Barbara Arnwine, Civil Rights Lawyer, Has Home Raided By Police

A civil rights lawyer said she is outraged and is sharing her story with the media, after her Maryland home was raided by police shortly before Thanksgiving.

Barbara Arnwine, the executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said her Prince George County home was raided by a SWAT team and other law enforcement the morning of Nov. 21, Politic365.com reports.

"They held us at gunpoint for three hours," Arnwine told Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. on Sharpton's radio show "Keepin' It Real." "There is no justification for them operating like this. It's totally unprofessional and unjustified."

Arnwine is a well known attorney, and one of the leaders of groups in opposition of Voter ID laws. On Nov. 14, she spoke out about the effects of voter suppression laws on the minority community along with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The SWAT team arrived at her home at 5:30 a.m., disturbing the attorney and her family members, including an 80-year-old relative, Arnwine said. They also did not seem to have a warrant and asked for the name of the homeowner and how to spell that name.

"If they had a warrant and were targeting any of us then how could they not know our names and know how to spell them," Arnwine said to D.C radio station's WPFW news anchor Askia Muhammad. "It looks like they were randomly looking, like they were on a fishing expedition. I honestly think they were looking for someone else. I honestly think they had the wrong address. I don't think they had the right house but I'll never know because I never saw a warrant."

She told Muhammad that the president was aware of the incident, and that a press conference is being planned, according to Politic365.com.

"President Obama has heard about it and has e-mailed people asking 'What in the world is this?'"

Comments

[tennisracket53]

11:11 AM on 12/01/2011

Black folks need jobs!! Who's concerned about voting rights?? Most Black folks probably wont vote in thsi next presidential election, because of our disenchatment with President Obama and his administration. No one is creating jobs for Black folks, albeit, there is more conversation around job creation. Where are the jobs for Black folks??????? Where are the jobs??

[mcvollely10]

11:47 AM on 12/01/2011

I pass the unemployment office every morning on the way to work and i must tell you that there are just as many white, hispanic, and other races out there looking for a job...creat jobs for just blacks???? Could you be any more racist???

[mcvollely10]

12:06 PM on 12/01/2011

O and another thing...are you familiar of the Civil Rights Act of 1964...look it up...it basically insures that blacks have to be employed in a company...no other race has an act like that....so who are you kidding...sounds to me like your asking for hand outs...it 2011, you have had more rights and handouts than any other race their is so suck it up, bust your tail like a true " US American" and do somthing...the army is always accepting applications hun! So save your bs racist comments for someone who gives two craps!

[funkyou2]

04:01 PM on 12/01/2011

If you're asking Obama where the jobs are, he knows the answer, but maybe you don't know how this all plays out...ya know ...congress....Republicans...obstruction of any jobs bill. So why don't you take you're missed placed question of where are the jobs, to the right people because the President is doing all he can to get us those jobs.
And I know we all kinda got used to a dictator in the WH but now we have a President. He can't just go around signing bills that congress has not approved. Have you called or written your Rep?

[KnoxScott]

02:44 PM on 11/30/2011

Why should the President care.He isn't the the Gov of Maryland..Oh never mind....Leave him alone, he has better thing to due like .....I see Jesseeeeeeeeee still has that sorry Miss Jackson look on his face...

[openvisions55]

11:23 AM on 11/30/2011

This has been happening for some time now. They raid your home and you wait hours for a warrant. They hold guns to you head. They harm elderly people and get away with it. When the warrant comes, its nit signed and you don't know what to think.Until it happens to someone in power. In Maryland you can tell the police any story and they will bust into someone home. The story is not true but at least they make some money when you bail the person out. You go to court and they find out the real truth and nothing happens to the person who told the lie.Mean while some of your family members are injured or sick from the raid. If your property is damaged, you must repair it. This happens to more black family's than any others. It need to stop. If they run into the wrong home or someone is playing a joke on someone else. That person who lied and the police swat team need to pay for any and all repairs and hospital bills.That person also needs to be locked up for the lie. Sad sad state to live in.

[amd02148]

12:53 PM on 11/30/2011

T his story is not true are you kidding me? this isn't uncommon at all.

[Heat2Hot]

08:32 AM on 11/30/2011

She needs to file suit and send a message. A former Marine and Iraqi war vet (Jose Guerena) was killed earlier this month by SWAT in Arizona because they thought he was a drug dealer. Here we go again. Law Enforcement was irresponsible in that case and also this one. If this can happen to Guerena and Arnwine, it can happen to others. Enough is enough and it's time for these agencies to pay. Once hit in the pocket, they will think twice before playing Rambo at the wrong house.

[amd02148]

05:12 PM on 11/30/2011

Heat2hot, it's disgraceful but this did have a happy ending, noone was killed.

[ProfessorProgressor]

06:40 PM on 11/30/2011

OMG! They killed NOONE?

[Heat2Hot]

03:40 AM on 12/01/2011

I don't call that a happy ending when you come into my home and hold me at gunpoint. I call that traumatic for me and my family but I agree, it was disgraceful.

[ProfessorProgressor]

06:48 PM on 11/30/2011

The problem with filing law suits is the taxpayer ends up being hit in his/her pocket instead of the individuals involved in the illegal act. A law should be passed that holds law enforcement individuals accountable (i.e. the watch commander, the LT. along with the ground troops) for their illegal activity. THEN and only THEN will these people think twice about their actions. Oh, and you can keep your job-you'll need the money to compensate the victims once they've been civilly vindicated.

[Heat2Hot]

03:43 AM on 12/01/2011

I don't have a problem with it at all because I believe that anyone who has been traumatized and victimized should be paid. Mrs. Guerena has filed a 10 million dollar lawsuit because SWAT killed her husband and their child had to step over his body to get out of the house. This woman deserves every dime.

[LiveTheSheenDream]

12:22 AM on 11/30/2011

Schlock journalism to the max. How about telling us WHICH law enforcement agency the SWAT team belonged to, hmm? Does that sound like a relevant piece of information? How about telling us if the law enforcement personnel actually entered the attorney's home or if they simply stood at the door asking for clarification of the homeowner's identity? If they had the wrong address than they would be prohibited BY LAW to show a warrant since only the person who's subject to the warrant is entitled to see it. Showing a warrant to a non-involved party violates the privacy of the person who's subject to the warrant as well as compromises the evidential integrity of the investigation. I hate crap reporting and lame attempts to stir up "outrage" over non-events.

[amd02148]

05:16 PM on 11/30/2011

You are in Black Voices LiveTheSheenDream, before you make ignorant and uniformed comments, read some of the posts and maybe you can get a clue. This is reality not an episode of LA Law.

[outlawjames8]

07:09 PM on 11/30/2011

If you read past the headline you'd have the answer to all your questions.

[MA2AW]

09:11 PM on 11/29/2011

Hey, that's Maxien Waters. Hey girl!!! We miss you in Hell, but we got a special couch down here to lay your tired self on.

[Lvbgsiz]

02:18 PM on 11/30/2011

Right beside yo Momma!

[MA2AW]

09:01 PM on 11/29/2011

There's alot of wanna be lawyers here tonight. Warrent this and that. No, the police doesn't need a warrent as long as there is probable cause. Plain sight evidence is good enough.

[greasedog]

11:21 PM on 11/29/2011

Exactly HOW do you get "plain sight" unless you're invited in? Did she let them in? I don't know. The article said "The SWAT team arrived at her home". The article says the house was "raided". Common understanding of the word would indicate that a "raid" is different than an "invite". A "raid" DOES require a warrant. An invitation does not require a warrant unless it's rescinded prior to an illegal act of illegal contraband being witnessed by the authorities "in plain sight".
Wouldn't you agree?

[klincklanc]

04:32 AM on 11/30/2011

"Plain view" is the term, and it doesn't apply here b/c nothing indicates that cops witnessed criminality in the house. The only exception would be exigency in cases like this, and there was no exigency here. Probable cause justifies cops obtaining a warrant and not raiding homes w/o warrants. Also, if you'd like to come down and review my license, my hours are from 9 to 5.

[SO12]

03:09 PM on 11/29/2011

A civil rights lawyer doesn't understand the basic principle of the warrant???????

"I don't think they had the right house but I'll never know because I never saw a warrant."

[ishakeahand]

03:49 PM on 11/29/2011

Dear Ms. Arnwine,
I understand why your house was raided by SWAT Team, and why you don't understand why it happen. I have come into information that could help you and others. My understanding of this information is causing a problem here in Miami, Florida for the Judicial system, and it's all right in the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). If you can get this e-mail please contact me at once.

Isaiah Brock Jr.

[Rodger leMonde]

06:20 PM on 11/29/2011

How stupid are you? She was saying they did not show a warrant. A warrant is supposed to prevent home invasions like this from happening.

[cdiasmd]

02:57 PM on 11/29/2011

funny she doesn't mention that her nephew "Curtis Lamar Ford" was wanted in connection to the armed robbery of a Popeye's Chicken store. He was arrested 26 Nov. The PGC police wanted specific evidentiary items collected from Arnwine’s home on Nov. 21 pertaining to Ford. No response from Arnwine as to whether or not Curtis is a permanent resident of her home.

[Blair Epps]

05:13 PM on 11/29/2011

Still need a warant

[papapj]

06:33 PM on 11/29/2011

Link?

[amd02148]

08:16 PM on 11/29/2011

papapj this is eight grade history.You don't need a link read the United States Bill of Rights.

[amd02148]

08:17 PM on 11/29/2011

Sorry typo eighth

[freez]

02:23 PM on 11/29/2011

This is not as unusual as folks would like to think. The War on Drugs (truly The War on Black Folk) has opened the door to a deluge of police abuses. Maybe this story will spark a call for large scale change, but it'll probably be focused on as an isolated incident.

[MA2AW]

09:02 PM on 11/29/2011

Here we go, only black folks do drugs.

[ur2nutty4me]

01:28 PM on 11/29/2011

If half this story is true a lot of people besides police officers should be in jail ssoon. Wrong address and three hours...........B$

[amd02148]

08:22 PM on 11/29/2011

ur2nutty4me, this is not a B$ story you live in America, you should know this is a regular occurence in the black community go on Google you will see thousands of cases just like this one. This one actually had a happy ending. There have been hundreds of murders of innocent people while police are serving "warants"

[ur2nutty4me]

08:28 PM on 11/29/2011

I know ........................

[eldnh]

01:28 PM on 11/29/2011

Why is it when an important person then these things are made known to the world? This has happened to many of us people of color for years, and I mean recent years not just 60's!

[Rodger leMonde]

06:23 PM on 11/29/2011

Because we have become a police state. Every once in a while they victimize folks with enough clout to have their complain heard.

[BlairCase]

01:10 PM on 11/29/2011

The Prince George’s County Police Department says it had an arrest warrant for an individual residing at Arnwine's home. The suspect was wanted in connection with an armed robbery. The Police Department provided a copy of the arrant to local newsmedia.
http://politic365.com/2011/11/29/pg-county-police-respond-in-arnwine-case-her-attorney-talks/

[eldnh]

01:34 PM on 11/29/2011

The same thing the claimed when the knocked down my families door while they already arrested me on the street. When the robbery happened I was in choir rehersal with over 15 people. Didn't even own a gun. Long Beach P.D. And they sure didn't have a warrant! They could have knocked!!!!!

[amd02148]

08:27 PM on 11/29/2011

eldnh I'm sorry that happened to you. One case in particular was in Texas the police did have the wrong apartment in the house they shot into a window and killed a seven year old girl napping on the couch. Of course they thought they saw someone hiding behind the couch and it looked like they had a gun. So many cases but that one just stands out.

[MA2AW]

09:06 PM on 11/29/2011

Don't do stupid stuff to bring the police to your door. Guilty by association. Conspiracy is a monster with alot of time.

[Rodger leMonde]

06:32 PM on 11/29/2011

Then why didn't they show it to Ms. Arnwine? Perhaps this was generated after the fact?

[Sistagirl Young]

12:45 PM on 11/29/2011

So wonderful to see the ubiquitous J'he Jackson there. Now I know all's right with the world. Life.

[LadyeCatte]

12:14 PM on 11/29/2011

Tear 'em a new one, Ms. Arnwine!