A social worker who endured a botched raid conducted by Chicago police officers in 2019 has sued the city, alleging officials engaged in a conspiracy to cover up civil rights violations.
In the lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, Anjanette Young claims police officials failed to independently investigate and verify the place to be searched. The lawsuit names the city and 12 Chicago Police Department officers as defendants.
An unnamed informant gave police Young’s address, saying a man was illegally possessing a gun there. In video of the raid released in December, a naked Young repeatedly tells officers they have the wrong home and that there are no guns in the apartment. She had returned home after work and was undressing for bed when police barged into her home.
Young had filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Chicago in connection to the raid, but that lawsuit was dismissed last year.
The raid on Young’s home was brought fully to light in December when footage of the raid was leaked to a local television station by Young’s lawyer, Keenan Saulter. Before the footage was broadcast, attorneys for the city sought a court order to prevent the station from airing the video.
Chicago’s Law Department told the Chicago Sun-Times in a statement it has not been served with the lawsuit and will review it upon receipt.
“We have communicated our commitment to an equitable and expeditious resolution which will allow Ms. Young’s path toward healing to continue,” the statement said. "The city has asked Mr. Saulter, counsel to Ms. Young, to participate in mediation, and we are awaiting a response.”
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The 12 police officers connected to the raid have been placed on desk duty pending the outcome of a Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigation. The city’s top attorney also resigned in the fallout.
Retired U.S. District Judge Ann Claire Williams and her law firm Jones Day have been tasked by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to conduct a full review of the search warrant executed in February 2019 on Young’s home.
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