Crista
Noel, with Women’s All Points Bulletin, along with a coalition of
local activist organizations, speaks Thursday outside of Chicago
Police headquarters about the police raid on Anjanette Young’s
home. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
“It’s savage to raid someone’s house, to see them there
naked and to act as if they are a criminal,” said Jitu Brown,
president of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, of the
raid on Anjanette Young’s home.
More than a dozen people gathered in front of the Chicago Police
headquarters Thursday night to condemn the actions of a botched
raid on Anjanette Young’s home and demand Mayor Lori Lightfoot
hold every officer involved accountable.
“We want to say to Anjanette, we love you, we want you to know
that we care about you and what happened to you was a travesty,”
said Crista Noel. “The Chicago Police Department doesn’t
protect women, it does not.”
Noel was part of a coalition of groups — including Women’s
All Points Bulletin, Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, Black
Lives Matter Chicago and GoodKids MadCity — demanding each of the
officers involved be fired.
The video showed Young’s front door being burst into while she
was undressed, and officers handcuffed her.
“First, you are coming into the wrong house and then you
don’t even treat her like she’s a human being?” Noel said.
“I don’t understand the dehumanization that happened in her
house. How can you be this way?”
Earlier this week, Lightfoot denied knowing about the botched
raid, which was
first reported by CBS. But the mayor admitted
Thursday that she was aware of it over a year ago.
Noel also urged that police officers involved with breaking down
the doors of homes during raids be required to fix them
immediately. She said by not doing so you put families at risk.
Alycia Kamil, of GoodKids MadCity, said what happened to Young
is all too common for Black women who face a constant threat from
police and others. Lightfoot, she said, has done little to protect
them despite claiming she would.
“Lori Lightfoot ran a progressive front, ran off of her being
a Black woman, ran off wanting to protect other Black women,”
Kamil said. “But just this past summer, me and three other
members — Miracle Boyd, Taylor Norwood, India Jackson — all
these people were brutalized and hurt by CPD, and she did nothing
about it.”
Boyd was
punched in the face by a police officer during a summer
protest. She was 18 years old at the time and lost a tooth.
“It’s savage to raid someone’s house, to see them there
naked and to act as if they are a criminal,” said Jitu Brown,
president of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization. “Mayor
Lightfoot, you promised you would ‘bring in the light,’ but
what we are seeing now is deeper strains of darkness.”
