Overview
- Filed this week in federal court, the suit names the City of Chicago, multiple officers, a sergeant, and Lt. Nari Haro as defendants.
- Banks alleges that on March 17 at the 11th District, officers surrounded him, used a racial slur, told him to "go back where you came from," and blocked him from leaving in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
- The complaint says a racist image containing the N-word and a caricature of a Black man with a gun in his mouth was sent to his department-issued phone the next day, and a confidential memo he wrote was later leaked online.
- According to his attorney, Banks went on medical leave citing trauma and fear for his safety, returned to duty on July 1, and was transferred to CPD's 6th District.
- The lawsuit seeks damages and institutional reforms to address what it calls a culture of racism and retaliation, and CPD and the city's Law Department declined to comment on the pending case.