Anjanette Young, the woman who was handcuffed naked while her home was being wrongfully raided by Chicago police, has agreed to a meeting with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a handful of Chicago aldermen.
According to Chicago’s CBS 2 station, Young’s lawyer Keenan Saulter wrote in a letter on Saturday that Lightfoot sent an email requesting to meet with Young just before her scheduled press conference on Dec. 17. And while both Saulter and Young felt the timing could have been better, Young is willing to meet with the mayor—but under certain guidelines. One of those guidelines is to meet at Young’s church instead of Chicago police headquarters or City Hall. The other request is that the conversation be held with Young, her lawyer, Aldermen Pat Dowell, Sophia King, Raymond Lopez, Stephanie Coleman, Jeanette Taylor, Jason Ervin, Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, the police superintendent and members of the media.
Per the letter obtained by CBS 2:
Ms. Young would like to honor Mayor Lightfoot’s request for a more personal meeting (this will take place at 11:30 a.m.) with Ms. Young, myself, Mayor Lightfoot, and an aid of the Mayor’s choosing. At 12:00, Ms. Young desires an audience with each of the above-referenced Alderman and Chicago Police Department Superintendent David O. Brown. A limited number of media will be invited—as we all have expressed a desire for Transparency.
While our church is very large and has a 1500-person capacity in the sanctuary, we intend to follow strict health and safety protocols as it relates to Covid-19 and we plan to keep this meeting to a capacity of less than 35 people, with a strict mask mandate unless a person is speaking at the podium, and social distancing of at least 10 feet between individuals in attendance.We understand that Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent Brown typically attend events outside of City Hall and the Chicago Police Department Headquarters with a security detail and staff. As such, we have allotted space for three additional security/staff personnel for Mayor Lightfoot and one additional security/staff personnel for Superintendent Brown.
We ask that the Alderman attend alone unless there is a special circumstance that requires additional security/staff. 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.
“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,” Lopez told CBS 2. “We can’t continue to go back to the same coverup playbook simply because it’s damaging to the city of Chicago.”
In the meantime, Mayor Lightfoot has tapped former federal judge Anne Claire Williams to look into Young’s case, as well as the city’s mishandling of it in the aftermath.