Free Chol Soo Lee

The story

On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. Sentenced to life in prison, Chol Soo Lee would spend years fighting to survive behind bars before journalist K.W. Lee took an interest in his case. The intrepid reporter’s investigation would galvanize a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian American grassroots movement to fight for Chol Soo Lee’s freedom, ultimately inspiring a new generation of social justice activists.

Cast

C Chol Soo LeeSelf (archive footage) S Sebastian YoonNarrator (voice) R Ranko YamadaSelf - Friend; Defense Committee K K.W. LeeSelf - Investigative Reporter J Jeff AdachiSelf - Activist D David KakishibaSelf - Activist J Jay Kun YooSelf - Chair, Defense Committee G Grace KimSelf - Vice-chair, Defense Committee W Warren FurutaniSelf - L.A. Defense Committee L Leonard WeinglassSelf - Defense Attorney (archive footage) J Josiah “Tink” ThompsonSelf - Private Investigator G Gail WhangSelf - Bay Area Defense Committee

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J Jai Lee WongSelf - L.A. Defense Committee M Mike SuzukiSelf - Bay Area Defense Committee M Me Yea LeeSelf - Mother of Chol Soo Lee (archive footage) L Leonard TaumanSelf - Defense Attorney (archive footage) T Tony SerraSelf - Defense Attorney S Stuart HanlonSelf - Defense Attorney (archive footage) F Frank FalzonSelf - San Francisco Police Dept. (archive footage) S Sandra GinSelf - Reporter (archive footage) S Sung Soo YooSelf - Defense Committee R Richard KimSelf - Professor, UC Davis