Angel Perez's story about how he was treated at the hands of Chicago police officers sounds like a horror story from the days when crooked cop Jon Burge tortured the city's citizens with impunity. But the incidents in question happened just 15 months ago—and, Angel claims, the officers who abused him are still out there.
In October 2012, the 32-year-old aspiring documentary film producer says, he was beaten and sodomized with a gun by Chicago police officers until he agreed to be a drug informant. His story received some media attention when a Courthouse News write-up appeared last year after Angel filed a federal lawsuit against his abusers, but VICE is the first outlet he's spoken to publicly about the incident.
"I can't have this happen to someone else if I can stop it," Angel told me, opening up about his experience against the advice of his lawyers, who'd prefer him to only do his talking in court. He has a decent chance of procuring a settlement, but told me, "Money is not justice… I want these guys to be off the job, charged for what they did, and given jail time."
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