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CHICAGO. Oct. 8-"There's nothing a defense lawyer likes better than a dumb cop." a reporter whispered this afternoon after the prosecution called its key witness in the "Chicago S" conspiracy trial to the stand.
And two hours of tough cross-examination today showed that the defense was indeed delighted with Robert Pierson, an undercover agent for the Chicago Police Department who claims he was Jerry Rubin's bodyguard during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Pierson took the stand this morning on the tenth day of the trial, the first test of the 1968 federal law forbidding crossing state lines to incite riots. The eight defendants, a cross-section of pacifist radical-Yippie leadership, are Abbie Hoffman, John Froines, Lee Weiner, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, Bobby Seale, Tom Tayden, and Rubin.
Giving an almost hourly account of the five days in August 1968, Pierson mentioned in his testimony five of the eight defendants and attributed inflammatory statements to Rubin and Seale.
Pierson said, "Rubin told me, 'We've got to have new Chicagos everywhere. We've got to have riots in other cities.' I told him he could count on me to fight the pigs with him anywhere." Pierson also said he heard Rubin shout "Kill the pigs, kill the pigs" during a demonstration.
Recounting a speech by Seale on Aug. 27, 1968, Pierson quoted the Black Panther leader as saying. "The time for singing 'We Shall Overcome' is past. We've got to act, Go out and buy a .357 Magnum, a .45, and a carbine-and kill the pigs."
When his name was mentioned, Seale jumped to his feet, protesting that his ailing lawyer. Charles Garry, was not present, United States District Judge Julius J. Hoffman dismissed the objection. saying he had overruled the objection previously, and ordered Seale to sit down.
During the noon recess, Rubin denied Pierson's allegations and said the policeman had not been an important bodyguard.
"This guy comes on as a Chicago bikie and shouts 'Pig, pig, pig.' He was absolutely the most militant guy, and now he's like on a fantasy trip." Rubin said. "I had 50 people around me. I did not know him at the time but figured if that's his thing, bring him along."
Cross-examining in the afternoon, defense attorney William M. Kunstler quoted Pierson's testimony before a grand jury and the House Un-American Activities Committee to contradict his testimony today. After pressing for details of how Pierson got involved with Rubin. Kunstler asked for a recess to finish reading prosecution evidence.
As reporters left the courtroom, defense counsel handed out reproductions of an article by Pierson in a popular detective magazine which cited his experiences as a "daring undercover officer" who "infiltrated the Yippies' high command."
Describing how he established his cover. Pierson wrote in the article, "The first night the Headhunters [a local motorcycle gang]... invited me to ride out with them... They had pot-marijuana-and I smoked with them. However, since I didn't inhale, just pretended to, it had little effect."
Demonstration
CHICAGO. Oct. 9-A disciplined mob of demonstrators led by Weathermen rampaged through downtown Chicago late last night., fighting with police and breaking windows in cars and buildings. Several demonstrators were reported wounded by police birdshot and pistol fire; the Associated Press reported at least 40 arrested.
The mob, numbering between 300 and 600, suddenly charged into the streets, throwing bottles and sticks, after a 7 p.m. rally in Lincoln Park. Many had come prepared with helmets, leather jackets, hard boots, and sticks.
At 9:55 a young man who identified himself as Marion 'Delgado took the microphone and urged the crowd to march toward the Drake Hotel, where he said Judge Julius J. Hoffman-who is presiding over the Chicago Eight conspiracy trial-was staying.
'Lurking Pigs'
"The Weathermen and Marion Delgado are telling you what to do," he said. "A lot of pigs are here a block down the road. On every block there are 30 to 40 lurking in the darkness, lurking in the shit.
"Judge Hoffman is an imperialist fucking pig. Marion Delgado and the Weathermen are telling you people that he's about a mile away at the Drake Hotel," Delgado said. "We hate his fucking ass. The revolution must move like fish in the sea, move in affinity groups and we're going to be moving on, moving on, moving on that fucking pig."
Moments later, the demonstrators stormed out of the park, throwing bottles and sticks through windows along Clark St. They cut across on Goethe St. to State, marched two blocks and then confronted about 20 policemen, blocking the intersection. The police fired tear gas; four demonstrators were arrested; two policemen were beaten.
The demonstrators broke through the
The Weather Fair and Balmypolice line, fighting with police, and surged east on Division St. to Astor. Smaller bands of demonstrators ran down other streets.
From Astor the demonstrators turned east on Lake Shore Drive, still breaking windows in the plush apartment buildings, small shops, and high-rise commercial buildings. Police emerged from an alley and fired several rounds of birdshot. One girl was shot in the leg by a pistol.
Police were circling the area in unmarked cars and motorcycles. Following the recommendations of the Walker and Kerner Reports, police maintained minimum visibility and maximum numbers. They did not mass in sufficient numbers to stop the mob, which had apparently surprised the police by fleeing quickly from Lincoln Park.
One car filled with plainclothesmen was trapped by the crowd as it ran forward. The trapped car gunned ahead into the crowd, injuring an undetermined number of demonstrators, some of whom "went flying through the air," according to an eyewitness.
At one intersection, a car with four middle-aged men pulled up behind the fleeing mob and beat several straggling demonstrators.
'He's My Son'
On another street, a man attacked another straggler and was beaten by others in the mob, one of whom repeatedly kicked the man as he lay in the street. A woman shouted. "Let him alone, he's my son." Then several men emerged from an apartment building, attacked the demonstrators who were beating the man, and pulled one demonstrator inside a building, where they beat him until a policeman arrived.
Demonstrators continued to rampage through the North Side area in small bands. They were particularly destructive to expensive cars, taking time to break every window in a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and throwing stones at a Cadillac with a 20-year-old couple inside.
Conflicting reports said that the bulk of the mob disappeared down side streets after 11 p.m., but police were reported arresting young people all over the area an hour later. Chicago police refused to comment.
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