The Chicago Police Department is operating an off-the-books interrogation compound that lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site.

According to the Guardian, the secretive building, known as Homan Square, is reportedly surrounded by armored tanks and heavily militarized police.

Inside, anyone from political activists to suspected criminals are held for hours without access to the outside world or legal representation.

Anthony Hill, a criminal defense lawyer speaking with the Business Insider, called the mysterious site a “black hole” where people are essentially disappeared.

“Suspected criminals are just picked up and thrown into the back of unmarked cars by police officers wielding assault rifles and wearing bulletproof vests,” Hill said. “Describing the process as highly militarized would be fair.”

The facility represents the United States frightening decent into tyranny in the post-911 world, where militarized police not only wield advanced weaponry but specialized techniques once reserved for the battlefield.

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