#Gitmo2Chicago: Thousands expected to attend Chicago protest against Homan Square torture site

© AP Photo/ Jeff Roberson

The Chicago police department reportedly operates a secret interrogation compound, similar to the CIA's black sites, at the Homan Square warehouse. Practices at the site allegedly include beatings, prolonged shackling and denying detainees legal counsel.

"I have spoken with several people who have been detained and several attorneys who have represented the detained, so people are coming forward, but the more people who do, the harder it will be for CPD to claim this isn't happening at Homan Square," one of the organizers, Billy Joe Mills, wrote on the protest's Facebook event page.

Some 1,500 people are listed as attending, while another 300 have responded that they may be going.

The goals of the demonstration are a public inspection of the alleged interrogation site, a roundtable discussion on the matter, making information available to the public, and for all Chicago detainees to be given access to their attorneys, according to the Facebook page.

Organizers, which include Chicago Anonymous, urge anyone who has been detained at the Homan Square to come forward, as well as police officers who have knowledge of the situation.

Last week, Anthony Hill, an attorney specializing in criminal defense matters, told Sputnik that detainees at Homan Square are held incommunicado and forced to give false confessions.

The Chicago police rejected the claims stating that they abide by all laws.

Also rally will take place Wednesday in Asheville, North Carolina.

"A rally will be held in Asheville to raise awareness concerning the disclosure of Homan Square, a secret interrogation facility ran by the Chicago Police Department," a Facebook event page for the rally reads.

The purpose of the rally is to "shed light on these revelations so that these practices may come to an end," according to the organizers.