Chicago’s top attorney resigned Sunday when city officials dealt with the aftermath of a botched police raid on the home of a black woman, who was not allowed to put on any clothes before being handcuffed.
Corporate attorney Mark Flessner announced his resignation in an email to his employees, noting that last week he had become involved in the case related to the police footage of an unlawful raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home in February 2019 .
“It is clear that the raid on Anjanette Young’s home was a tragedy we must learn from,” Flessner said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “Standing up for racial injustice and fighting for equality in our justice system are critical issues that we as a community must continue to address.”
The lawyer did not say whether he was asked to resign.
“I’m quitting because of the firestorm around the whole band,” Flessner told the Chicago Tribune in an interview. “I’m accused of trying to hide it, which isn’t true.”
Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot
Lori LightfootChicago officials tried to block the release of bodycam footage showing police handcuffing naked women during a botched raid. COVID-19 Vaccines MORE (D) said on Sunday that she immediately accepted his resignation after apologizing to Young for the incident last week.
“I am committed to a full evaluation of everything that has happened around this incident, will take corrective action as needed and hold people accountable,” Lightfoot said in a statement obtained by the AP.
Chicago officials had tried to stop a local CBS station, CBS 2, broadcast CCTV footage of the robbery that was later determined to be in the wrong house. The station reported last week that a judge rejected the officials’ motion to prevent the images from being broadcast.
The video of the controversial incident showed agents breaking into Young’s home and avoiding her more than 40 statements that they were in the wrong house. Young told CBS 2 that she didn’t have time to get dressed, and an officer at one point put a blanket over her shoulders before it fell, leaving her body exposed.
Police reportedly acted on information from an informant who said that a criminal with a gun and ammunition lived in Young’s house, but the suspect in question was later found to live next door.
The mayor of Chicago has argued that she was “blinded” by the motion filed by her law firm requesting that the images not be broadcast.
City attorneys had also tried to punish Young for violating a confidentiality agreement, but withdrew that request, the AP said. They also recently revealed that they did not provide Young’s attorney with all of the camera footage of the body for her lawsuit with the city.
Keenan Saulter, a lawyer representing Young, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but alleged city officials attempting to cover up his client’s experience last week.
“This city has a history of trying to hide unfavorable video. That’s all we’re dealing with here, ”Saulter said.