When Police are the Intruders

A woman holds a Black Lives Matter flag during the March on Washington, Aug. 28, 2020 [AP/Alex Brandon]

As people continue to call for justice for Breonna Taylor, similar stories are unfolding across the country. Diamonds Ford, a Black woman in Florida, is facing life in prison for shooting a law enforcement officer who was raiding her Jacksonville home, and who she says she mistook for an intruder.

A SWAT team from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, acting with the Drug Enforcement Administration, served a high-risk warrant on the home Ford shares with her fiance, Anthony Gantt, who are both Black, at 8 a.m. on Sept. 28. Roughly 30 officers served the warrant.

According to Ford’s attorney, Stephen Kelly, Ford was asleep at the time because she had gone to bed late after attending a funeral the previous day. She was awoken by the sound of glass shattering, grabbed a pistol she kept in the home, and started shooting through her window. One of the shots struck a detective from the sheriff’s office in his bullet-proof vest. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Ford then called 911 to report that someone was shooting, pleading with the operator to send police and telling him, “We’re going to die.” Seconds later, a voice can be heard saying, “Sheriff’s office, open the front door.”

“Wait, that’s the sheriff’s office?” Ford replied. She proceeded to cooperate with the officers.

The practice of police entering homes without notifying residents sparked protests last year when Louisville, Kentucky police shot and killed Breonna Taylor in her apartment. Officers were acting under a no-knock warrant that allowed them to force entry into her home.

No-knock warrants are not allowed in Florida, though the high-risk warrant served on Ford’s home allows similar police conduct. The key difference is that police must announce themselves.

Breaking into someone’s home to serve a warrant is a notoriously risky way to go. Earlier this month, Michigan police killed a man while serving a high-risk warrant on his home. Data from 2010-2014 in Maryland on SWAT deployments shows that “firearms were discharged in 99 operations, civilians were killed in nine and injured in 95, officers were injured in at least 30 and animals were killed in 14.”

Facing a life sentence

In advocating for Ford’s release, Kelly has argued that Ford was acting in self-defense because she thought someone was breaking into her home and did not know that the shattering glass was from law enforcement serving a warrant. “She thought someone was trying to kill her,” Kelly told me.

Prosecutors charged Ford with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and armed possession of marijuana. A conviction carries a life sentence.

In court documents, the sheriff's office has said it announced their presence on a loudspeaker and asked Ford and Gannt to come out of the house. Some neighbors said they heard the announcement, while others said they only heard loud trucks or could not make out what was said on the loudspeaker. Others said they were asleep, like Ford, and did not hear anything at all.

Despite the abundance of officers on the scene, there is no body camera footage of the incident.

Ford was held on a $535,000 bond. In November, a judge refused to reduce the bond, saying she hadn’t seen enough evidence to prove that Ford shot at law enforcement by mistake.

However, organizers raised enough money to post bond, and Ford was released Friday to await trial. They are now asking for donations via GoFundMe to support Ford and her daughter.

Danielle Chanzes, a Florida activist, told me that she and other organizers have started a petition urging prosecutors to drop the charges.

Chanzes also said that Florida must end its use of high-risk warrants that authorize hordes of law enforcement officers to serve warrants on homes they believe to contain weapons. Though they said they announced themselves, there’s scant proof that Ford heard them. “Announcing yourself when somebody’s asleep, in my opinion, doesn’t count,” said Chanzes.

Kelly said that the evidence will show that Ford shot in self-defense. “I think it’s clear that at no point did she know that was law enforcement entering into her home,” said Kelly. “She called the police after shooting the police.”

These cases are not as rare as you think, adding urgency to calls for reforms to reallocate funds for investments into communities instead of policing.