Black Woman Handcuffed In Botched Raid Cancels Meeting with Mayor
The Chicago woman whose privacy was violated during a botched police raid in February 2019 decided to forego a scheduled meeting with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and city officials on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Anjanette Young was scheduled to meet with Mayor Lightfoot on Wednesday at the Progressive Baptist Church, Young’s place of worship, to discuss transparency, accountability and social justice. After the meeting, a public forum was scheduled to follow where city aldermen and Police Superintendent David Brown were scheduled to attend.
The meeting was also part of a request issued by a city alderman who wanted to assign accountability in Young’s case.
However, plans for the meeting to take place seemed less feasible after Lightfoot voiced concern over the gathering violating city coronavirus restrictions. She said she hoped to meet with Young in the future to discuss the raid.
Lightfoot has publicly apologized to Young over the Chicago Police Department’s actions and the subsequent legal fallout. But the mayor faced scrutiny over the revelation that she had prior knowledge of the raid after she initially stated she was unaware that it took place.
“The mayor’s apologies without action ring hollow and fall on deaf ears,” Young’s attorney Keenan Saulter said in a statement that announced the event’s cancellation. Young is suing the Chicago Police Department over the raid.
Young’s case gained national attention earlier this month after Chicago’s WBBM-TV gained footage of the CPD executing a search warrant while she stood naked and afraid. In the video Young attempts to tell the officers they have the wrong location after she realized police were looking for someone in a neighboring home.
The footage was initially blocked by Lightfoot’s administration who also tried to prohibit Young from obtaining the footage through a request made through her lawsuit.
Young’s case comes at the height of discussions around no-knock warrants in the Breonna Taylor case and the mistreatment of Black women at the hands of police. Chicago’s history of misconduct, abuse and cover-up enacted by city officials and police continues to erode the trust of civilians.
In response the city’s top attorney stepped down and 12 officers connected to the raid have been placed on desk duty. Lightfoot announced an independent probe will take place while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability will oversee the investigation.
