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Chicago Wrongful-Raid Trial Opens With Emotional Testimony From Grandmother

With no body-camera video from 2018, jurors must weigh starkly conflicting testimony.

Overview

  • A federal jury was seated and opening statements concluded, with live testimony underway in the civil-rights case over the 2018 SWAT raid on the Tate family’s Back of the Yards home.
  • Grandmother Cynthia Eason testified that officers pointed rifles at her and her grandchildren, pressed a gun to her temple, and made her stand outside in a T-shirt and underwear until a paramedic provided a sheet.
  • City attorneys argued officers executed two simultaneous warrants, knocked and announced, never pointed guns at children, and ultimately found the target and a rifle-like weapon in the adjacent building.
  • No body-worn camera footage exists from the raid because cameras were still being phased in, leaving jurors to assess competing accounts from witnesses and officers.
  • The judge ruled former Mayor Rahm Emanuel will not testify as plaintiffs advance a code-of-silence claim rooted in 2017 oversight findings, while reporting shows the city has spent about $600,000 on outside legal fees and no officer has been found guilty of misconduct from that day.