their face. During shift changes some of the cops would talk to us. Some were very angry and made ignorant remarks and went on their way, others said that they respect what we're doing, some just laughed, some suggested that we should keep it down (but we didn't), and others just stopped in their tracks and said "What the hell is going on?". Countless truckers passing by in the night honked their horns and raised their fists in solidarity. A number of Chicago's growing homeless population also stopped by and gave us their support and encouragement.





This went on until after 6:00am. We raised the roof on the entire community for a full six hours before someone in an adjacent neighborhood finally signed a complaint charging us with disturbing the peace. The police then gave us the option to pack it up or be arrested. Having gotten significantly farther than we could possibly have dreamed, and having gotten word that Kennis and Jagernauth were going to be released within the hour, we decided that further arrests at that point would be pointless and do little, if anything, to further our cause. We then gathered our props together and left from in front of the building. Some of us had to leave for work at that point and several of us remained seated in a nearby parked vehicle to await the release of our sisters-in-arms.





Kennis and Jagernauth were released around 7am this morning from the CPD District 1 headquarters to an awaiting crowd of cold, tired, and hungry, but nonetheless fired-up, supporters. They were overjoyed to find their friends waiting for them and to hear about the 10-hour (7pm-7am!) jail solidarity that we had just pulled off.





Both Kennis and Jagernauth were charged with Trespassing, a Class C Misdemeanor, and released on $1000 I-Bonds. They have a court date sometime in April. Students for Social Justice has arranged for legal representation and we've managed to raise some funds for their legal defense; however, we are still in need of more funding and would like to appeal to our friends and supporters to contribute to the Kennis/Jagernauth legal fund. Please contact us at s4sj (at) hotmail.com if you are willing and able to make a contribution.





Students for Social Justice would like to thank the students and youth who took part in the jail solidarity action for their compassion, time, effort and creative energies! This is the kind of unity that we need to maintain if we are to make positive social change a reality. Participants included students/youth from the Univ. of Illinois-Chicago, Univ. of Chicago, DePaul Univ., Columbia College, AZone, Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade and there were also a number of non-affiliated youth who turned out.

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