UPDATE: Chicago Mayor Apologizes to Woman Whose Home Was Wrongfully Raided by CPD: “I Am Sorry”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago has apologized to a social worker who was handcuffed while naked after police officers burst into her home during a botched raid last year.
As we previously reported, officers broke down the door to Anjanette Young’s apartment on Feb. 21, 2019, as she was getting ready for bed. Not only did they force her to stand naked for more than 40 minutes even as she told them that they had the wrong home, but they also placed her in cuffs until they realized she was not a threat because they had the wrong person. The officers were looking for a 23-year-old suspect who allegedly had a gun, but they didn’t verify the address before conducting the search warrant. That suspect lived in the unit next door to Young. It was also noted that the suspect had an electronic monitoring bracelet on and would’ve been easy to trace.
Young recently obtained the footage after a court forced CPD to turn it over as part of her lawsuit against the police. Nearly two years after the big incident — which the city tried to hide from the public — Mayor Lightfoot is now offering an apology to the victim: “As a human being, as a black woman and as a parent – yes, I am mayor – but absent that reality, I could have easily been Miss Young and I could put myself in her place…all of that is horrifying to me.” She went on to say:
“Miss Young’s dignity that she and all of us deserve was taken from her in those moments. Her obvious trauma and distress were real, profound, and resonate deeply with me,” Lightfoot said Wednesday. “We should all be shaken by what she was forced to experience through no fault of her own… Miss Young, knowing that my words will not change what happened to you and your family almost two years ago, I nonetheless say to you I am sorry.”
Young’s attorney, Keenan Saulter, said that what happened to Young would not have happened were she White and living in the well-to-do neighborhood of Lincoln Park. Young on Wednesday morning filed a lawsuit over the city’s denial of her Freedom of Information Act request seeking footage of the home invasion. Saulter said he plans to file another lawsuit soon over the actions taken by CPD officers in 2019.
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