A devastated woman said she is still struggling to accept what happened to her back in 2019 after Chicago police wrongfully broke into her apartment and handcuffed her while she was naked.
“This is so terrifying for me that two years later, I’m still dealing with it,” Anjanette Young said.
“That the city has spent the last two years and, for lack of better words, is telling me that they did nothing wrong.”
The victim made a public appearance recently and recalled the night of the shocking event, which her lawyer, Keenan Saulter, described as “a very eerily similar situation” to the one that cost the life of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Laquan McDonald tragically lost his life. Breonna Taylor tragically lost her life. Miss Young was violated and by the grace of God, she’s here to tell her story,” he said.
“But Laquan McDonald and Breonna Taylor should have been instrumental in the decisions that the city made about this video, and in the ways that they approached this case. How, after seeing the horrific nature in which Breonna Taylor was murdered in her own home – in a very eerily similar situation – how could you know that that occurred during this calendar year, that caused global level protest during a global pandemic, and think it was okay to try to suppress?”
Anjanette Young. A 20 year social worker. Just back from work. Police invaded her home. Naked. Begged for clothes. Cuffed. 40 minutes of terror. Apologized & left. Then tried to cover it up. Defender: "What happened that night is the norm in Chicago." More:https://t.co/wSR998OLYS
— Scott Hechinger (@ScottHech) December 23, 2020
Police bodycam footage from the night of the incident that Young used in the lawsuit was obtained by NBC 5 and released recently.
The administration of Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot tried to stop the video from being shown on TV in an emergency court filing, but the judge rejected it.
In the footage, cops can be heard knocking on the door before shouting “police search warrant.”
The helpless woman can be heard crying and screaming from inside:
“You’ve got the wrong house, you’ve got the wrong house.”
Her lawyer has said that his client repeated these words 43 times during the arrest.
At one point, an officer threw a blanket over Young’s shoulders, but due to her handcuffs, it slipped off her back, leaving her completely naked again.
The incident was recorded on the officers’ bodycams.
“I pride myself in being a law-abiding citizen. I’ve always lived my life being truthful to what is right and wrong,” Young said.
“Working as a social worker, I’ve spent over 20 years working with families who deal with trauma, helping families through hard situations. And it’s been very surreal and overwhelming to live this experience.”
Authorities declined to comment on the case. However, a COPA spokesperson named Ephraim Eaddy said that due to the city’s policy the only footage they can release before an investigation is complete are those in which a policeman has fired a weapon or in cases when great bodily harm is inflicted.
Young’s attorney criticized the handling of the case as he alleged officers raided the wrong house.
“There’s no justification for withholding videos under the guise of saying there’s an ongoing investigation,” Saulter said.
“How long does that investigation take?”
The mayor told the media that the incident happened months before she stepped into duty and blamed COPA for not making it public earlier.
“I respect the independence of COPA, but give me a break that we didn’t put this video out in all this time,” Lightfoot said at a press briefing.
“It’s ridiculous, it really is.”
I wasn’t mayor when this incident happened, but I am mayor now and we have to safeguard the sanctity of people’s homes.
— Archived: Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot (@mayorlightfoot) December 16, 2020
Lightfoot said that a revised search warrant policy was put in place back in January, requiring CPD supervisory review and sign off before a search warrant can be sought from a judge as well as another verification step in order to make sure the property in question is the correct one.
“I have further directed a review of how this matter was handled by various city departments to determine that there was compliance with city procedures,” Lightfoot’s statement read.
“Since this matter is the subject of litigation and an open COPA investigation, I will have no further comment.”
ICYMI: Lightfoot concedes today that the #AnjanetteYoung case was brought to her attention in Nov 2019.
This comes one day after attacking @SigchoFor25 for "not having all of the facts" & goes against her claims yesterday that she only learned about the case Tuesday pic.twitter.com/2D3uhewrNy
— bebo, chicago (b)rat czar 🐀 (@BebopOtt) December 17, 2020
But the victim and her lawyer were not happy with the mayor’s handling of the case.
“A mayor that ran on transparency, a city corporation council that is clearly out of control, not reporting details to the mayor. Something has to change,” Saulter said.
“And the change can’t be to attack another innocent woman first in her home, and then in court to say she violated a protective order. How is that the response? Has there been any discipline of any police officer for violating this woman’s privacy?”
See CBS’s report on the story (raid footage included) by clicking below.
