[TMSuchman]

She could have invited the cops in & this would not have happened. Yes, the swat guys are scary looking, but look at who they are dealing with, and it is not the everyday citizen, who goes to work and pays their stolen wages to the govt. and goes to church and PTA & ect...

On the other hand they [the police dept.] is responsible for repairing the damages that they have caused in this act. They should have had better intel before they raided that home! And the lady should sue the PD for the actions that did!

[Phantom Patriot]

She could have invited the cops in & this would not have happened. Yes, the swat guys are scary looking, but look at who they are dealing with, and it is not the everyday citizen, who goes to work and pays their stolen wages to the govt. and goes to church and PTA & ect...

Disagree. In some cases you are correct but the government can even demonize an old lady.

[faloi]

She could have invited the cops in & this would not have happened. Yes, the swat guys are scary looking, but look at who they are dealing with, and it is not the everyday citizen, who goes to work and pays their stolen wages to the govt. and goes to church and PTA & ect...

She could have, if she was home. It sounds like nobody was home when they conducted the raid. If she were home, I'm sure she'd be much more enraged about being gassed and tossed around by a SWAT team than she is about her guinea pig.

There was an instance in Austin a week or so ago where the local SWAT team surrounded a gun store for hours before making entry and finding out the thieves already left. I'm not saying that they were wrong, I'd certainly be extremely leery about charging into a gun store with doubtlessly armed criminals. I'm just pointing out that it's hard to invite someone in, or respond to police attempts to contact you when you're not technically in the building.

[CindyDawg]

I often side with LE but “no” the responsibility was not hers for not “inviting” them in.

[Malacoda]

She could have invited the cops in & this would not have happened.

Uh, usually when such raids are conducted, it's not a "Knock, knock -- oh, pardon, we're looking for X, may we come in?" situation. Usually they bash down the door, toss in the smokers or flash-bangs, and charge in. Then they cuff everyone (at gunpoint) and ask questions much later.

You don't GET an opportunity to invite them in. Never mind the fact that letting any law enforcement officer in w/o a warrant is a bad idea, because more often than not, they'll FIND something to bust you for.

[Secret Agent Man]

They spent hours asking her to surrender. This is weird. It’s weird she wouldn’t let them in to end the thing quicker as it was apparently just dragging on for HOURS. It’s also weird that SWAT spent hours negotiating a surrender - you don’t need SWAT to do this if the person you’re going after may just let you in.

This was not a no-knock like some of the other examples. This whole thing strikes me as overkill on the PD’s part, and stupidity on the woman’s part.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I don’t think that was the problem. From the story the police stay outside and yell for someone named Sean Deaton to come out. The woman, knowing that no Sean Deaton was in there with her, locks her door and assumes the police are yelling at another apartment. Then suddenly there are windows breaking and tear gas flying. I would sue, too.