GA - Baby in coma after police 'grenade' dropped in crib during drug raid

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Possibly I am overreacting to the article, but...some of those people seem to be saying that if the parents had been drug dealers, it would have been okay to drop an incendiary device on their baby??? My God.
 
carbuff said:
Possibly I am overreacting to the article, but...some of those people seem to be saying that if the parents had been drug dealers, it would have been okay to drop an incendiary device on their baby??? My God.
Click to expand...

I got that impression as well and it sickened me. IMO, that's part and parcel of the failed War on Drugs propaganda machine. (http://www.weeklystandard.com/author/mike-riggs) Again, JMO, but it seems to desensitized people to the point where somehow anyone touched by the drug trade, is less than human, less worthy of common decency. It seems to have made "decent" people just fine with LE blinding and burning a toddler. How bloody barbaric! Apparently the SWAT team members who may have killed this baby are very upset that it happened. (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/toddler-hurt-swat-drug-raid-georgia-23926974) In the interview the chief seems to promise they'll be doubly careful in the future.

Obviously they learned nothing from a similar incident in which a 12 year old girl was terribly burned by a flash bang grenade in Billings, Montana in 2012. LE was going to be more careful then too. (http://missoulian.com/news/state-an...cle_71d1f226-1474-11e2-b4b4-0019bb2963f4.html)
 
There was a similar incident in New England a couple of years ago, too.

Unfortunately what one LE unit learns in one part of the country does not often carry over to other agencies in other states. And it seems like the feds are the biggest offenders. :(

It makes me feel ill. And very very angry.
 
It is, as someone posted, Bloody Barbaric. That anyone deserves to have a flash bang explode on them let alone a small baby just because the parents have less than stellar relatives. How do these commenters live with themselves. It is the ultimate in inhumanity We are meant to be the good guys who care for people, worry about them want even criminals treated professionally. Or all our rights will be destroyed. But its clear LE was in the wrong.

Wendiesan you should send your post as a letter to the editor of the local news
 
Thanks for the suggestion SilkySifaka.
I'll work on it Friday when I get home.

The more I read, the angrier I get.

carbuff said:
There was a similar incident in New England a couple of years ago, too.

Unfortunately what one LE unit learns in one part of the country does not often carry over to other agencies in other states. And it seems like the feds are the biggest offenders. :(

It makes me feel ill. And very very angry.
Click to expand...

I'm really surprised more people aren't challenging the Feds on this. I can see the headlines now. "From the people that brought you Ruby Ridge...."

Just from the articles, it seems to hint that LE are going to weasel out of paying damages to the family by saying the nephew was at fault, that LE wouldn't have been there is he hadn't been a drug dealer, therefore he should have to pay damages. Low level drug dealers don't really seem to make that much money, so the nephew won't be able to raise any cash. (http://www.salon.com/2014/03/09/the...hats_the_point_of_surviving_if_you_cant_live/)

I've been all for legalizing drugs for a long time--the money from taxing the manufacturers would help the economies in a lot of countries, the quality of drugs would be assured and therefore the safety of users would be increased (just like bathtub gin became illegal and was replaced by higher quality alcohol), the safety of LEOs would be increased, and so on. So I began reading a bit more about it and learned that a lot of people believe the legalization of drugs, federal/state/civic control, would be problematic for both sides of the equation. On the cartels' side, legalization would lead to loss of profits.

A 2012 study by the Mexican Institute of Competitiveness concluded that if weed were made legal in just three American states — Oregon, Washington and Colorado — Mexican cartels would lose $4.6 billion dollars.
Click to expand...

As far as LE is concerned, money would also be lost and investment by governments of different levels in narcotics units would decline.

The federal agencies who hold $1.6 billion in seized assets; the local police forces that make millions off confiscated cash, property and cars; the lucrative private prisons fed by drug convictions? All of them stand to lose millions if drugs are made legal.
Click to expand...

And arrests count, whether or not the person is guilty or innocent.

According to Mark, a former cop who worked narcotics for 18 years, the Albuquerque Police Department — like many local police departments — counts on asset seizures to increase its budgets. He said that when he was an officer, the emphasis was on property seizures rather than drug seizures, because the department could then use the profits to buy equipment and cars. Such forfeitures happen before the suspect is convicted, meaning that even if they are innocent, they can still lose their property. The average amount seized annually by police departments of APD’s size is worth more than a million dollars, according to a 2007 Bureau of Justice Statistics report.
Click to expand...

This reporter continues his article interviewing LE officers (and former officers) and drug dealers. Very interesting, but depressing. One of the LEOs was a devout Christian who left the narcotics squad because he felt uncomfortable with the tactics. He believes drugs won't stop being a problem, even if legalized, until the underlying problem of poverty is solved. Huge issues raised. It's an overwhelming issue on many fronts, but, to me, this horrible incident has focused attention on the ethics and morality of Narcotics Units tactics. Isn't the motto "To serve and protect"?
 
There is more information in another article, some of which conflicts (I think) with previous statements. However, it could be that more is being revealed because an attorney is now involved.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...g-botched-raid-call-justice-article-1.1825366

A few points:

1. as expected, the police investigators said nothing wrong with the raid

At a news conference Tuesday, the tot's father, Bounkham Phonesavanh said the officers who lobbed the explosive into his sleeping child's playpen showed no remorse afterward, and lied to he and his wife about the extent of his injuries, saying the boy had only lost a tooth, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
"The officers cursed and yelled at us and threatened to arrest me after we expressed our concern for our son," Phonesavanh said, according to NBC Atlanta.
Click to expand...


2. states the family had been at the house for two months and the nephew had not been at the house since they moved in

3. states that they did not see drugs at the house and no drugs or weapons were found at the house

"We love our children and would never put them in harm's way by involving ourselves in drugs," Alecia Phonesavanh said.
Click to expand...

4. disputes the team's claim that the room looked empty (tv was on in the room at the time), and no evidence of children (car seats in the car in the driveway).
 
wendiesan said:
Thanks for the suggestion SilkySifaka.
I'll work on it Friday when I get home.

The more I read, the angrier I get.



I'm really surprised more people aren't challenging the Feds on this. I can see the headlines now. "From the people that brought you Ruby Ridge...."

Just from the articles, it seems to hint that LE are going to weasel out of paying damages to the family by saying the nephew was at fault, that LE wouldn't have been there is he hadn't been a drug dealer, therefore he should have to pay damages. Low level drug dealers don't really seem to make that much money, so the nephew won't be able to raise any cash. (http://www.salon.com/2014/03/09/the...hats_the_point_of_surviving_if_you_cant_live/)

I've been all for legalizing drugs for a long time--the money from taxing the manufacturers would help the economies in a lot of countries, the quality of drugs would be assured and therefore the safety of users would be increased (just like bathtub gin became illegal and was replaced by higher quality alcohol), the safety of LEOs would be increased, and so on. So I began reading a bit more about it and learned that a lot of people believe the legalization of drugs, federal/state/civic control, would be problematic for both sides of the equation. On the cartels' side, legalization would lead to loss of profits.



As far as LE is concerned, money would also be lost and investment by governments of different levels in narcotics units would decline.



And arrests count, whether or not the person is guilty or innocent.



This reporter continues his article interviewing LE officers (and former officers) and drug dealers. Very interesting, but depressing. One of the LEOs was a devout Christian who left the narcotics squad because he felt uncomfortable with the tactics. He believes drugs won't stop being a problem, even if legalized, until the underlying problem of poverty is solved. Huge issues raised. It's an overwhelming issue on many fronts, but, to me, this horrible incident has focused attention on the ethics and morality of Narcotics Units tactics. Isn't the motto "To serve and protect"?
Click to expand...

Their tactics are out of hand. So are they, they didn't show an iota of remorse to the family, threatening to arrest them because they were frantic and asking questions about their son. Telling them he lost a tooth????

I am rapidly getting to the point i believe the cops involved should be named and shamed.
 
This article goes into details about the no-knock warrant application.

Very interesting to me was this information:

...in a previous plea agreement, the suspect, Wanis Tthonetheva, waived his 4th amendment right of search and seizure. Essentially that means the police could have legally searched him and his residence with or without probable cause....
Click to expand...

JMO, but LE never expected this to go any further, so they did nothing to treat this as the scene of a crime and are forcing the family to take on their own investigation.

“The pin from the grenade is still in the driveway so there has been absolutely no collection of evidence and that first and foremost is an issue,” said the family’s attorney, Mawuli Mel Davis.
Click to expand...


http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/judge-approved-no-knock-warrant-hours-raid-critica/ngC9R/
 
carbuff said:
Possibly I am overreacting to the article, but...some of those people seem to be saying that if the parents had been drug dealers, it would have been okay to drop an incendiary device on their baby??? My God.
Click to expand...



wendiesan said:
I got that impression as well and it sickened me. IMO, that's part and parcel of the failed War on Drugs propaganda machine. (http://www.weeklystandard.com/author/mike-riggs) Again, JMO, but it seems to desensitized people to the point where somehow anyone touched by the drug trade, is less than human, less worthy of common decency. It seems to have made "decent" people just fine with LE blinding and burning a toddler. How bloody barbaric! Apparently the SWAT team members who may have killed this baby are very upset that it happened. (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/toddler-hurt-swat-drug-raid-georgia-23926974) In the interview the chief seems to promise they'll be doubly careful in the future.

Obviously they learned nothing from a similar incident in which a 12 year old girl was terribly burned by a flash bang grenade in Billings, Montana in 2012. LE was going to be more careful then too. (http://missoulian.com/news/state-an...cle_71d1f226-1474-11e2-b4b4-0019bb2963f4.html)
Click to expand...

Barbaric describes it perfectly. I truly believe that if we wish to remain (become?) a civilized country, we must end the "War on Drugs" once and for all. I'd much, much rather see my tax money help addicts with rehabilitation/relocation services than used to assault innocent children in pursuit of low level users and dealers. IMO, JMO, MOO and all that jazz...
 
1. Georgia state Sen. Vincent Fort has said that he will call for a federal investigation into this drug raid.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/02/toddler-injured-flash-grenade-raid/9893021/

2. From the information in this article, it appears to me that is was Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell was the person who stated that the parents knew about the drug deals but kept the children in another room. This seems to be in contradiction with what the mother said more recently.
 
wendiesan said:
Not good news.



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/02/toddler-injured-flash-grenade-raid/9893021/
Click to expand...

All the police involved in this raid and authorized flash bangs are worse than animals. All should be fired and personally sued for damages. I would like to see them jailed

And from what I can understand they are all still on active duty. Shows no remorse whatsoever. If I had half killed a baby due to my deliberate actions, and throwing a flash bang into a room without looking is deliberate, I would be a wreck and unable to work.

omg sheriff said they would do the same again. What a CREEP.
 
wendiesan said:
1. Georgia state Sen. Vincent Fort has said that he will call for a federal investigation into this drug raid.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/02/toddler-injured-flash-grenade-raid/9893021/

2. From the information in this article, it appears to me that is was Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell was the person who stated that the parents knew about the drug deals but kept the children in another room. This seems to be in contradiction with what the mother said more recently.
Click to expand...

Good. Illegal drugs and those who distribute them are a danger to society. With that said, however, the actions of this LE agency are more in line with the pursuit of a serial killer or mass murderer than the possibility that drugs are being sold at that house. All on the word of a CI? Most definitely this needs to be investigated by the Feds, and hopefully arrests made for the attempted murder of an innocent child. They should have been certain there would not be any innocent victims before tossing that device into the residence. Also am curious if the LE agency would have acted in this fashion if a Caucasian family were inside.

:mad:

MOO
 
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