Evanston Pays $125,000 To Settle Suit Over Ex-Chief's Snapchat Post

EVANSTON, IL — The City Council approved a $125,000 payment to end a federal lawsuit filed by a man whose mugshot was posted on social media by the former chief of the Evanston Police Department.

Councilmembers voted unanimously Monday to approve the settlement with Kevin Logan, the second such settlement payment approved by the city to resolve a federal civil rights case connected to an accidental February 2020 Snapchat post by retired Chief Demitrous Cook.

Logan's photo and personal information, which was accompanied by the handwritten annotation "Pending HIV," was included in one of dozens of photos that Cook briefly posted online. The former chief quickly deleted the images and later apologized, saying he had preferred using the Snapchat app as his camera.

Logan was first to file a federal civil rights complaint over the post. Five other men later filed a class action suit, which councilmembers voted 7-1 to approve a $90,000 payment to settle in April 2021.

Portions of both the class action and the Logan's suit were amended after some of their counts were tossed out by a federal judge.

Then in June, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly granted summary judgment to the city and Cook on all of Logan's claims — except one relating to a violation of his right to privacy via the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In July, Cook filed an appeal, which has since been dismissed.

City officials opted to settle the case this week rather than proceed to trial on the remaining count.

After retiring from the Evanston Police Department a second time — the first was in 2010 before taking the job of chief of Glenwood police — Cook last year returned to the south suburbs to become chief of the Richton Park Police Department.

Read more: Police Chief Snapchat Snafu Suit Can Proceed On Single Count, Judge Rules