Baby, Now With A Hole In His Chest From A Flash-Bang: Another Heartbreaking Casualty Of The Drug War
Alecia Phonesavanh writes at Salon that a drugs-searching SWAT team blew a hole in her 2-year-old son:
It's been three weeks since the flashbang exploded next to my sleeping baby, and he's still covered in burns.There's still a hole in his chest that exposes his ribs. At least that's what I've been told; I'm afraid to look.
My husband's nephew, the one they were looking for, wasn't there. He doesn't even live in that house. After breaking down the door, throwing my husband to the ground, and screaming at my children, the officers - armed with M16s - filed through the house like they were playing war. They searched for drugs and never found any.
I heard my baby wailing and asked one of the officers to let me hold him. He screamed at me to sit down and shut up and blocked my view, so I couldn't see my son. I could see a singed crib. And I could see a pool of blood. The officers yelled at me to calm down and told me my son was fine, that he'd just lost a tooth. It was only hours later when they finally let us drive to the hospital that we found out Bou Bou was in the intensive burn unit and that he'd been placed into a medically induced coma.
For the last three weeks, my husband and I have been sleeping at the hospital. We tell our son that we love him and we'll never leave him behind. His car seat is still in the minivan, right where it's always been, and we whisper to him that soon we'll be taking him home with us.
Every morning, I have to face the reality that my son is fighting for his life. It's not clear whether he'll live or die. All of this to find a small amount of drugs?
via @maiasz
...and land of the free.
Jen at June 24, 2014 5:47 AM
A Heinlein-esque punishment is fit for these officers: a public flogging, then being stripped of rank, and then drummed out of the job.
Hey, morons! next time something blocks your way into a house, maybe you should pull out one of those nifty little fiber optic cameras and thread it thru the door and look at what's blocking your entrance.
One of these days, it's going to be 50 lbs of explosives that you toss a flash bang at, not a small sleeping child.
I R A Darth Aggie at June 24, 2014 6:22 AM
Or maybe they should use their high tech, evolutionary provided eyeballs to figure out if said suspect is in the house. Who else is in the house and what the situation is, before they breakdown the door so innocent collateral damage doesn't occur. These are dumbasses! Make drugs legal and they stop the violence over them...period. Take away their power.
Lee Ladisky at June 24, 2014 6:34 AM
You have to realize that the "war on drugs" provides a source of income to federal and local agencies. Thousands of gov't employees depend on it for their livelihood. Many make very comfortable livings off of it.
I have become convinced that the "war on drugs"(no matter its original intentions) has morphed into a "war to provide continuous funds to various jurisdictions and agencies."
Jay at June 24, 2014 7:38 AM
It's damned scary that these Barney Fifes, that shouldn't even be trusted with one bullet kept in a shirt pocket, are armed to the teeth with enough hardware to start a small war.
I hope that this little boy heals and has no lingering problems from his wounds. I hope his parents heal from the pain they are suffering watching their little one fight for his life.
I hope that every cop involved in this cluster fuck is charged with attempted murder, and that the family sues the hell out of the entire lot of morons responsible for this tragedy.
Kat at June 24, 2014 8:30 AM
Barney Fife respected the citizens of Mayberry. I will not have you besmearch the name of Fife with such a comparison.
joe at June 24, 2014 9:11 AM
Supporters of the War on Drugs should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.
Lobster at June 24, 2014 9:22 AM
Where are all the "only cops should have guns!" touters now?
Silence, I see.
Sabrina at June 24, 2014 10:10 AM
"I have become convinced that the 'war on drugs'(no matter its original intentions) has morphed into a 'war to provide continuous funds to various jurisdictions and agencies.'"
I concur... the whole civil-forfeiture racket relies on the "War on Drugs" to rationalize its existence.
Cousin Dave at June 24, 2014 10:54 AM
"Barney Fife respected the citizens of Mayberry. I will not have you besmearch(sic) the name of Fife with such a comparison."
And the citizens respected, maybe even feared, Deputy Fife.
Please note that the crime rate in Mayberry was nearly zero. This is because Deputy Fife, the one we see most often, is an alias.
Have you not noticed that the entire town locked itself up once, merely to avoid embarrassing this man?
The portrayal of Deputy Fife as a buffoon is an obvious ruse to fool the unwary criminal, who will then not end up in lockup with poor, decent Otis, but in a field of Deputy Fife's choosing - shallowly buried.
Radwaste at June 24, 2014 1:58 PM
Shall we say, "Tarika Wilson" this time, too?
Radwaste at June 24, 2014 1:59 PM
Well, at least the drug war is working, and we no longer have to worry about anyone being addicted to drugs.
clinky at June 25, 2014 12:23 PM
The police response?
"We're the police, bitches. We do what we want."
"... we'll do the same thing again. I stand behind what our team did... Bad things can happen. That's just the world we live in. Bad things happen to good people… The baby didn't deserve this."
The head cop blames the suspect who wasn't there and goes on to give his department a golden halo of go-fuck-yourselves:
"... we cannot stop standing up and being the thin blue line against those ... who want to do the domestic terrorism and sell dope ..."
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at June 25, 2014 5:58 PM
It's collateral damage.
Isn't that what we say when innocent children are killed when we launch wars on nations that never attacked us?
Patrick at June 25, 2014 6:41 PM
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