The County Sheriff’s surveillance team did not: 1) Know there was a family living there, even though they had moved in two months before the raid; 2) Know there were 4 children in the home; 3) Find any drugs; 4) Find any weapons; 5) Find any drug dealers; 6) Find any cash.
Armed with all of the above intelligence, the County Sheriff’s SWAT Team initiated a highly aggressive no-knock search that: Critically burned a 19-month old toddler sleeping in a play pen when they tossed a flash-bang stun grenade into the home.
There is no doubt that the officers who conducted the raid are in extreme anguish about what happened. The issue isn’t whether or not no-knock warrants are "vital" to the war on drugs. The issue is that the ghastly results of this particular warrant reveal that basic procedures weren’t followed or were ignored. What do you think of this sheriff’s attitude?
“I stand behind what our team did,” insists Habersham, Georgia County Sheriff Joey Terrell, referring to a 3:00 a.m. no-knock SWAT raid in which a 19-month-old child was severely burned by a flash-bang grenade. “There’s nothing to investigate, there’s nothing to look at,” continued the sheriff, relaying the conclusions of the County DA’s office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “Bad things can happen. That’s just the world we live in.”
Investigation into Botched Habersham County Drug Raid Growing
The Baby-Burning Stormtroopers of Habersham County, Georgia
From the Annals of Police Militarization: GA SWAT Burn Toddler with Stun Grenade
Why did the Baby-Burning Drug Warriors think there were No Children in the Home they Attacked?