Rally Held for Baby Injured by Police Grenade during No-knock Home Invasion
By Betty Couvertier and Matthew Charles Cardinale.
(APN) HABERSHAM COUNTY — On today, Saturday, June 06, 2014, activists from across Georgia converged on Habersham County to rally for an end to the drug war, whose latest victim is a baby, Bounkham “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh.
Photographs by Betty Couvertier
Baby Bou Bou was injured by a flash bang grenade, a military-grade weapon, that police threw into a suspected meth house in Cornelia, after a confidential informant told police about an alleged fifty dollar meth sale. The Cornelia Police Department and Habersham County Sheriff were responsible for the no-knock raid that took place on the early morning of May 28, 2014.
The grenade landed in Baby Bou Bou’s crib and severely injured his face. Bou Bou is currently in critical condition, with a collapsed lung and burns all over his face. No drugs were found in the house.
Over one hundred activists from all over the state came out of the woodworks over issues of police brutality and ending the so-called “war on drugs.”
Activists included Cop Watch of East Atlanta, Libertarians, pro-gun activists, Communists, and critics of the war on drugs. They came from Gwinnett County, Hartwell, Suwanee, Duluth, Clarkesville, Atlanta, and many other places.
There were also about fifteen anti-protesters, standing across the street, who put the blame on the parents for putting the child in a known meth house.
Photographs by Betty Couvertier
Baby Bou Bou has uncovered a can of worms in quiet, traditional Habersham County.
The rally was held in Clarkesville, a small town in northeast Georgia, in the foothills of the Northeast Blue Ridge Mountains, where cows, horses, sheep, goats, cats, and dogs mingle together.
The rally was organized by James Bell of Georgia CARE and the Georgia Taxpayers Alliance, Inc., to bring attention to runaway government.
It is a shame that such an event as has occurred: that an infant, a small child, has become a victim of the depraved indifference of our democratic society. Accountability, so far, is in short supply.
Infringement of Constitutional rights, reform of drug laws, gun rights, standing up for what is right, Justice for All, government surveillance, misplaced blame: all of these issues Baby Bou Bou has brought to light… as he lays in a hospital bed, his life on the edge.
Photographs by Betty Couvertier
During the rally, cars were driving by, with motorists honking their horns in support of the rally or against it.
According to a press release, the goals of the rally included, “To call for a state and federal investigation into this tragedy to determine the facts and hold those responsible accountable;
To call for the abolition of “no-knock” warrants except where a life and death situation exists; and
To call for an end to the War on Drugs as we know it and treat drug use as a health issue not a police matter.”
Another rally will be held in support of Baby BouBou on June 14, 2014, at 12pm, at the Habersham County Courthouse, 555 Monroe Street, Clarkesville, Georgia 30523.
(END/2014)