An Evanston resident filed a federal lawsuit last week against two Evanston Police Department officers for allegedly arresting him under false pretenses and tasing him, pinning him to the ground and choking him.
The complaint, filed April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, charges EPD sergeant Kenneth Carter and officer Mikhail Geyer with using excessive force as well as making an arrest under false pretenses after officers forcibly detained Ronald Louden in the 2100 block of Wesley Avenue in June 2018. The City of Evanston is included as a codefendant.
Body camera footage recorded by officers and released by Fox 32 Chicago shows a half-dozen officers approaching Louden at a parking lot. According to Louden’s complaint, he was grilling a meal for family and friends.
City Council approved a $90,000 settlement Monday to end a class-action lawsuit filed against Evanston Police Department chief Demitrous Cook after he publicly posted multiple residents’ private information last February.
The lawsuit alleged that Cook’s actions violated the plaintiffs’ rights to due process and equal protection, and stemmed from an incident where Cook uploaded booking photos of over 30 individuals to his public Snapchat story. The photos contained subjects’ private information, including full names, birth dates and home addresses along with written notes including “in custody,” “HIV” and “DOA” (dead on arrival).
The lawsuit, filed in May 2020, claimed Cook, and by extension the city, violated the plaintiffs’ 14th Amendment right to due process by publicly releasing their home addresses. It also alleged that since only photos of non-White people were uploaded, the plaintiffs’ right to equal protection was violated.