In March, Louisville PD dressed in plain clothes entered the house of Breonna Taylor and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker. Officers were looking for a suspect who did not live there, who had already been apprehended earlier that day. After Walker shot in self defense at the intruders in their home, LPD fired back and Breonna was hit 8 times. Officers charged Walker with attempted murder but he was later released. The officers who murdered the 26yr old EMT have not had charges brought against them.

Although these types of raids have been shown across the country to be lethal time and time again, Ohio is not exempt from this history. In 2008 in Lima, Ohio; 26yr old mother Tarika Wilson was murdered by SWAT after they opened fire in her home. She was holding her 14-month old son in her arms, who was injured but survived. Tarika was not a suspect in the case for which the warrant was served.

Children are seemingly never considered by SWAT during these raids and often suffer the consequences. In 2010, Detroit PD entered the wrong apartment and killed 7yr old Aiyana Stanley-Jones as she slept on the couch.

These warrants are in violation of our 4th amendment rights, and furthermore, the risk of fatality outweights the potential successful apprehension of a suspect or evidence, ESPECIALLY in non-emergency situations. Low level drug investigations do not call for these deadly acts of violence. Data suggests only about 1/3 of these raids turn up contraband.

Sign the petition and force some change in Ohio's militarized police routines.

Reading Material:

https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/jus14-warcomeshome-text-rel1.pdf

https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/05/breonna-taylor-is-one-of-a-shocking-number-of-black-people-to-see-armed-police-barge-into-their-homes/

https://www.vox.com/2014/10/29/7083371/swat-no-knock-raids-police-killed-civilians-dangerous-work-drugs