Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel apologized for the torture of black suspects by Police Commander John Burge after the City Council approved a payout of $12.3 million dollars on Wednesday.
The settlement offered by Emanuel ensures that former Mayor Richard Daley will not be required to testify, according to the Chicago Tribune.
A payout of $6.15 million will go to both Ronald Kitchen and Marvin Reeves for their 21 year imprisonment for a murder they did not commit. They were released in 2009.
According to Kitchen’s lawsuit, he was arrested after a tip from a convicted burglar and was subsequently beaten with a phonebook and had his genitals beaten with a nightstick during his interrogation.
“I am sorry this happened. Let us all now move on,” the mayor said.
“This is a dark chapter on the history of the city of Chicago. I want to build a future for the city . . . . But, we have to close the books on this. We have to reconcile our past. . . . Yes, there has been a settlement. And I do believe that this is a way of saying all of us are sorry about what happened…and closing that stain on the city’s reputation . . . . That is not who we are.”
Kitchen’s attorney, Flint Taylor, applauded Mayor Emanuel for working to close the book on this period.
“It’s important that he has acknowledged that it is a dark stain on the history of the city and he’s sorry for it. That is certainly a step forward from what Mayor Daley refused to do,” Taylor said.
The cases that were resolved on Wednesday bring the total for police settlements this year to $77 million.
Commander Burge was convicted in June 2010 of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying when he was asked if he was aware of the torture black suspects had been forced to endure.
Source: YBW
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