FBI’s wrong house raid at center of Supreme Court debate on government immunity
The Supreme Court heard arguments about a botched FBI raid of the wrong house, with questions about government accountability, false arrest, and sovereign immunity. The case involves the wrongful entry into a couple's home in 2017.
In a case raising critical questions about government accountability, the U.S. Supreme Court on April 29, 2025, heard arguments on a lawsuit that challenges the FBI’s wrongful raid of a home in 2017.
The incident, which involved the use of a battering ram and flash-bang grenade, occurred in Atlanta when FBI agents mistakenly raided the wrong address based on faulty GPS directions.
The case: FBI's mistaken raid and legal implications
Hilliard Toi Cliatt and Curtrina Martin, were at home together very early in the morning, when suddenly FBI agents broke down their door, guns drawn, setting off a flash-bang grenade and charging inside. The couple barricaded themselves in the closet, but agents dragged out Mr. Cliatt at gunpoint, while his wife only asked to see their son, who had been sleeping in the next room.
When Hilliard Toy Cliatt was being interrogated, he gave his address to the agents, and they realized they had the wrong house, as it was different from the one they had a warrant to enter. Lawrence Guerra, one of the agents who had raided the house, had earlier identified the correct building, said he got confused as it looked similar, and it was on a nearby street, and blamed the incident on a faulty GPS device.
After the raid, FBI agents realized they were on the wrong address. Photo: LR composition/ EFE
While the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the FBI for false arrest, false imprisonment, and other claims; they ultimately lost in the lower courts for many reasons. Particularly, the fact that government officials’ actions are protected from lawsuits when they perform a duty that involves discretion.
FBI’s mistaken raid: legal accountability vs. government immunity
The case was then taken to the Supreme Court, where questions about government immunity and accountability are now being deliberated. During Tuesday's hearing, Justice Neal M. Gorsuch expressed his disbelief over the FBI not having any kind of policy which prevents FBI agents from breaking down the wrong door and traumatizing innocent citizens. "No policy says don’t break down the wrong door?" Gorsuch asked.
He also questioned the fact that none of them bothered to check whether they had the right number or even if they were on the right street, but the federal government's lawyer, Frederick Liu, argued that to do so, implied putting at risk the safety of the agents, saying they made a “reasonable mistake.”
