Wrongly Raided

Federal agents obtained a warrant and used it to raid a house in Oklahoma, seizing possessions in an effort to secure evidence for a human smuggling case. Residents of the home claim there was one major problem with the raid—it was carried out on the wrong individuals. The residents of the home claim they had only recently moved in, are U.S. citizens, and are not alleged to be connected in any way to the crime that justified the warrant. The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement that the warrant authorized a search of the property and was not contingent on specific individuals being present at the time of the search.

Analysis and eternal perspective: It is a harrowing thing to have your home invaded by law enforcement without your consent. It is the precise reason the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires a warrant based on probable cause before a “search or seizure” can occur. Law enforcement must take its evidence of a crime to a court, and the court must find probably cause before the warrant is issued. This process is intended to protect innocent people against intrusion and invasion of privacy while affording law enforcement appropriate avenues for completing a dangerous but necessary job.

A free society is a delicate balance—especially in a day and age that is impatient with nuance. This story is a prime example of why and how The Equipped community is needed. There are two truths stemming from this story, and while they appear in conflict at first, they are actually both necessary for the other to prevail. They stand or they fall together, and we would do well to plainly acknowledge them both:

1) Law enforcement plays a critical (and dangerous) role in protecting the innocent, and must be afforded ways to seek justice and defend the oppressed (Is. 1:17).

2) Every care must be taken to avoid using the harrowing power of the law against uninvolved people (Pr. 17:15).

The latter principle sometimes restrains and frustrates the first principle, but the truth is that law enforcement without safeguards and privacy without accountability both lead to chaos. We must choose both of these biblically inspired governing principles or we will be left with neither.

The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.