Jury awards $5.74 million in damages to family over botched Chicago police raid in 2018

A jury on Wednesday awarded $5.74 million in damages to a Chicago family who accused police of violating their civil rights in a botched raid of their home in 2018.

"I'm just glad that .. we have have justice now, and I just pray that this will put a stop to the wrongful raids for the next family," Ebony Tate said after the verdict.

Tate and her family filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the officers involved in the raid, accusing police of breaking down their door in the Back of the Yards neighborhood in August 2018, and pointing guns at them. Investigations found officers were in the wrong house and did not properly vet information from a paid informant.

The family said they've been living with trauma of the botched raid ever since.

"We were ready to give up, but I just want to say this – I don't know if I'm supposed to, but God is an awesome God," said Tate's mother, Cynthia Eason.

In addition to the $5.74 million in damages awarded by the jury, the city already spent approximately $600,000 on legal fees for private law firms to defend the officers involved before the trial began.

"The jury agreed with what we have said for eight years, which was that the Chicago Police Department had a practice of using excessive force against children, mainly children of color across the city of Chicago," family attorney Al Hofeld Jr. said. "What happened to the Tate family on August 9th of 2018 was simply the result of this longstanding practice and the city of Chicago failing to do anything meaningful about it."

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, a Chicago Law Department spokeswoman said, "While we appreciate the jury's work in this complex case, the City disagrees with the verdict and is exploring its options for post-trial motions."

The jury started deliberating after closing arguments earlier this week.

The family's attorney told jurors to use their power to send a message to the city and hold them accountable for what he described as a widespread pattern of excessive force against children. He said the family was traumatized by the raid and has been battling PTSD and other mental health issues ever since.

Defense attorneys for the city and the SWAT officers involved called the lawsuit a case of "smoke and mirrors," and repeatedly denied the officers pointed their weapons at the children. 

During the three-week trial, Eason, testified that officers pointed guns at her and her entire family, calling that day the most terrifying night of her life.

Eason pointed to her temple as she described how she, Tate, and Tate's four children were treated by officers during the botched raid.

"He put his gun here," she told the jury, demonstrating how she says one officer pointed a gun at her face.

She also broke down in tears when she said she witnessed officers pointing guns at her daughter and grandchildren.

"I thought they were going to shoot her," she said.

Eason also testified that police forced her outside in a state of undress in front of her neighbors, making her stand outside in a T-shirt and underwear. She said she was forced to wait 30 minutes before a paramedic brought her a medical sheet to cover up with.

The family's attorneys have argued the botched raid is part of a systemic problem within CPD, saying officers have a pattern of using excessive force against children.

Attorneys for the officers involved in the lawsuit have denied misconduct and said "not a single officer pointed a gun" at anyone in the home. Defense attorneys argued the family's lawyers failed to meet the burden of proof that guns were pointed.

The raid happened before SWAT officers were required by CPD policy to wear body cameras, so there was no video footage of the raid, leaving jurors to weigh whether they believed the family's testimony, or the testimony of the officers who raided the apartment.