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Chicago Officials Break Ground for Memorial Honoring Police Torture Survivors
The project will be the first U.S. memorial to honor police torture survivors and includes public art, gardens and a community gathering space.
On Wednesday, Chicago officials and survivors gathered in Washington Park for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial, honoring victims of police torture at 5520 S. King Drive.
The memorial fulfills a 2015 reparations promise to victims of former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge, whose "Midnight Crew" tortured suspects into false confessions between 1972 and 1991.
Located at 5520 S. King Drive, the $4.7 million project features gardens and educational space, with the city selling the vacant lot to the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial Foundation for $1.
Mayor Brandon Johnson apologized to survivors at the ceremony, while organizers designed the site to symbolize the "vortex of injustice" that stole years from wrongfully convicted individuals.
Construction of the memorial is expected to be completed next year, as survivor Anthony Holmes stated the project finally "validates what I've been saying all along" about police torture.