Biography
Bobby Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party with Fred Hampton in 1968 and survived the COINTELPRO campaign that killed Hampton. He served a prison term in 1971 on a weapons charge and later became a Chicago alderman and, for three decades, a U.S. Congressman.
The report dates Rush’s arrest in Robbins, Illinois, to April 2, 1969 after a shooting incident it says he had not attended. Bail was set at $10,000. The newspaper’s criticism of the evidence is attributed to the source; no actual discharge date or duration is established. The Black Panther, May4,1969 vol2 no2, original PDF page 6. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/black-panther/03n02-may%204%201969.pdf#page=6
Rush entered Cook County Jail on June 2, 1971 and was transferred through Vandalia to Joliet-Stateville, which released him on November 5, 1971. The six months reported by the newspaper were the imposed sentence. The same account distinguishes an initial February 1969 jail stay ending on bond and a later post-conviction stay ending on appeal bond before the 1971 term.
