The Agenda

The Story of Malachi Ritscher

by Kristen Chauvin

Just three years ago, Malachi Ritscher was a well-known member of Chicago’s avant-garde jazz scene. He made live recordings of bands at local clubs like The Empty Bottle, at little or no cost. He was also a passionate participant in Chicago’s anti-war and free speech movement and had been arrested several times for protesting peacefully. On November 3, 2006 he doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire beside the Kennedy Expressway next to a sculpture called “Flame of the Millennium”. People in cars going into and out of the Windy City saw this. They read the handmade sign he had staked into the ground near him, protest style: “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” His corpse was so badly charred that coroners could not even identify its gender. It took several days and a dental record to put a name to the body.