BillHolter.com

Bill’s Commentary:

“As well they should be!”

Justices appear sympathetic to victims of SWAT raid on the wrong house

The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning was sympathetic to the victims of a “wrong house” raid in 2017, with several justices expressing surprise at the federal government’s efforts to contend that the actions of FBI agents were shielded from liability because their acts were discretionary. But it was not clear whether that their skepticism of the agents’ conduct would lead to the result that the victims were seeking.

The case began when a six-agent SWAT team, led by FBI Special Agent Lawrence Guerra, conducted a pre-dawn raid on the suburban Atlanta home where Hilliard Toi Cliatt, his then-partner, Curtrina Martin, and Martin’s seven-year-old son were living. The team broke down the front door with a battering ram and set off a flashbang grenade. The team then pulled Cliatt out of the closet where he had been hiding with Martin and handcuffed him, and it held both of them at gunpoint.