{{Short description|American politician and activist (1940–2019)}} {{similar names|Charles Turner (disambiguation){{!}}Charles Turner}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Chuck Turner (Boston City Councilor) delivering speech into megaphone at rally on May 10, 2007 for the Harvard University AlliedBarton campus security workers strike (a).jpg | caption = Turner in 2007 | image_size = | name = Chuck Turner | birth_date = June 10, 1940 | birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio | death_date = {{death date and given age|2019|12|25|79}} | death_place = | resting_place = | website = | occupation = Activist, politician | party = Green-Rainbow Party | spouse = | alma_mater = Harvard University | title = Member of the Boston City Council from the 7th District | term_start = 1999 | term_end = 2010 | predecessor = Gareth R. Saunders | successor = Tito Jackson }}
'''Charles Turner''' (June 10, 1940 – December 25, 2019)<ref name="WCVBobit">{{cite news |title=Former City Councilor Chuck Turner dies at 78 |url=https://www.wcvb.com/article/former-city-councilor-chuck-turner-dies-at-78/30334755 |accessdate=December 26, 2019 |publisher=WCVB}}</ref> was an American politician and activist, who served on the Boston City Council representing District 7. Turner was a member of the Green-Rainbow Party Massachusetts affiliate to the national Green Party. In 2010, Turner was convicted of accepting a bribe and sentenced to three years in prison; he was expelled from the city council.
==Education and career as activist== A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Turner graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 1963.<ref name="ThroughYears">[https://archive.boston.com/news/local/gallery/112108_Turner_through_the_years/ Chuck Turner through the years], ''Boston Globe''.</ref> He became a community organizer in Boston's South End in 1966, becoming an advocate for public housing and affordable housing.<ref name="ThroughYears" /><ref name="Ryan"/> He founded the Boston Jobs Council, which pressed to reserve a portion of public jobs in Boston for Boston residents,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EOOaJuwZasC&pg=PA110|title=Black Atlantic Politics: Dilemmas of Political Empowerment in Boston and Liverpool|author=William E. Nelson Jr.|publisher=SUNY Press|date=2000|isbn=9780791446713}}</ref> a bid to increase the number of black and Latino construction workers in the city.<ref name="ThroughYears"/>
==Boston City Council== In November 1999, Turner was elected to the Boston City Council as the member for District 7, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Roxbury and Lower Roxbury, as well as parts of the Fenway, South End, and Dorchester.<ref name="Ryan"/> Turner won his seat by a 693-vote margin against the city's director of youth services, who was the preferred candidate of Mayor Tom Menino.<ref name=BP0504>Adam Reilly, "Being Chuck Turner," ''Boston Phoenix'', May 2004.</ref>
Turner had a volatile tenure on the council, and was known for "outspoken actions and often abrasive personality."<ref name="ThroughYears"/> In February 2004, angry at being removed from the Education Committee, he compared City Council President Michael F. Flaherty to Louise Day Hicks, an opponent of the city's desegregation busing. He had also accused limits placed on debate as being "institutional racism".<ref name=BP0504/>
In November 2001<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=776341|title=Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 7 Race - Nov 06, 2001|website=www.ourcampaigns.com|access-date=March 9, 2018}}</ref> and November 2007,<ref>{{cite web |title=CITY OF BOSTON MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 6, 2007 CITY COUNCILLOR DISTRICT 7 |url=https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/d7%2011-3-09_tcm3-26255.pdf |website=cityofboston.gov |accessdate=February 20, 2018}}</ref> Turner won over 80% of the vote in his re-election bids; he ran unopposed in November 2003<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=786540 |title=Boston City Councillor - District 7 |website=ourcampaigns.com |accessdate=March 9, 2018}}</ref> and November 2005.<ref>{{cite web |title=CITY OF BOSTON MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 8, 2005 CITY COUNCILLOR DISTRICT 7 |url=https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/d7_tcm3-26268.pdf |website=cityofboston.gov |accessdate=February 19, 2018}}</ref> He was more closely challenged in November 2009, defeating Carlos Henriquez by approximately a 60% to 40% margin.<ref>{{cite web|title=Municipal Election - City Councillor District 7|url=http://www.cityofboston.gov/TridionImages/2009%20-%2011-03-09%20-%20City%20Councillor%20District%207%20-%20Ward%20%26%20Precinct%20Results_tcm1-4760.pdf|work=City of Boston.gov|publisher=City of Boston|accessdate=June 6, 2011|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122123/http://www.cityofboston.gov/TridionImages/2009%20-%2011-03-09%20-%20City%20Councillor%20District%207%20-%20Ward%20%26%20Precinct%20Results_tcm1-4760.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2002, he authored an ordinance protecting transgender persons from discrimination that was overwhelmingly approved by the council and signed into law.<ref name=BP0504/><ref name="ThroughYears"/> When Governor Mitt Romney tried to end the state's affirmative action guidelines, Turner became one of its aggressive critics, helping to lead the governor stop the change.<ref name=BP0504/>
In April 2004, Turner was quoted by the ''Boston Herald'' as saying that Condoleezza Rice working for George W. Bush was "similar in my mind to a Jewish person working for Hitler in the 1930s."<ref name=BP0504/>
In May 2004, Turner and activist Sadiki Kambon held a press conference to reveal photos purportedly showing U.S. soldiers raping Iraqi women. ''The Boston Globe'' "questioned the legitimacy of the photos, which were then proven to be bogus."<ref name="ThroughYears"/> Turner was subjected to wide criticism from conservative media and was censured by six members of the city council. Turner was unrepentant, noting that he had urged the media to confirm the photos’ authenticity before disseminating them.<ref name=BP0504/>
During the 2008 Green Party presidential primaries, Turner gave his endorsement to the presidential candidacy of Cynthia McKinney.<ref name="BackingWhom">{{cite web |title=Who's Backing Whom? |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2008/01/20/whos-backing-whom/ |website=The Boston Herald |access-date=3 July 2025 |date=20 January 2008}}</ref>
===Public corruption conviction=== On August 3, 2007, Turner was videotaped by FBI informant Ronald Wilburn, accepting $1,000 cash from Wilburn in Turner's district office in exchange for pushing for a liquor license for the Roxbury nightclub Dejavu.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 21, 2008 |title=City Councilor Chuck Turner charged with accepting bribe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/11/fbi_arrests_cit.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030010426/http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/11/fbi_arrests_cit.html |archive-date=30 October 2013 |newspaper=Boston Globe}}</ref> On November 22, 2008, Turner was arrested and charged with attempted extortion under color of official right.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saltzman |first1=Jonathan |last2=Murphy |first2=Shelley |date=November 22, 2008 |title=Turner arrested, charged with accepting a bribe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/22/turner_arrested_charged_with_accepting_a_bribe/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605000556/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/22/turner_arrested_charged_with_accepting_a_bribe/ |archive-date=5 June 2010 |newspaper=Boston Globe}}</ref>
On December 9, 2008, Turner was indicted by a federal grand jury on three charges of making false statements and a charge of conspiracy with former State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, all stemming from an FBI public corruption investigation. Turner was found guilty of the false statement and bribery charges by a jury on October 29, 2010.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ellement |first=John |date=October 29, 2010 |title=Boston Councilor Chuck Turner convicted on all counts in corruption case |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/10/post_109.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101033842/http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/10/post_109.html |archive-date=1 November 2010 |newspaper=Boston Globe}}</ref>
Turner has claimed that he and Wilkerson are victims of a government conspiracy against African-American officials.<ref>{{cite web|author=John Ruch|date=February 6, 2009|url=http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/node/3259|title=Report: Wilkerson took $70K in 'gifts'|newspaper=Jamaica Plain Gazette}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
On January 25, 2011, Turner was sentenced to three years in prison.<ref>{{cite web |author=Laurel J. Sweet |title=Chuck Turner sentenced to 3 years in jail |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1311965&srvc=rss |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004182223/https://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1311965&srvc=rss |archive-date=4 October 2012 |publisher=Boston Herald}}</ref> In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock said that he imposed a long prison term because Turner, in addition to accepting the bribe, had made false statements to the FBI and "ludicrously perjurious testimony" that he could not recall accepting a package of cash.<ref name="Ryan">Andrew Ryan, [https://archive.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/01/26/judge_rebukes_turner_sentencing_him_to_3_years_in_prison/?page=full Turner sentenced to 3 years in prison: Judge delivers a stern reproach], ''Boston Globe'' (January 26, 2011).</ref>
Turner was held at the federal prison in Hazelton, West Virginia. He was released early for good behavior in July 2013, after serving 28 months.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/08/02/former-councilor-chuck-turner-released-early-from-prison-halfway-house-boston/jSjluRISvvall8rtebHxJL/story.html |title=Former city councilor Chuck Turner moved to Boston halfway house |work=Boston Globe |author=Todd Feathers |date=August 3, 2013}}</ref>
===Expulsion from City Council=== On December 1, 2010, Turner was expelled from the Boston City Council by an 11–1 vote, making him the first Boston City Council member in modern history to be expelled from the council.<ref name="Expel">{{cite news| url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/02/amid_taunts_boston_city_council_expels_turner/?p1=News_links | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102152622/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/02/amid_taunts_boston_city_council_expels_turner/?p1=News_links | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 2, 2012 |work=Boston Globe|first1=Andrew|last1=Ryan |first2=Travis | last2=Andersen | title=Amid outcry, council expels Turner|date=December 2, 2010}}</ref> Turner and fifteen of his constituents then sued the council, arguing that it had overstepped its authority and seeking back pay for Turner, and in 2012, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the council lacked the power to expel a member, prompting calls from City Council President Stephen J. Murphy, who supported Turner's expulsion, to amend the city charter.<ref>Andrew Ryan, [https://www.boston.com/uncategorized/noprimarytagmatch/2012/06/15/mass-high-court-rules-that-boston-city-council-overstepped-when-it-removed-chuck-turner/ Mass. high court rules that Boston City Council overstepped when it removed Chuck Turner], ''Boston Globe'' (June 15, 2012).</ref> In 2013, the city agreed to pay $106,000 to Turner to settle the case.<ref>Andrew Ryan, [https://www2.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/02/08/former-boston-city-councilor-chuck-turner-award-settlement-with-city/fNgNhsczo5vfQnJfwyAWIM/story.html], ''Boston Globe'' (February 8, 2013).</ref>
==Death== On December 25, 2019, Turner died of cancer at the age of 79.<ref>{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Yawu |url=https://www.baystatebanner.com/2019/12/26/chuck-turner-79/ |title=Chuck Turner dead at 79 |work=Bay State Banner |date=December 26, 2019 |accessdate=December 26, 2019 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Chuck}} Category:1940 births Category:2019 deaths Category:African-American city council members in Massachusetts Category:American anti-war activists Category:American community activists Category:American perjurers Category:Boston City Council members Category:Green Party of the United States officeholders Category:Harvard College alumni Category:Massachusetts Greens Category:Massachusetts politicians convicted of corruption Category:American people expelled from public office Category:Politicians convicted of extortion under color of official right Category:Politicians from Cincinnati Category:People from Roxbury, Boston Category:Activists from Boston Category:21st-century African-American politicians Category:21st-century Massachusetts politicians Category:20th-century African-American people