I spent my weekend communing with the five surviving defendants of the 1972 Gainesville Eight trial. And the hell with Richard Nixon and John Mitchell…these guys prevailed because their cause was just.
I’ve already filed a couple of posts about my encounters with the remaining G8 Five. But along the way, I accumulated some arresting visual images about who these guys were and what they did and what it meant in the grand scheme of things.
And since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are several.
One must begin here, of course. In the photo biz they call this the Money Shot.
But that was then…
…this is now.
This is Stan Michelsen reflecting on his glory days.
This is Stan Michelsen stalking then-Attorney Gen. John Mitchell back in the day. I’m guessing that Mitchell would have given anything to be in Stan’s shoes.
This is John Briggs, Stanley Michelsen and Scott Camil showing off.
This is Scott now. I guess it is not hyperbole to say that he, um, sleeps with the fishes.
Not surprisingly, the G8 trial caught the attention of editorial cartoonists. Here are a few of them.
And having failed (more than once) to convict Scott, I suppose it is no surprise that someone in the government decided to just shoot him and have it done with.
Turned out, though, that thrice-wounded Scott was not easily killed.
No surprise that Scott would end up a the target on his back (literally). He was the warrior who laid down his sword and decided he ain’t gonna practice war no more. So of course he had to go.
The G8 legal eagles with their defendants.
GNV Mayor Harvey Ward caught wind of the G8 50th Anniversary reunion and whipped up a proclamation declaring Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023 to be Gainesville 8 Day in GNV.
Because of course that’s what we do in GNV.
Older? Certainly. Wiser? Not a chance.
Never forget that the United States government conspired to put young men who had been to war in service of their country in prison for conspiring to commit peace in service of their country.
And wasn’t that a crying shame?
FreeGNV 
love this. TY