Grandmother Sues After Grenade-Wielding SWAT Team Raids Her Home

Somebody else had used her WiFi to post Internet threats

EVANSVILLE — A 68-year-old Evansville woman, who was at home with her granddaughter last June when police in SWAT gear tossed in flash grenades into her home and forced their way inside to serve a warrant, has filed a lawsuit against the city and the Evansville Police Department.

Police came up empty-handed in a search for evidence about threatening Internet posts but only after damaging the house, handcuffing the woman and her granddaughter and seizing their computers, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court at Evansville.

The lawsuit charges that police violated Louise Milan's constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure, that police were negligent and that the incident caused Milan emotional distress.

(H/T sloopyinca)

Comments

[Diligentia Vis Celeritas]

Can't do anything to 'em. Procedures were followed. 'Nades were tossed. Folks were terrorized. Dogs were shot. Damn, they missed the dogs. Contact internal affairs.

[anarch]

they missed the dogs. Contact internal affairs.

Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read 'em their rights.

[Fatty Bolger]

I was trying to figure out what kind of internet threats would necessitate a SWAT team and flash bang grenades. Then I saw this bit:

The officers were executing a search warrant looking for evidence of who made anonymous Internet posts threatening the Evansville Police Department

Ah, of course. Threats against the police.

Police later arrested Derrick Murray, a suspected local gang leader who lived nearby in his mother's house. He admitted in federal court earlier this month that he used his smartphone to connect to a wireless Internet router in Milan's house and post the threats.

Yeah... I'm going to have to take that "suspected gang leader" bit with a HUGE grain of salt.

[LifeStrategies]

Outrageous! I hope the people responsible for the decision are named and shamed. Yet the taxpayer will, presumably, have to pay for the damage and the mental distress.

Actually, the people responsible should be fired as incompetent...

[daveInAustin]

From TFA anytime special teams or SWAT personnel are needed, police have to act in a way that ensures officer safety. No mention of public safety. They also said there was no way to tell where it was coming from, buta suspected local gang leader who lived nearby in his mother's house. It would have been trivial to figure out that their wifi was unlocked, then do some investigative work to figure out if anyone in the neighborhood had a beef with the police. Why on earth were grenades the first choice? Because they wanted to punish the people inside before they had their day in court.
This is too much like many raids of the day the Radley Balco has collected.