Former Chicago Black Site Detainees Demand Compensation for Torture

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Former detainees at Chicago’s police black site at Homan Square are suing the city and seek financial restitution for the torture they suffered at the hands of law enforcement, their lawyer G. Flint Taylor told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"We also seek compensation for our clients who were abused at the Center and spent 15 months in jail for crimes they did not commit," Taylor said. He refused to comment on the specific amount of compensation.

Homan Square, a secretive Chicago police interrogation facility, was first brought into the spotlight in February, when media reported the police used the black site to interrogate alleged crime suspects.

Alleged detained suspects have previously told Sputnik they were illegally and sometimes violently held by police at the black site without due process or medical treatment.

On Monday, The Guardian revealed that 7,000 Chicago residents had been held at the Homan Square facility against their will. The report noted that three African-American plaintiffs — Atheris Mann, Jessie Patrick, and Deanda Wilson — have sued the Chicago city government for physical and verbal abuse they suffered.

"We hope to obtain full transparency of the operations at Homan Square intelligence and detention center, at which we believe coercive and torturous tactics are often used," Taylor noted. "And by this transparency, force the city to shut the place down."

The Chicago Police Department refused to respond to Sputnik’s inquiries on the case and on the number of citizens allegedly being held against their will at the black site.