[Amy]

19 Month-Old Baby in Intensive Care after Georgia Police Threw a Stun Grenade into His Crib



At 3 A.M. on Thursday, May 29th, SWAT raided a home in Habersham County, Georgia. During the raid, officers threw a stun grenade into the crib of Bounkham Phonesavanh. The infant suffered extreme burns to the face and is currently in critical condition at the Grady Memorial Hospital’s burn unit. According to WSB-TV Atlanta, Alecia Phonesavanh, the mother of the child stated, “He’s in the burn unit. We go up to see him and his whole face is ripped open. He has a big cut on his chest.”

The family has no health insurance, but has created a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise money for their injured toddler. Police claimed that they were following protocol as they had been issued a no-knock warrant in regards to drugs purchased from a resident of the house. Officers claimed that they saw “no clothes, no toys, nothing to indicate that there was children present in the home.” Following the raid, Wanis Thometheva, 30, was arrested.

Eastern Kentucky University’s Peter Kraska wrote an article describing the excessive rise of SWAT raids in modern America, a phenomena that didn’t exist on such a large scale in the past. His research showed that the numbers have risen 13 times in the last thirty years. In 1980, there were an estimated 3,000 SWAT raids and by 2001 there were around 40,000.

This story and the research by Kraska demonstrates the militaristic nature of our society and the rise of the power struggle. Traditional methods of law enforcement are no longer used, instead, excessive force is preferable, and in most cases it is used. Evidence of this can be detected all throughout American society as incidents of police brutality continue to occur. Accountability needs to occur and the tactics of SWAT need to be reassessed. At the very least, the state or government should pay for the treatment of an innocent child who was caught in the middle of a situation that he had nothing to do with and that he will suffer from for the rest of his life. The quality of life for Bounkham Pohnesavanh will never be the same and someone should have to answer for that.

Photo credit: WSBTV.com

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[ousoonerchic]

Awww...poor baby

[Kelseecat65]

WOW, because they sold drugs? A murder I could understand, but drugs?
Poor baby.

[CrunchyCripple]

If it was a drug raid, this falls 99.9% on the parents.
Don't do illegal shit and get upset when the cops show up and things get rough.

Cops/swat - how about a little observation? It's really hard to hide a baby. They're pretty noisy. Observing the residence for a day or two, should have revealed the presence of a baby.

[candice81]

Agreed Crunchy, Raids are no joke and the cops are horrible. I was in a raid a little while ago, they were looking for guns, bricks of hash,pounds of pot, pit bulls (apparently we had dog fights). They demolished the house, broke the front door, broke sentimental objects, took our dogs, lizard and cat to the humain society. Not to mention cut off our Hydro for three weeks saying we were stealing Hydro for a grow op (We started our summer plants indoors and had uv light for them).They beat the shit out of my boyfriend, arrested both of us, they were demeaning in every way possible. It was the most horrible experience I have ever had.
....Do you know what they found?
My half ounce of pot and my boyfriends quarter of hash! Thats it!
We were not doing any of what they said, they did not do their homework, we tried to sue but it was pointless as we would have spent more money paying lawyers.
Fun times!! fucking assholes

[OhJstFkOffAlrdy]

Originally Posted by candice81 ↗

Agreed Crunchy, Raids are no joke and the cops are horrible. I was in a raid a little while ago, they were looking for guns, bricks of hash,pounds of pot, pit bulls (apparently we had dog fights). They demolished the house, broke the front door, broke sentimental objects, took our dogs, lizard and cat to the humain society. Not to mention cut off our Hydro for three weeks saying we were stealing Hydro for a grow op (We started our summer plants indoors and had uv light for them).They beat the shit out of my boyfriend, arrested both of us, they were demeaning in every way possible. It was the most horrible experience I have ever had.
....Do you know what they found?
My half ounce of pot and my boyfriends quarter of hash! Thats it!
We were not doing any of what they said, they did not do their homework, we tried to sue but it was pointless as we would have spent more money paying lawyers.
Fun times!! fucking assholes

I thought Mounties were supposed to be polite.

[kellyhound]

Thonetaheva, who was wanted for selling methamphetamine to an undercover officer, was not home at the time of the raid.
The wanted man was not home, but his relatives — which included little Bounkham, his three older sisters and their parents — were all inside when police descended on the home.
The family had been visiting from Wisconsin since losing their home to a fire earlier this year, and their lawyer said officers could have learned that by basic observation.

[candice81]

Originally Posted by Metal Mike ↗

I thought Mounties were supposed to be polite.

No mounties lol, thats northern canada. We had good ol swat!

[candice81]

That shows even more stupidity on their part, he wasn't even home!

[OhJstFkOffAlrdy]

Originally Posted by candice81 ↗

No mounties lol, thats northern canada. We had good ol swat!

Dammit, you're right.

The moose out front shoulda told me.