Last year while the Phonesavanh's baby boy Bounkham (Bou Bou) was sleeping, a Habersham County (Georgia) swat team burst into the bedroom and set off a flash-bang grenade that landed in his crib, severely burning his face and torso and collapsing his lung.
Bou Bou was so seriously injured he had to remain in an induced coma for five weeks, but miraculously he survived.
The controversial “no-knock” warrant that initiated this “war on drugs” travesty was a mistake in more ways than one - it was issued for someone not even living in the home, and the judge who issued it is now retired.
After a 20/20 team showed up to investigate, the drug team was disbanded, but you’d think the least the state of Georgia would do now is pay the extensive medical bills for all the treatments and surgeries required to repair Bou Bou’s body.
But instead the state is claiming it can’t pay because of a “prohibition against governmental gratuities” - A what?
Tell Georgia to stop making excuses and pay for this child’s medical bills - also compensate the family for its extensive pain and suffering.
We, the undersigned, say Georgia’s excuse for shirking its responsibility to the Phonesavanh family is an outrage.
Paying for this child’s medical bills is the least the state should do. No doubt the trauma inflicted on him and the entire family will stay with them for years, maybe throughout the child’s life.
It’s inexcusable that the “no-knock” warrant was issued in this case in the first place, because the facts show the person the swat team was seeking was not living with the family at that time, and there was no life-threatening emergency that would warrant such an invasion, much less the use of a deadly weapon, especially in a home where a child resided.
Even worse, according to Daily Kos, the judge who issued the warrant has retired and apparently suffered no consequences from his inexcusable neglect.
For Georgia to now use some bogus excuse about a “gratuity law” to try to get out of compensating this family is beyond inexcusable.
We request, on behalf of this child and the Phonesavanh family that Georgia pay for all jos medical bills and add compensation for pain and suffering and any other harm done to this family by this irresponsible swat team and warrant.
Thanks for your time.
