Anjanette Young, Who Was Handcuffed Naked During Wrong Police Raid, Agrees To Meet With Mayor Lori Lightfoot
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Anjanette Young has agreed to meet with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot after the wrong raid of Young's home, when officers handcuffed her while she was naked. But Young has given several conditions.
In a letter sent Saturday to Lightfoot and several Chicago aldermen, Young's lawyer, Keenan J. Saulter, said Lightfoot emailed him on Dec. 17 requesting an opportunity to sit down with Young. That email was sent immediately before her scheduled press conference to discuss the raid, Saulter said.
"Despite the timing of the request, Ms. Young has agreed to meet with Mayor Lightfoot under the conditions set forth in this correspondence," Saulter wrote.
The letter is addressed to Lightfoot, Chicago Police Department. Supt. David Brown, Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), Ald. Sophia King (4th), Ald. Raymond A. Lopez (15th), Ald. Stephanie D. Coleman (16th), Ald. Jeanette B. Taylor (20th), Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) and Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd).
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In the letter Saulter and Young request the meeting be held at Young's church, Progressive Baptist Church, on Wednesday, Dec. 30. Young would meet with Lightfoot at 11:30 a.m. and at 12 have a larger meeting with each of the aldermen and Supt. Brown.
"A limited number of media will be invited—as we all have expressed a desire for transparency," Saulter wrote.
"I think it's also important that we hear directly from her, that the mayor hear directly from her so that we don't make these mistakes again, whether it's with the police or whether it's with how future mayors handle situations like this," said Ald. Raymond Lopez. "We can't continue to go back to the same coverup playbook simply because it's damaging to the city of Chicago."
The letter also lays out plans for social distancing and allotments for security personnel for Lightfoot and Brown.
"Mayor Lightfoot as well as many of the invited Aldermen have expressed a desire for increased Accountability and Transparency. Ms. Young desires the same and she deserves Justice. Please confirm your attendance at this meeting by December 28, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.," Saulter wrote.
Lightfoot's office released the following statement regarding Young's request:
Saturday evening, Mayor Lightfoot received a letter from Attorney Saulter in response to her previous request to meet with Ms. Young. The Mayor has a sincere desire to hear from Ms. Young directly, in an environment where there can be a candid dialogue. We are in touch with Attorney Saulter and are hopeful that this will happen. In the meantime, our efforts toward reform and accountability will and must continue.
Lopez said he and several of his colleagues intend to be there.
Young was a victim of a botched raid conducted by Chicago police, which was recorded in February of 2019. Lightfoot had criticized the city's Law Department for seeking to block CBS 2 from airing video footage of the wrong raid of Young's home. A federal judge denied that request, and Lightfoot has since said that it was a mistake, though she has denied knowing about the request beforehand.
Activists held a march for Young Sunday morning outside Chicago Police Headquarters calling for change. Those in attendance included Rev. Jesse Jackson, the lieutenant governor of Illinois and Chicago's city treasurer.
In addition to investigations by the city, there have been calls for congressional hearings.
The city's Law Department dropped a motion seeking sanctions against the attorney for Young, after CBS 2 obtained video of a police raid in which Young was handcuffed naked as police wrongly searched her home. Lightfoot called the effort by the Law Department to seek sanctions against Young's attorney "a colossal mistake."
The mayor said, had she been advised of the move beforehand, she never would have allowed the Law Department to seek sanctions.
Lightfoot has asked former federal judge Ann Claire Williams to launch an outside investigation of the wrong raid of Anjanette Young's home and the city's handling of the fallout. In a letter to aldermen, Lightfoot said the city must "ensure what Ms. Young experienced never happens again." The mayor said Williams and her law firm, Jones Day, have agreed to handle the investigation for no cost to the city.
At a joint City Council hearing, police Supt. David Brown announced plans to improve upon the search warrant process that the CBS 2 Investigators have poked holes in for years.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, a deputy chief will now have to sign off on a search warrant and it will be mandatory for a lieutenant to be on scene during raids. It was a sergeant at Young's home that night in February 2019.
The superintendent acknowledged even with some of the search warrant procedures changed last year, there was no accountability for getting it wrong.
In August, months before the Young raid came to light, a group of attorneys instrumental in the Chicago Police consent decree sent a scathing 14-page letter to the city demanding an overhaul of the departments search warrant policy - calling it unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, all of the officers involved in the raid were placed on desk duty, pending the conclusion of a Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigation into the incident. Lightfoot has criticized COPA for taking so long with the probe, and has called on the agency to wrap up its investigation soon.
Three members of the Law Department also are out of their jobs. Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner resigned Sunday at Lightfoot's request. Deputy Corporation Counsel Caryn Jacobs and Law Department Director of Public Affairs Kathleen Fieweger also "are no longer employed with the City" the mayor's office confirmed Monday evening.