In February 1970, members of the Chicago Seven were sentenced on contempt charges stemming from riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Demonstrations took place in numerous cities. The Seattle Liberation Front (SLF) called for protests in downtown Seattle. On February 17, over 2000 demonstrators carried on running battles with the police, breaking windows in the U.S. Courthouse and downtown businesses.

Seventy-five people were arrested. In April, eight were indicted by the federal government for conspiracy to cause damage to federal property. Starting November 16, seven of these, who became known as the Seattle Seven, were tried at the federal courthouse in Tacoma. The heavily politicized trial, presided over by Federal District Judge George Boldt, resulted in a mistrial.

The cartoon drawing on the front of this “Conspiracy Defense” flyer shows Judge George Boldt holding an unbalanced scale of justice. The other pages detail the issues of the time, naming the Seattle Seven as scapegoats for larger national concerns like the Vietnam War and civil rights. It calls for people to join the picket line in front of the Tacoma federal courthouse on the first day of the trial and to attend rallies later in the day. The cartoon drawing on the back page shows two citizens under police surveillance.

Caption information source: HistoryLink.org Essay 2131.
Caption information source: The Seattle Times, February 18, 1970, p. 1.