A Black Lives Matter activist is suing the Los Angeles Police Department after she was targeted in a ‘swatting’ incident in which heavily armed officers surrounded her home last year because a prankster claimed there were hostages held inside.
Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of BLM’s LA chapter and a supporter of the ‘defund the police’ movement, accused the police of targeting her due to her activism.
'This was a clear case of LAPD ... attempting to terrorize us,' Abdullah told the Los Angeles Times.
'They made no attempt to keep me or my children safe, and this was actually an infliction of harm.'
Melina Abdullah (seen above in Los Angeles in June 2020), a co-founder of Black Lives Matter's Los Angeles chapter, is suing the Los Angeles Police Department
On August 19, 2020, the LAPD received a 911 call from someone who claimed he had taken people hostage in Abdullah’s home in the Crenshaw section of the city. Heavily armed LAPD officers responded to the scene (above)
Abdullah livestreamed the incident on her Instagram account (above)
On August 19, 2020, the LAPD received a 911 call from someone who claimed he had taken people hostage in Abdullah’s home in the Crenshaw section of the city.
The caller told police he wanted to ‘send a message’ that ‘BLM is a bunch of retards.’
News of the lawsuit was reported by the Los Angeles Times. The LAPD declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Swatting is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency service into sending heavily armed police and other emergency service response teams to another person’s address without actual cause.
This is often triggered by falsely reporting a serious emergency, such as a bomb threat, hostage situation, murder, or a ‘mental health’ emergency.
Making false reports to emergency services is a criminal offense in many countries, punishable by fines and imprisonment.
Abdullah livestreamed the incident on her Instagram account on the morning of August 19, 2020.
‘I don’t know why they are here,’ she is heard saying as heavily armed police are seen outside her home.
‘They have guns pointed at my house. There’s a helicopter overhead.
‘Nobody’s knocked at the door, but apparently they’ve made announcements for people to come out with our hands up.
‘My children are in the house. My children are in the house. I don’t know what this is.’
‘I don’t know why they are here,’ she is heard saying as heavily armed police are seen outside her home
Abdullah then stepped outside of the home. An officer then asked her what her address was, and she responded
As Abdullah approached a group of officers, another asked her if she was in danger. She told them she was not
Abdullah then stepped outside of the home. An officer then asked her what her address was, and she responded.
‘Are you looking for me?’ Abdullah asked. The officer then instructs her to walk over to him, telling her: ‘You’re not in trouble.’
As Abdullah approached a group of officers, another asked her if she was in danger. She told them she was not.
'OK. We got a call to this location that there is a male in there holding you guys hostage, and he wants a million dollars or he’s going to kill you within an hour,' the officer said.
'Oh my...no,' Abdullah replied.
No one was injured.
The LAPD has yet to arrest anyone in connection with the investigation into the hoax 911 call.
At the time of the incident, the nation was in the midst of widespread demonstrations, rioting, and unrest as protesters demanded changes to policing methods in minority communities.
In court papers filed with California Superior Court, Abdullah says she feared LAPD SWAT officers would shoot into her home and wound her children.
Abdullah also says that she feared she would be shot if she followed officers’ commands and stepped outside.
Abdullah claims the LAPD staged the incident as ‘retaliation’ for her protesting and activism
She accuses the LAPD of failing to contact her beforehand even though she alleges that they had her contact information.
Abdullah claims the LAPD staged the incident as ‘retaliation’ for her protesting and activism.
She alleges that police did not actually believe that there was a hostage situation in her home.
To bolster her claims, Abdullah alleges that police allowed her security guard, whom the officer did not know, to pass through a perimeter and enter the home as they staged around it.
Two neighbors of Abdullah’s were also permitted to go inside the home to check up on her and walk to her side as she stepped outside to speak to officers, according to the lawsuit.
She said the response was 'an attempt to put down protest, to target me as someone who's been very visible and vocal in protesting LAPD.'
Abdullah’s attorney, Erin Darlin, told the Times there was ‘ample evidence’ the LAPD ‘knew or should have known that the call was a hoax.’
Darlin also said the LAPD should have known that Abdullah and other high-profile members of BLM would be targets of ‘swatting’ incidents.
'Especially for someone familiar with police abuse, she's thinking in that moment — a moment of terror — that, "Oh my god, they want to kill me and this is their excuse",' Darling said.
The incident involving Abdullah could have ended tragically. Other high-profile ‘swatting’ incidents made headlines in recent years.
In December 2017, a Los Angeles man called police to falsely report a shooting and kidnapping at the address of a home in Wichita, Kansas.
Abdullah is a supporter of the ‘defund the police’ movement that erupted in the wake of the police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year. A protest is seen above in Los Angeles on June 1, 2020
The intended target of the call, a gamer with whom he had a dispute, had moved to another address.
The resident of the home, 28-year-old Andrew Finch, was killed by police when he opened the door to his home.
Tyler Barriss, the man who originally made the fake 911 call, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to 51 counts for making false emergency calls and threats around the country, including the deadly hoax call in Kansas.
The other online gamer, Casey Viner, will have to face a jury after violating the terms of a diversion deal he made with prosecutors, a judge ruled Monday.
US District Judge Eric Melgren granted the government's motion to resume prosecution of Shane Gaskill of Wichita and set his trial for October 5.
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