A scheduled meeting between Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a naked handcuffed woman during a police raid was canceled after the parties failed to agree on the terms of the meeting, a spokeswoman for the woman said.
Anjanette Young, who is black, invited Lightfoot and other city and police officials to a closed-door meeting and public forum on Wednesday to discuss “transparency, accountability and justice,” a spokesman for his lawyer said in a statement. the press.
But his lawyer, Keenan Saulter, chose on Monday to cancel the event completely after Chicago corporate lawyer Celia Meza told him that Lightfoot “accepted the invitation to meet with Ms. Young in particular, but if refused to participate in the public forum, “the statement said.
Young, a social worker, was spotted in a video released earlier this month, naked, being handcuffed by police after police broke into the wrong house in February 2019. First reported by WBBM-TV in Chicago, the video shows Young telling the police several times that they got the address wrong. The police reportedly did not allow Young to put on clothes before handcuffing her.
Young’s representatives on Sunday announced their plan to meet privately with the Democratic mayor at a local Baptist church and then participate in a public forum for which Chicago Police Department superintendent David O. Brown, and the agency’s 50 councilors were invited.
But the event was canceled less than a day later.
According to Monday’s statement, Meza told Young’s lawyer that instead of participating in the public forum, Lightfoot “would speak to the press at 12 o’clock, while Ms. Young and the councilors attended the public forum at the same time. “.
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Meza also listed other concerns, such as following coronavirus guidelines and that city councilors could make public statements that could “compromise their fiduciary responsibility for the city,” according to the note.
A spokesman for the Lightfoot office did not confirm the concerns and did not provide any other reason for the conflict, but said the mayor “is looking forward to meeting and hearing directly from Ms. Young to continue the healing process.”
“Hopefully, such a meeting will be possible soon,” the spokesman said in an email to Fox News.
Lightfoot’s office allegedly tried to distance the mayor from the incident, saying it happened before she took office in May 2019 and blaming the Civil Police Liability Office for not releasing the video earlier.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a scientific initiative event at the University of Chicago in Chicago. (REUTERS / Kamil Krzaczynski)
((REUTERS / Kamil Krzaczynski))
Although the incident occurred before Lightfoot became mayor, his administration later tried to block the video from showing and rejected Young’s request for freedom of information to obtain the video of the incident. Later, Young sued to obtain it.
The disturbing video has drawn much criticism, including from Chicago city councilors, who have called for more hearings to “cover up an unfair police operation”. Black state lawmakers called this “an act of racism, gender violence and yet another violation of the dignity and security of a black woman”.
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Lightfoot later apologized, saying during a news conference earlier this month that she was “deeply sad and worried that [Young’s] home was invaded and that she had to face the humiliation and trauma she suffered. “
“This is not right,” said Lightfoot at the time. “It simply shouldn’t have happened. And I will make sure that there is full responsibility for what happened.”
But Saulter’s office criticized Lightfoot’s apology on Monday, saying that, without action, they “sound empty and fall on deaf ears.”
He said in a press release that Young would continue his lawsuit against the city.
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“The mayor’s apology, more than a year after she found out about Young’s treatment at the hands of the Chicago Police Department (as she admitted), is not justice,” said Saulter’s office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.