Evanston Man Sues Police Chief, City Over 'HIV' Social Media Post

EVANSTON, IL — One of the dozens of men whose images, birthdays and addresses were publicly posted to a personal social media account of Evanston Police Chief Demitrous Cook filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Sunday against the city, the police department and the chief, in both his personal and official capacity.

Kevin Logan's personal information was annotated with handwritten notes saying, "Pending" and "HIV" in screenshots of the chief's since-deleted post. Notes next to other booking photographs included "DOA [dead on arrival]" and "In custody."

In his lawsuit, the 31-year-old Evanston resident said he is not HIV-positive and attached the results of a recent medical test. His complaint identified him as a father of two with a third child on the way. As a result of the police chief's post, Logan "and his family suffered embarrassment, ridicule, and cyber bullying," the suit alleges.

The police chief admitted posting the images and apologized Friday. He said he took the photos to help review an investigation and inadvertently posted them to his Snapchat account.

"I didn't realize they could be made public with the click of a button," Cook said in a prepared statement. The 61-year-old police chief said he felt the quality of photos taken with the app was superior to his cellphone's default camera app. "To be sure, I own this mistake, and I want to apologize to the community and to anyone who may have been impacted," he said.

Earlier: Evanston Police Chief Apologizes For Personal Snapchat Posts

The eight-count complaint filed in federal court in Chicago accuses Cook and the city of violating Logan's 4th and 14th Amendment rights, defamation, defamation per se, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violations of privacy rights under the Illinois Constitution, negligence and gross negligence.

The suit alleges that Cook and the city failed to operate "like a reasonable prudent law enforcement agency would," and lists numerous provisions of Evanston Police Department's policy manual it says Cook violated.

Policy 1030, "Employee Speech, Expression and Social Media," prohibits the disclosure of any "any information, photograph, video or other recording obtained or accessible as a result of employment with the Department ... without the express authorization of the Chief of Police."

The lawsuit also says the city failed to supervise the chief or "properly train him on the use of social media, recording, and otherwise the handling of records and information."

Cook has not responded to a request for comment about the suit. The Evanston Law Department has a policy against commenting on pending litigation.

Ilia Usharovich, a Wheeling-based attorney, filed the lawsuit on the Logan's behalf. He said he hoped the suit would inform the public that Logan did not have HIV and help restore his reputation.

Last year, Evanston paid at least $2.5 million in settlements to end lawsuits alleging wrongdoing by its police department personnel.

Those settlements included $1.25 million to a former Northwestern University graduate student arrested and struck by police after a fellow student, who admitted she was racially profiling, falsely reported he stole his own car, and another $1.25 million to a choir director seriously injured when he was struck by a fleeing suspect who had been pursued by Evanston police.

Read full complaint: Logan v. City of Evanston et al »