Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Thursday that her staff informed her in November 2019 of a botched police raid that took place nine months earlier – and with it her office’s claim on Tuesday that she had nothing of the February 2019 raid until this week. heard, revised.
The mayor held back her claim that she had not seen a video of the raid until this week, but said she couldn’t remember her staff’s November 2019 briefing when she spoke at a press conference on Wednesday, Chicago’s WBBM-TV reported.
City police used a battering ram to enter social worker Anjanette Young’s home with weapons drawn, unaware that the criminal they were looking for actually lived next door, according to reports. The police mistake was made worse by the fact that Young was naked at the time and changed her clothes after returning from work.
CHICAGO-MAYOR ‘BLINDSIDED’ BY REPORT OF BOTCHED POLICE RAID, HANDSHELD NAKED WOMAN
“What I now know, after reviewing some of the emails, is that my team knew this was a major concern for me, ‘issues’ pertaining to the search warrants,” Lightfoot said Thursday, according to the station. ‘They knew I had instructed our chief risk officer to investigate and work on policy reform, so this [raid] was raised to me as yet another example.
“Again, I have no specific memory of it,” she continued. “It was November [2019] when I probably focused on budget issues and got our budget through the city council, but it got flagged for me. “
The mayor promised to make all relevant emails available to the public, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
Lightfoot added on Thursday that she was mistaken on Wednesday when she claimed that Young had not filed for the Freedom of Information Act for police video footage of the raid, while Young had.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks in Chicago in an undated photo. (Reuters)
The mayor also said she apologized to a local reporter she called “reckless and irresponsible” for asking her why the FOIA request had been rejected, WBBM reported.
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Lightfoot added that she has ordered a review of Young’s FOIA request to find out why it was turned down.
Young later gained access to the footage from police as part of a federal lawsuit she filed against the city in November 2019, which was dismissed earlier this year, the Sun Times reported, adding that Young had filed a new lawsuit this year. in connection with her refusal. FOIA request.
According to the paper, the incident is still under investigation by the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.