CHICAGO — Chicago social worker Anjanette Young is endorsing Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson to unseat Mayor Lori Lightfoot, she announced Tuesday.
Young made her choice for mayor public on the four-year anniversary of a wrongful police raid on her home that erupted into a scandal after Lightfoot officials attempted to keep disturbing video footage of the raid from the public. The mayor initially gave a false account of what she knew about the incident before apologizing.
In a statement, Young said she supports Johnson because he will do more to support crime victims and change the way city officials think about public safety.
“Brandon Johnson is someone I believe in because he supports things that matter to me as it relates to safety in our communities, police accountability and policies for more mental health services around the city,” Young said. “And he is committed to making sure the trauma I endured at the hands of the police four years ago never happens to anyone again.”
Young’s story became a national news controversy in December 2020, in large part because Lightfoot officials sought an order to prevent CBS-2 from airing disturbing footage from the raid and requested sanctions against the plaintiff, Young, for sharing footage with media. Lightfoot lawyers later said they only wanted sanctions against Young’s lawyer but dropped the request altogether as the scandal spiraled.
Lightfoot repeatedly downplayed the scandal and her administration’s role as it unfolded. At a news conference, Lightfoot said she couldn’t comment on her administration’s request for sanctions over the release of the video by Young’s team.
“A federal judge put rules in place,” Lightfoot said. “It’s for that judge to determine whether or not that was appropriate.”
Lightfoot’s comment, however, sidestepped that her team was actively seeking to punish Young and her lawyer for the video's release.
The mayor also noted the raid took place weeks before she was elected, though it was her administration that tried to keep the video from being made public. Later, Lightfoot released a statement saying she “had no knowledge” of the matter involving Young before CBS aired video of the errant raid and doubled down on it at a news conference.
That statement wasn’t true, however. Lightfoot later acknowledged that she had been informed about the botched raid in 2019, though she downplayed what she was told. Lightfoot has since said she simply forgot a detailed email she received about the raid and apologized for how Young was treated. The city settled Young’s lawsuit for $2.9 million.
Lightfoot has continued to oppose an ordinance pushed by Young that would put tougher rules on search warrants, another factor in the endorsement.
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