Photo, blog post by John Hoff blogging from Alexandria, MN
By virtue of the fact he goes by "Chuck Turchick" and not "Charles Larry Turchick," a lot of people don't know the very interesting back story behind activist Chuck Turchick and his 1970 conviction for breaking into the local draft offices in Alexandria, Minnesota. Google searches for "Chuck Turchick" tend to bring up his activism around police conduct issues and his writings for the Twin Cities Daily Planet. But search "Charles Turchick" and you will quickly find out the guy is practically FAMOUS as an anti-war activist in the early 1970s.
To get right to the heart of my online information goodies regarding this fascinating history,
click here for the appeals court ruling and
here for an extensive retelling of the story of the "Minnesota 8."
This is Chuck Turchick. This is where he's coming from. This is why he gets so worked up about abuses of police authority; because some unknown informant in his own organization sold him up the river in the early 1970s for breaking into a draft office. I haven't uncovered anything online to show the identity of this informant has ever been definitely revealed or discovered. (There was speculation it was a guy named Ulen, who helped break into the Alexandria office with Turchick but took a plea deal rather than go to prison)
Old Hippies Never Die, They Just Go Bald
Most recently, former hippy Turchick was part of the "parade of crazies" loudly opposed to the oh-so-necessary overhaul of the Civilian Review Authority,
click here for Part One. And though it may seem I have a critical tone toward Turchick by writing about these pertinent historical facts, I would like to start out by stating...
