A Black woman filing a wrongful raid lawsuit in Chicago is now calling out Mayor Lori Lightfoot who she says betrayed her.
Anjanette Young said the city has turned its back on her after learning officials are moving to have her case removed from court, ABC 7 Chicago reported.
She said Lightfoot is now threatening to dismiss the case.
"I absolutely feel betrayed by the mayor," Young said June 16 during a news conference. “The city’s legal department and the mayor continue to be reckless in the way that they handled this case.”
Young and her attorneys said the city provided a poor counteroffer of $0 last year to her initial settlement demand for the botched search on her home in Feb. 2019. After rejecting the offer, the city now is taking them to court.
"The biggest number they came up with was less than half of the largest settlement [the city] paid out for a very similar case,” Keenan Saulter, one of Young’s attorneys, said during the news conference.
During the time of the raid, Young was left standing naked as police continued a search of her home then placed her in handcuffs in front of several male officers, as Blavity previously reported. It was discovered that police had entered the wrong home and that their suspect had an electronic monitoring device and lived next door to Young.
Emails later surfaced, showing that Lightfoot was made aware of the botched raid prior to the release of body camera footage and attempted to halt the release of the video.
Six months after the incident, Young first met with Lightfoot who apologized for what happened.
“I want to tell Ms. Young [that] I am deeply sorry and troubled that her home was invaded, and that she had to face the humiliation and trauma that she suffered. That is just not right,” Lightfoot said. “It simply should not have happened. And I will make sure that there is full accountability for what took place.”
During the news conference, Young’s attorneys said they will continue to fight for justice.
“It’s been a very challenging time for me,” Young said of the entire litigation experience. “I stand here, approximately 846 days of living the trauma that was caused to me.”
Young is now seeking for a Chicago alderman to pass an ordinance in her name which would place restrictions on police during raids, ABC 7 Chicago reported. The alderman does not believe changing police procedures is the best way to mediate the matter.