We have previously discussed our concerns over the seemingly exponential increase in “no knock” raids in the country where police give no warning before raiding a home. (here and here and here and here and here). A tragedy in Atlanta will only increase those concerns for many. Atlanta police say that they purchased drugs at a home and returned with a no-knock warrant late at 3 a.m. to arrest Wanis Thometheva, 30. They burst into the home and threw a stun grenade which landed next to the head of a 19-month-old sleeping in his crib and exploded. The baby is in serious condition and is in a medically induced coma. The pictures of the baby are too disturbing to post. The police found no drugs or weapons or even the man they were seeking to arrest in the raid. Update: Police have declared that the state officials have concluded that no further investigation is warranted into the raid or the use of the grenade.
The raid left a charred portable crib. The explosion opened up a gash on the baby’s chest, left one lung inoperable, and left the baby breathing on a respirator with a 50-percent chance of survival.
Cornelia police Chief Rick Darby said that a multi jurisdictional force carried out the raid after drugs were purchased. The police cited the belief of guns being present as the basis for the no-knock warrant.
Notably, police arrested the suspect at another home and the family had nothing to do with the crime. There is always a risk of such innocent individuals being in a home — making the use of such grenades an obvious risk to the very young and the elderly.
Darby says that the police did not see any toys or children clothes that would have warned them of an infant being present. He says that his team is very upset over the injury to the child.
For those who are critical over the increase in no-knock warrants, the incident raises that same concern that magistrates are now granting these warrants with little thought and they are becoming the rule rather than the exception. The question is whether such injuries could be avoided if police announced themselves and demand entry. Police now routinely ask and receive warrants that waive the constitutional requirement to “knock and announcement.” Not only is this requirement codified in the U.S. Code, but it is viewed as a factor in determining if a search or seizure is reasonable under the fourth amendment. In 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Wilson v. Arkansas that the requirement was indeed part of the constitutional test and in Richards v. Wisconsin the Court later rejected categorical waivers for “knock and announcement” for cases like drug investigations. Police must show on a case-by-case basis that they have reasonable suspicion of exigent circumstances.
Source: WSBTV
Why are the police upset? None of them were injured. Oh, that’s right; this incident makes them look bad. Militarized police need to get used to collateral damage.
Oh, that poor baby. I hope he makes it, without a permanent brain injury or other serious consequences. He was the innocent one in all this mess.
I understand why police prefer no knock. Every time they enter a suspect’s home, they are going into unknown territory, risking their life. They get on edge. Plus suspects often destroy evidence as they delay answering.
But on the other hand, bursting in frightens the occupants, who might violently defend themselves when they wouldn’t with a calmer entry. And throwing a stun grenade without being accurate is not acceptable. It could also have landed next to an elderly person, the family pet, anything or anyone. As David has pointed out, why not just send in another “drug buyer” and push in when the door was opened? Going in at night when everyone was asleep does sound like they were afraid of armed resistance, but it also sounds like it has become policy to do so. Expectation of armed resistance has become a policy of just assuming everyone will be armed.
I feel very sorry for who threw the stun grenade. It was a combination of department policy and him throwing a grenade blindly into the dark that hurt that child.
Why so much effort to take down poor people and much less effort to take down wealthy criminals? Perhaps small time drug dealers aren’t donating enough to political campaigns.
I’d like to hear Darren chime in here. Why could not the police simply surround the house in daylight and send another buyer to the door. If they successfully bought drugs once, why couldn’t they do that again?
Police make mistakes, and the harm caused by this mistake is tragic. I would rather see criminals go free than for situations like this to happen. It is even more tragic that this is over stupid drugs. Drugs cause harm, but here we have police causing even more harm over the drugs. How is the violence of the police against this family any more justified than the violence of a drug addict wanting his fix? And what culpability does the judge have for granting a warrant like this? Seems like they just rubber stamp their tyranny over the rights of citizens.
Silver Lining Report: The House just passed a bill restricting the DEA from spending funds going after medical patients in states were mediweed is legal. By two votes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/30/dea-medical-marijuana-house-vote_n_5414679.html
@Jot t: but… Obamacare!
Bill – you are correct. Obamacare should be taking care of all of this. Or the police department who dumped the bomb in the crib.
Cops/judges will hide behind their qualified immunity against any liability. Even if the occupants of the house sue, and are successful in finding a chink in the “immunity armor”, I’m sure laws have been passed to limit the financial liabilty of all the counties/cities involved. Cops/judges don’t care because they know it is almost impossible to touch their repugnant, despicable, worthless lives. Another sad day in America.
Tom – there are some new decisions that show that this kind of stupid decision may not deserve qualified immunity.
Sadly and predictably the family doesn’t have insurance so a fund has been set up for medical expenses. Be warned, it includes pictures of the child.
http://www.gofundme.com/9mih84
“A society in decline”, so true Mary Halverson. The genie is out of the bottle, how to get him back in as far as demilitarizing our police forces. What would an even more authoritarian country look like?
This is disturbing. And what they said after the fact is equally disturbing. Their excuse is that they didn’t see toys lying around. They thus suggest that parents invite harm to their child if they are tidy or if their infant is too young to play on the floor with toys.
There was a crib in plain view–adequate warning that a child was nearby. Nothing on the police officer’s agenda could have been more important than avoiding harm to that innocent child.
There is a LIMITED legit need for no knock warrants. Some police depts. abuse them, w/ the judges and magistrates enabling that abuse. It’s been going on for some time and this is a result. Tragic.
Police forces wouldn’t run amok to the extent they have without strong reinforcement from above. Their behavior is symptomatic of the widespread, brutish corruption that currently saturates most of our institutions. Those of comfortable means are usually the last to recognize a society in decline because they’re the last to be affected by it.
A Paramilitary strike on a family household in the dead of night. A sledgehammer used to SWAT a fly. As i have long said, American law enforcement has become one of the leading dangers to life we face. A badge has become a license to kill.
Far too many people are content with our “War on (terror, drugs, guns, etc)” and don’t realize what this means. The war on drugs does not take down just sleazy criminals that want to sell crack cocaine to your 7 year old daughter. The war on drugs also kills babies, puts 70 year old men in prison for smoking pot to alleviate pain, 20 year old cancer survivors that smoke pot to give them relief from cancer drugs, and it maims and kills thousands others as “collateral” damage. until people stop and think what this “war” is really doing, we will continue to see stories like this.
Sad, so sad.
The destroy in order to save mentality? Where did they learn that?
This is what happens when we militarize the police.
I wonder how many more times I will need to use the words Gestapo & KGB in my replies to describe the police. It will not end until the book 1984 becomes reality.
I notice they are not saying they found drugs or guns, so I am guessing they probably did not.
The law suit is going to be interesting. Interjuristidictional means they had a bunch of cops from a bunch of towns helping out at 3 am. It appears that after the drug buy they did not keep the place under surveillance to see who was arriving or leaving. For all they knew, their suspect was not even there.
This is how Waco started. And this is why Tim McVeigh was upset about Waco, it was the children that were killed.
I say the team can be sorry in jail along with their superiors. Police services see no limits to what they do because the suffer no consequences. Judges too need to suffer consequences for their failure to actually exercise their judicial power. Too many judges just give no knock warrants with little or no analysis. It is time for personal responsibity for these individuals.
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