R.I.P.

Rennie Davis, Member of Chicago 7 and Activist, Dies at 80

Davis and six others faced federal charges of conspiracy and inciting a riot in a trial that captivated the nation and was dramatized last year.

Rennie Davis, a member of the Chicago Seven cadre of 1960s antiwar activists, has died. He was 80, and the cause of death was lymphoma, according to a Facebook post from his wife. Davis was a leading activist in the protest movement against the war on Vietnam. In Chicago’s Grant Park in August 1968, Davis and other activists brought together a huge protest intent on picketing the Democratic National Convention. The demonstration instead descended into a riot as police beat protesters. Davis and six others faced federal charges of conspiracy and inciting a riot in a trial that captivated the nation and was dramatized last year. Five of the seven were convicted of incitement in 1970, but their sentence of five years in prison was later successfully appealed. Davis later became a devoted follower and promoter of Guru Maharaj Ji and other New Age causes.