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Police raids like the one that killed Breonna Taylor are scarily common. The police call it executing a search warrant, but from the POV of someone woken up before dawn by a platoon of armed cops breaking in your door, it feels like a home invasion. Here's how these raids happen:
A warrant is basically an authorization from a court to do something that would otherwise be illegal, like burst into someone's home without permission & ransack the place. If a cop did this without a warrant, it would usually be just as illegal as if you or I did it.
To get a search warrant, a cop has to present a magistrate (a judge or similar court officer) with reason to believe they'll find evidence of a crime at the particular place they want to search. Often this comes from a police informant, i.e. a civilian who's informing on someone.
The evidence the cops are searching for can be anything, but it's usually drugs or guns. Police in most cities leave a lot of murders & rapes unsolved, but drug & gun cases are easy & plentiful: usually all you have to do is search & find something to get a conviction.
Let's say I know a guy named A & I've been in his house. For whatever reason, I decide to tell the police I've seen drugs there; maybe I'm scared the police have something on me, maybe there's money in it for me, maybe I want to get back at A for something. I might even be lying.
Based on the information I give, a magistrate issues a warrant for the police to search A's home. The police now have 10 days (in NY, don't know if this is different elsewhere) in which the warrant is valid & they can break into A's house.
In general warrants can only be executed between 6am & 10pm & the police have to knock, announce who they are, & display the warrant upon request. But nothing happens if the police break these rules, & they routinely request & get "all-hours" & "no-knock" warrants.
These restrictions on search warrants have been eroded over time, probably due to the war on drugs & the militarization of policing. Once upon a time the police couldn't execute warrants on Sundays, though only 2 states have kept that prohibition. https://twitter.com/srfeld/status/1141340566975844352?s=20
One reason the police can easily get warrants, incl. all-hours & no-knock warrants, is that it's a non-adversarial proceeding: the magistrate only hears from the cop, who wants the warrant, & there's no one arguing against it, raising questions, or presenting contrary evidence.
The police treat warrant execution as a military operation. In an apartment bldg, one team will secure the lobby & another will break into your unit with a battering ram if the door's not opened. They may shoot your dog; police kill ~10,000 dogs per year. https://www.criminallegalnews.org/news/2018/jun/16/doj-police-shooting-family-dogs-has-become-epidemic/
Because the police like to execute warrants before dawn, anyone in the apartment is likely waking up disoriented & panicked. If they have any way of defending themselves, someone might get shot. If not, the police will handcuff everyone, sometimes in their underwear or less.
Once everyone is handcuffed (& sometimes removed from the apartment), the police will tear the place apart: rip up sofas & pillows, dismantle appliances, punch holes in walls, rip out cabinet doors & shelves, etc. Sometimes they find something incriminating, sometimes not.
Most people don't live alone. Even if the cops are right that someone in the home has a gun or drugs, other residents may not be connected to it, but they get handcuffed & have their home destroyed too. Sometimes babies or kids are injured or killed. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-georgia-deputy-acquitted-after-flash-bang-grenade-hurts-toddler-n479361
In a recent case I saw, the target of the warrant wasn't home when the cops broke down the door at 6am, but his mother & sister were. An armed cop burst in on the mom in the bathroom & ordered her to wipe herself in front of him. Both mom & sister were then handcuffed in pajamas.
The mom & sister in that case were not only cuffed but actually transported to a cell in the police precinct, a blatantly illegal arrest since they weren't suspected of any wrongdoing. As far as I know there were no repercussions for the cops, so they'll probably keep doing it.
In Breonna Taylor's case, 3 plainclothes cops burst in after midnight without identifying themselves. Her boyfriend, a licensed gun owner, leapt out of bed & fired one shot at the intruders. The cops opened fire, leaving Breonna dead with 8 bullet wounds. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/05/12/breonna-taylor-louisville-emt-not-main-target-drug-investigation/3115928001/
Yesterday, the Louisville Metro Council unanimously voted for "Breonna's Law," which bans no-knock warrants. Police there will now have to knock and wait at least 15 seconds before breaking in. This is already the law in Florida & Oregon. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/louisville-city-council-unanimously-pass-breonna-s-law-ban-no-n1230291
Senator @RandPaul is drafting a federal law that would prohibit no-knock warrants nationwide. I hope it's free of loopholes & that it passes quickly, but I also hope this thread makes clear that no-knock warrants are just the tip of the iceberg. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/11/breonna-taylor-shooting-rand-paul-files-bill-ban-no-knock-warrants/5345478002/
