Real men of genius: SWAT Team Honored For Raid On Wrong House
Posted on July 30th, 2008 by beetlbumjl Tags: keystone cops, medals, Minneapolis, Reno 911, SWATMinneapolis local CBS affiliate, WCCO:
On Monday, Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan handed out honors to a team of officers involved in a botched raid at an innocent family’s home more than seven months ago. The family is upset and their attorney criticizes the awards and questions the timing.
Just days before Christmas, the sound of intruders breaking into their home in North Minneapolis prompted Vang Khang to grab his shotgun to protect his six children. His terrified wife called 911.
Khang fired several shots at the “intruders” who turned out to be members of the Minneapolis Police Department’s SWAT team. The officers returned fire. Their protective gear prevented them from being harmed by the bullets.
No one was hurt in the shootout last Dec. 16 and the Minneapolis Police Chief ordered an internal investigation. The house was left riddled with bullet holes and broken glass. Two days later, Dolan apologized to the family and launched an internal investigation to find out how the SWAT team wound up in an innocent family’s house in the middle of the night.
The investigation determined that the team had gone there looking for a gang member’s guns after an informant gave investigators in the department’s Violent Offenders Task Force bad information. The investigation is ongoing.
On Monday, Dolan recognized members of the SWAT team for their bravery and how they handled the raid. With Mayor R.T. Rybak and other city officials looking on, the chief handed out medals and commendations.
“The easy decision would have been to retreat under covering fire. The team did not take the easy way out,” Dolan told the crowd. “This is a perfect example of a situation that could have gone horribly wrong, but did not because of the professionalism with which it was handled.”
The Khang family was upset when they learned of the awards given to the SWAT team.
[snip]
Upset? You think?
3 Responses to “Real men of genius: SWAT Team Honored For Raid On Wrong House”
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July 30th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
If it was’nt for the fact that innocent people would likely die, plying a local police force with constant misinformation regarding gang residencies, hideouts and stash houses would be a great way to highlight the fact that some police don’t seem to fact check.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I’m not sure you can do much with the police. If you cross them they often will retaliate. I think clogging up the courts with Sam from Texas type cases for every person arrested for non-violent drug possession and flooding the legislators with the results would work though.
August 17th, 2008 at 9:09 am
[...] month where police raid the wrong house with excessive force all in the name of the War on Drugs: Minneapolis and Berwyn [...]