Policing the State

On November 21, 2006, an Atlanta Narcotics Team served a no knock search warrant at 933 Neal Street. After thirty-nine shots were fired by police officers, the ninety-two-year-old owner of the home, Ms. Kathryn Johnston, lay dying; three police officers were also injured by ricochets from their own weapons. A subsequent FBI investigation revealed that the original application for the search warrant had been made with false information, then covered up. Drugs were planted at Ms....
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On November 21, 2006, an Atlanta Narcotics Team served a no knock search warrant at 933 Neal Street. After thirty-nine shots were fired by police officers, the ninety-two-year-old owner of the home, Ms. Kathryn Johnston, lay dying; three police officers were also injured by ricochets from their own weapons. A subsequent FBI investigation revealed that the original application for the search warrant had been made with false information, then covered up. Drugs were planted at Ms. Johnston's home, and police informants were instructed to lie about having witnessed both dealers and drugs at the home. Two of the three police officers most directly implicated in this case pled guilty to various charges including manslaughter, while the third, Arthur Tesler, pled not guilty to lesser charges and stood trial in Atlanta in May 2008. This book offers an eyewitness account of what happened at that trial, as well as an analysis of what the case suggests about the need and the prospects for democratic reform today.