Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has apologised to social worker Anjanette Young for the Chicago Police Department’s raid on her home, in which officers handcuffed her while she was naked, and disavowed her Law Department’s attempt to block a local news station from airing the footage.
“I am sorry,” Lightfoot said in an emotional news conference after Wednesday’s (local time) City Council meeting.
Lightfoot also said the city would amend its policies to make it easier to release body camera video under circumstances similar to this one.
Lightfoot’s Law Department attempted in court this week to block local news station WBBM-Ch. 2 from airing body camera footage of Chicago police officers raiding Young’s home and handcuffing her while she was naked.
The city also filed a request to have Young sanctioned for allegedly violating a confidentiality order, though Lightfoot on Wednesday said Young should not be punished — just her lawyer, if a judge rules in that way.
Lightfoot officials made the extraordinary request to prevent a television station from airing a news report in an emergency court filing on Monday evening, which a federal judge rejected. The courts long have ruled against efforts to prevent news companies from publishing reports, saying it’s an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.
CBS, which has reported extensively on Chicago police officers raiding the wrong home, aired the interview with Young and body camera footage late on Monday.
But before the report aired, Lightfoot lawyers wrote in a filing that Young received the video as part of her lawsuit against the city and released it to CBS despite a federal judge’s protective order.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously fought to keep secret a video showing white police Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times, but a county judge ordered his administration to release the video. Emanuel has since been dogged by accusations that he covered up the scandal to preserve his 2015 reelection campaign, an allegation he’s denied.
Chicago has since instituted a rule allowing the release of police shooting videos and audio within 60 days, but footage from other incidents such as the raid on Young’s home can be kept secret for months or even years.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune earlier this week, Young’s attorney Keenan Saulter criticized the city for its handling of the situation. He said Young first filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking copies of the footage in November 2019.
Chicago police initially asked for a copy of her driver’s licence, before denying the woman’s request, saying the matter remains under investigation. Saulter said he believes the city’s motivation was more about keeping an embarrassing incident secret.
“This city has a history of attempting to cover up unfavourable video,” Saulter said. “That’s all we’re dealing with here.”
