The lawyer for Anjanette Young, the Black woman who was handcuffed by police during a botched raid, has canceled a scheduled meeting with Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot.
Chicago police officers wrongfully raided young’s home in Feb. 2019.
On Wednesday, Young shared her plans to meet privately with Lightfoot at the Progressive Baptist Church, where she is a member. According to Young’s attorney Keenan J. Saulte, the meeting was to be followed by a public forum where Chicago’s 50 aldermen and Police Superintendent David Brown were invited.
According to Saulte, the reason for the cancellation was down to “some informal pushback from individuals associated with Mayor Lightfoot.”
Earlier this month, a video was published showing a handcuffed Young standing naked in her home for several minutes. Officers ignored Young as she repeatedly tells them that they are in the wrong home.
In the fallout, Chicago’s top attorney, Mark Flessner, resigned. Lightfoot also received backlash after she initially stated that she had not been made aware of the incident, which took place before she was elected into office. She was later forced to recant her statement, admitting that she was aware of the 2019 incident.
Young filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get the video released. The city refused her request, and Young subsequently took the issue to court. The city’s lawyers then took the matter to federal court to prevent a local news station from airing a report on the video. They also sought to sanction Young and her attorney, alleging that they had violated a confidentiality agreement. The motion was dropped Dec. 18, and Lightfoot was once again forced to defend her involvement.
She said in a statement, “I want to be explicit that at no time did the City ever seek sanctions against Ms. Young and, to remove any doubt, we specifically affirm that no such sanctions were ever sought against her. Moreover, at my direction, the Corporation Counsel will formally move to withdraw sanctions” against Young’s attorney.
Lightfoot announced an independent investigation, and 12 officers were placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
