A family wrongly targeted by a violent SWAT-style raid from the federal government is fighting back, and trying to hold accountable those officers who picked their home, instead of the correct one, and broke in waving guns and threats.
The Institute for Justice explains it was before sunrise one morning in Atlanta that Trina Martin and her seven-year-old son, Gabe, and her partner, Toi Cliatt, were bludgeoned with a flashbang grenade in their living room, and violent attack by FBI agents.
“Toi, fearing that the home was being robbed, pulled Trina into the bedroom closet and reached for his legally owned shotgun. Just as he was about to grab it, an FBI agent barged in, threw him to the ground, and began interrogating him and Trina. All the while, Gabe was separated from his mother as officers stormed into his bedroom with guns drawn,” the IJ documented.
But when Toi gave agents the address of the home they had just violated, it didn’t match the address on the warrant they had.
Now, the Institute for Justice is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their lawsuit for accountability, which has been thrown out by the lower courts, the IJ said.
“My son was alone in his room, trembling in fear with an armed agent standing over him. Those are memories neither he nor I will ever be able to shake. Gabe transitioned from being a happy, active, and outgoing child to becoming timid, introverted, and living in constant fear. This experience made him acutely aware of death, as he repeatedly expressed that he believed he was going to die. What happened to us was wrong, but there’s been no accountability. This shouldn’t happen in America,” Trina said.
One of the FBI agents did apologize, but the government simply refused to pay for any of the damages, which insurance ended up covering.
But the government still refused to cover costs from the trauma inflicted on Trina, Gabe, and Toi—including lost wages and therapy.
They sued.
And for seven years, the government has fought any efforts to hold responsible those so negligent they couldn’t even find the correct address.
“The FBI can’t undo the damage it caused by raiding the wrong house, but the government needs to pay for its mistake,” said Dylan Moore, an attorney at IJ. “Congress created the [Federal Tort Claims Act] to give people like Trina, Gabe, and Toi a remedy. Courts should not do backflips to read that remedy out of existence.”
In fact, Congress specifically recognized situations such as this unwarranted attack.
But lower courts have refused the family members’ rights.
“FBI agents don’t have discretion to raid the wrong house. And doing so certainly does not further any federal policy. Other courts have recognized this. Had Trina, Gabe, and Toi brought their lawsuit in most other circuits, the discretionary function exception likely wouldn’t apply at all,” the IJ said.
The 11th Circuit created its own ideology and went the other direction.
“The federal government made a terrible—albeit easily avoidable—mistake when it kicked in an innocent family’s door,” said Patrick Jaicomo, a senior attorney at IJ. “The Supreme Court should take this case to ensure that the government, not the innocent family, pays the price for the mistake. Congress could not be clearer that it should.”
