RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, On June 23, 2011, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board will hear the parole petitions of George Knights and Johnnie Veal who were sentenced to life in prison for the murders of two Chicago police officers in the summer of 1970; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this event by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, On July 17, 1970, Police Officer Anthony Rizzato and Sergeant James Severin were patrolling the Cabrini Green Housing Complex when they were shot and fatally wounded by assailants firing from the window of a high-rise; and
WHEREAS, At the time of their assassinations, Police Officer Anthony Rizzato and Sergeant James Severin were protecting the citizens of Cabrini Green by participating in the Chicago Police Department's volunteer Walk & Talk program; and
WHEREAS, Police Officer Anthony Rizzato and Sergeant James Severin were shot in cold blood to seal a pact between two rival gangs; and
WHEREAS, An intensive investigation led to the arrest and conviction of George Knights and Johnnie Veal, who were sentenced to life in prison in early 1972; and
WHEREAS, At the time of their deaths, Police Officer Anthony Rizzato and Sergeant James Severin were thirty-seven and thirty-eight years old, respectively; and
WHEREAS, The time which has passed does not diminish the pain and grief felt by the loved ones of Police Officer Anthony Rizzato and Sergeant James Severin; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members ofthe Chicago City Council assembled this eighth day of June, 2011, call upon the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to recognize the heinous nature of this crime and reject the parole petitions of George Knights and Jonnie Veal; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable cop/bf this resolution be presented to Adam Monreal, Chairman of the Winois Prisoner Review Board.
lderman- 14th Ward