1. Where can I learn more about the case?
Here are links to several sources of information about the case, as well as the website for the Ad Hoc Committee for Reason, a committee formed to defend Gregory Koger.
Ad Hoc Committee for Reason and Dropping the Charges
“Chicago man sentenced to 300 days over taping of event,” Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
“Party Crashers: When a commie showed up insisting she’d been invited, the Ethical Humanists called in the cops.,” Chicago Reader article, January 14, 2010
“Chicago man sentenced for scuffle with police at Ethical Humanist Society,” Chicago Tribune article on the sentencing hearing
“A Grave Injustice Has Been Perpetrated… Free Gregory! No Jail Time!”, Revolution newspaper article on trial
Gregory’s story in his own words
Gregory’s YouTube video for the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund
2. What can I do?
- Contribute to the Gregory Koger Fund for his defense and publicity.
- Forward this information to at least 5 others.
- Volunteer with the Ad Hoc Committee for Reason.
- Write cards and letters of support to Gregory.
Help is needed in many ways. Please contact the Ad Hoc Committee for Reason to volunteer your specific talents. Here is what everyone can do:
* Check the website Dropthecharges.net for updates, or contact adhoc4reason@gmail.com.
* Appeal to overturn the conviction. Help raise funds for the appeal and contribute legal skills to the appeal team.
* Send Gregory letters and cards to show your support at this address:
Gregory Koger
#2010-0826188
PO Box 089002
Chicago, IL 60608
* Contact the Ad Hoc Committee for Reason and Dropping the Charges (adhoc4reason@gmail.com) with the specific ways you think you can help. If you are in the greater Chicago area, come to the regular committee meetings.
3. Isn’t the case over, now that Gregory has been sentenced?
No. Gregory and his lawyer have already filed legal documents outlining grounds for an appeal. This was required on the day of sentencing. A top-notch legal team to handle the appeal is being put together, and funds are urgently needed for this purpose. Your support is vital to continue to expose this for the political prosecution it is – yes, here in America.
The next legal step is an appeal to get Gregory’s bail reinstated so that he can be out of jail while the conviction appeal is making its way through the courts. This is an urgent situation, because Gregory should not remain locked up in jail while his conviction is being appealed. In addition, as a paralegal, he could be a big asset to his own legal defense. Given the slowness of the appeal process, if Gregory is not granted bail, he could ultimately win his case, but still have served the full sentence of almost a year in jail.
Courts in the U.S. are supposed to apply the rule of law, i.e. playing by a set of rules that the U.S. claims set it apart from other systems. Many familiar with the justice system in the U.S., or who have followed cases of the wrongfully convicted, know the rules are stacked to railroad people in huge numbers. Central to the rule of law is the claim that there are no trials for political beliefs in the U.S.
In Gregory’s case, the state has to keep up an increasingly thin pretense that this is a common criminal case, even as the extraordinary and selective steps of the judge and prosecution to enforce a politically repressive verdict become more pronounced. Just one example: in Fox News fashion, the prosecution was allowed by the judge to “drop” the fact that a defense witness who was a former board member of EHSC had videotaped Sunsara on a panel with (gasp!) Bill Ayers. What did this have to do with Gregory? Nothing. It was a crude effort to wave a red flag in front of the jurors. Read more about the case here:
“A Grave Injustice Has Been Perpetrated… Free Gregory! No Jail Time!”, Revolution newspaper article on trial
“Innocent Man to be Sentenced for Videotaping with Cell Phone,” press release on this website
4. Won’t continuing to raise a political outcry around his case make it worse for Gregory, now that he has been sentenced?
The political campaign to demand that charges be dropped against Gregory, together with a strong legal defense, actually resulted in a lower (though totally outrageous) sentence than originally offered (see FAQ #5). Continuing the political battle tells authorities that we are watching out for Gregory while he is in their custody, a potentially dangerous position for a revolutionary. We are standing up for Gregory’s rights and those of millions like him.
First, the fact is that this case has been vigorously fought by a very skillful lawyer in the legal arena and through a public campaign in society with many rallying to Gregory’s defense. Though it resulted in a sentence that was very bad (300 days), it was still not as bad as the state’s “plea offer” of 364 days. (See FAQ # 5.) Gregory and his lawyer have made it clear the verdict will be appealed.
Second, continuing to keep up the legal and political campaign to overturn this injustice tells authorities on all levels that support is growing and that many people are watching how Gregory is being treated in court and in jail. The protests at the jail let the prisoners know that Gregory is in jail due to political persecution and enlisted them to have his back. It is very serious when a revolutionary or radical political activist is incarcerated. The state has a great deal of control and ability to harass, torment, and do bodily harm to people in their custody, especially revolutionary-minded prisoners. That’s why keeping the spotlight on the situation makes it harder for the state to do its dirty work under the cover of darkness.
Third, as Gregory and others supporting him have made clear, there is more at stake in this case than simply his personal situation, even while that is very important. When the state tries to make an example of Gregory to discourage others from speaking out or seeking answers about how the world could be radically better for the vast majority of people — then the case embodies the rights of others to do as he has done. When the legal prosecution of Gregory touches on significant issues – first amendment rights for photographers and journalists, police brutality, and the rights of prisoners to participate in society – then these horrible legal precedents need to be fought in the realm of public opinion, as well as in the court of law.
An unjust, immoral, and illegal verdict like this cannot go unchallenged, exactly because of what is at stake in the case,.
5. Gregory must have been offered a deal and turned it down, and that is why the judge gave him a long sentence.
“First the sentence and then the trial” truly applied in Gregory’s case. Not long after the arrest, Gregory’s lawyer asked what the prosecutor was considering offering his client. The prosecutor said their “plea deal” would be 364 days, which is the maximum sentence allowed, making it clear that they wanted serious jail time. In other words – they did not offer any deal.
This was long before the trial. On September 8, 2010, Gregory Koger was sentenced to 300 days and immediately taken to jail after his bond was revoked upon conviction.
The practice of pleading out is extremely common, and most people think if you turn down a deal, it will lead to a longer sentence if you are convicted. In Gregory’s case, people assume this must be what happened to explain the lengthy sentence.
This practice of punitive sentencing for going to trial is wrong at any time, but it was never even a factor in Gregory’s case. As the original “offer” of maximum jail time shows, this was a case of first the sentence, then the trial.
6. Gregory should not have been behind the camera in the first place, given that he was an ex-con.
Gregory was not committing a crime when he videotaped that day. . Ex-prisoners must have the right to participate fully in social and political life, and we should not “blame the victim” for attacks such as the one on Gregory.
First, it bears repeating that filming is not a crime and it does not constitute trespassing. Neither Gregory nor anyone else with him had cause to anticipate that he would be arrested that day, because he was not doing anything wrong.
Second, putting the question this way shifts the onus off of those who criminalized his videotaping and brought about his arrest, brutalization, and incarceration, and puts it back onto Gregory. Isn’t this similar to saying about a rape victim, “If she hadn’t worn a short skirt or been out late at night, it wouldn’t have happened”?
Third, this logic has harmful implications for everyone with criminal convictions on their record. Do you really want to concede that a whole section of society should be denied the right to participate in the full range of lawful social and political activity by mere virtue of being a former prisoner? If so, the state will use prior criminal convictions to justify and excuse horrific injustices committed by that very same state.
We live in a country that has incarcerated millions. This country has the largest prison population in the world, including more than 1 in 5 young Black men, creating a class of citizens who are discriminated against in many ways. On top of this, are they supposed to always keep their heads down and be ever fearful of participating in any political activity because of the state’s vengeful attitude towards someone with a criminal conviction on their record, regardless of what they are trying to do with their life? (See for instance, Michelle Alexander’s aptly named book, The New Jim Crow.)
Gregory had every right to be behind the camera that day. As part of his political activity, he has videotaped forums, abortion provider clinic defense, and dramatic readings of prisoner letters. He videotaped a program with Sunsara Taylor at the Ethical Humanist Society without any problem the day before he was arrested for documenting her statement at the exact same venue.
7. Gregory knew it was wrong when he picked up his iPhone. Isn’t that what really got him in trouble?
No. It was NOT wrong. Videotaping is not a crime and we must oppose its criminalization!
Gregory had been told by the president of the Ethical Humanist Society to “put down that camera,” and he did. Others were taking photographs that day, and a former EHSC board member testified for the defense at the trial that he had never before heard of anyone being prohibited from filming or taking photographs at any EHSC event! Gregory was only attempting to document Sunsara Taylor’s statement, not photograph their event (which hadn’t even begun), and besides NONE of that constituted criminal behavior.
We should all be concerned if the government can get away with throwing anyone in jail for documenting controversial events! In fact, the ACLU of Illinois is suing Anita Alvarez, the Cook County State’s Attorney, for prosecuting people like Chris Drew for taping police in the course of their official actions. This trend to criminalize photography and videography must be stopped.
8. Why should other people be concerned about this case or support Gregory? Isn’t this really just a dispute between two groups?
What started out as a simple objection to the unethical actions of the Ethical Humanist Society for disinviting Sunsara Taylor was transformed into an extremely grave situation by their calling in the police, and the ensuing arrest, beating, and political prosecution of Gregory Koger. That is what all of us should be concerned about.
The genesis of the situation was the cancellation of a talk at the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago in Skokie, IL by Sunsara Taylor, an outspoken communist, atheist, and a writer for Revolution newspaper. Taylor had been invited by the EHSC months before and then was abruptly disinvited on spurious grounds less than 2 weeks before her scheduled talk. You can read about the issues involved here:
“Sunsara Taylor on the “Ethical” Humanist Society of Chicago, or… Why I Was Dis-Invited, Why I Did Not Just Shut Up And Go Away, and Why It Still Matters” and
“Party Crashers: When a commie showed up insisting she’d been invited, the Ethical Humanists called in the cops,” Chicago Reader, January 14, 2010.
While this action was fueled by anti-communist hysteria and police thuggishness spurred on by some in the EHSC, once Gregory was beaten and arrested, the political and humanitarian terms shifted to his arrest and the unjust and selective prosecution.
The vengeful prosecution and rejection of unsolicited third party efforts to mediate a fair resolution made this clear. What came into focus was the politically motivated nature of the prosecution of Gregory and how the state was bringing down the hammer on him, not for what he did that day but for who he has become as a person and the challenge that his example poses to the system. Read more about the trial here:
“Chicago man sentenced for scuffle with police at Ethical Humanist Society,” Chicago Tribune article on the sentencing hearing
“Chicago man sentenced to 300 days over taping of event,” Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
“A Grave Injustice Has Been Perpetrated… Free Gregory! No Jail Time!”, Revolution newspaper #211
Character witnesses who testified on his behalf made it clear that he is not a threat to the public. He was the only person harmed during the incident. Far from being a menace to society, he is a productive positive role model as a socially conscious activist, as many also attested.
In the first hours that Gregory was in custody, when only the police knew his name, there was a significant spike in hits from the Skokie area on his personal website. Immediately after his release, Gregory “closed” his website to the public on the advice of his attorney.
On his website, Gregory had candidly chronicled his troubled days as a teenager, when he got caught up in the heartbreaking violence that swallows up youth in this society, in order to contrast this with his path of transformation in prison. He broke with the degrading violence that youth perpetrate on each other; he read voraciously in prison to understand why so many are oppressed and incarcerated, and what if anything could be done to fundamentally change this; and he chronicled his transformation into a revolutionary through reading Revolution newspaper, along with his activism after his release from prison on behalf of many progressive and radical causes. You can hear him describe this in the YouTube video he made for the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund, based on a talk he gave at the U.S. Social Forum in summer 2010.
The police, and later the prosecuting attorney, clearly did not like what they found on his website before it was closed down, and they used that information against him. The prosecutor later tried to have Gregory found in contempt for a website run by his defense committee. Read about this here: “State’s Attorney Files Contempt Motion for a Website?”
Shortly after his arrest, based on information apparently provided by Skokie police, members of the EHSC started a campaign on the internet to try and justify the shocking arrest and beating of the videographer at a public event in their auditorium by saying that he deserved it because he was an ex-con.
Here is how PZ Myers, the scientist who runs Pharyngula, one of the most popular science blogs in the U.S., responded to this: “We’re learning a bit more about the fellow who was maced and arrested in Chicago, thanks to the efforts of the Chicago Ethical Humanist Society; members of that group are busily writing to me to let me know the Whole Truth of the incident, and why they were justified in siccing the police on Sunsara Taylor’s cameraman. It’s weird, though: they keep telling me how bad and awful and wicked this fellow is—his name is Gregory Koger, by the way—but they won’t say what he did that justified the police assault on him. And that is dismaying. The ethical society doesn’t seem to care much about ethics and logic and justice.” (PZ Myers post on Pharyngula, November 9, 2009.)
Gregory is innocent, but even if he had done everything that EHSC claimed, he would not have deserved to be beaten, maced, and thrown in jail for almost a year. The selective and vindictive prosecution, plus the revocation of bail and disproportionate sentencing, ought to make people care about what is going on in this case and speak up for what is right.
9. I would agree with you if he were filming on a public street, but bottom line, doesn’t an owner’s personal property right to control what happens on that property trump everything else?
This all occurred before the start of an event billed as “free and open to the public.” Ownership of private property does not give owners the right to call in the police to brutally enforce ‘new rules’ invented on the spot.
First, events at EHSC, including this one, are open to the public and are routinely videotaped. Gregory had videotaped the same speaker in the same venue the day before, in the presence of EHSC officials, without objection. He discussed returning the next day with the EHSC’s volunteer videographer, a board member. It was a newsworthy event. A wide range of people, including theologians, atheists, humanists, and feminists – had written statements protesting the cancellation of Sunsara Taylor’s talk. These protests were never expressed in any way except through words of reason.
Second, there is a threshold that must be met to charge someone with trespassing. Videotaping or taking photographs does not constitute trespassing. The prosecution’s equating the two will be an important ground for the appeal. The judge dismissed the defense attorney’s objections about this. The trespass law requires that a person must specifically be told to “leave or you will be arrested” and then must be given time to depart. Eyewitnesses testified at Gregory’s trial that such an instruction was never given.
The video footage Gregory had shot that was submitted by the defense and shown in court confirmed that Gregory had not been properly warned that he was trespassing. In light of the video, the prosecution moved away from earlier accounts that were the basis for the trespass charge. So their story morphed into a claim that the undercover cop whispered this instruction to Gregory as he was being taken into physical custody. Whispered? Music was blaring, courtesy of EHSC. Even if you believe the cop’s convenient new story, how can anyone be certain a whisper could be heard under the circumstances? And where was the opportunity to depart, since Gregory was grabbed at the same time as the supposed whisper?
Sunsara’s comments – given before the scheduled program – lasted all of about 90 seconds. In two minutes, everyone who wanted to hear her speak would have been gone, on their way to an EHSC member’s home to hear her presentation, including Gregory who planned to videotape it as well. There was no intent to remain in the auditorium.
Think about the idea that private property is sacrosanct — this was the argument for practices barring people of color from sitting at the lunch counter, or for discriminatory hiring, or discriminatory sales of homes. In other words, “private property” doesn’t trump all issues of right and wrong.
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If everyone who pulls out a camera to take a picture on private property (an arena, a mall, a restaurant, a public lecture) is now potentially subject to arrest, such prosecution will either be used very selectively or the jails will be overflowing. Cell phone cameras are ubiquitous in this society. This is all Gregory did, for less than 2 minutes. Almost a year in jail? What is wrong with this picture?
The magic phrase “private property,” no matter how many times it is invoked, cannot make this right. The police response, at the behest of EHSC was shocking. [see FAQ #10]
10. Where there is smoke, there is fire – Gregory must have done something wrong to require such efforts to restrain him and to warrant three charges.
That’s exactly the logic you are supposed to fall for, but you have to ask the question — whose fire is generating the smoke? The term for this pattern of police brutality and prosecutorial vindictiveness against its victims is “cover charges.”
Think for a minute of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Harvard professor arrested in his own home and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest for questioning the police order to step outside. These types of charges – resisting arrest, simple battery, and trespassing – are so commonly used, that there is a name for them — “cover charges.” When the police commit unlawful acts, or arrest someone when there is no basis, or use excessive force during an arrest, then the person arrested gets the charges piled on, in order to “cover up” or justify the police’s actions. For discussion of this read American Constitution Society Issue Brief “Disorderly (mis)Conduct: The Problem with ‘Contempt of Cop’ Arrests.”
In Gregory’s case, the prosecution could have claimed that he committed misdemeanor battery on a police officer that resulted in some kind of physical harm. Instead they chose the least violent option—asserting only that there was physical contact of an “insulting or provocative nature.” While even this was not true, it set the bar very low in order to get a conviction. Then the judge used the verdict on that count to paint Gregory as incorrigibly violent. Talk about having it both ways!
At sentencing, the judge is allowed to draw on evidence entered in the trial. However, this judge made up things to justify imposing close to the maximum sentence. She claimed that Gregory endangered everyone in the auditorium that day. This allegation was never made during the trial, and this alone should be grounds to overturn the sentence.
In fact, Gregory was the only one who was the object of the violence that day. He was the one beat up, maced, and injured. This was documented at the hospital. Further, the defense entered into evidence a photograph of the undercover cop even threatening to mace all those observing and objecting to Gregory’s arrest.
