Georgia Cops Terrorize Black Woman in ‘Gestapo-Style’ Raid for a Fugitive Who Was Already In Jail — Before Ransacking Her Home and Fleeing the Scene Without an ApologyOnce again, American law enforcement agencies exposed their incompetency by raiding the home of an innocent Black woman in Georgia in search of a fugitive accused of murder who had been arrested four months earlier.
But not only had federal agents arrested Joshua Smiley in Indiana on June 20, 2023, they boasted about the capture in a press release which was reported by various local media sites at the time.
But for reasons that have yet to be explained, at least 15 law enforcement officers from the U.S. Marshals Service and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office raided the home of Cathy George at 5 a.m. on October 24, 2023, terrorizing the woman who had no connection to Smiley.
“I wasn’t shown any ID, I wasn’t shown any warrant, I wasn’t shown a search warrant, an arrest warrant, a badge,” she said in a video interview with the Institute for Justice, the national law firm that filed a lawsuit on her behalf.
“I had no clue who they were.”
The federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the U.S. Marshals Service, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office and the 15 cops who raided her home, accusing them of violating her Fourth, Fifth and 14th Amendment rights.
The 15 cops who ransacked her home while dressed in riot gear and terrorizing her at gunpoint threatened her with arrest if she did not inform them of the whereabouts of Smiley, who has no known ties to Georgia.
“‘Where is he? Where are you hiding him? Where is he? You know if you’re lying to us, you’re going to be going to jail,’” the cops told her as they held her at gunpoint, according to her interview.
“I have no idea what they’re talking about, and I finally just say, ‘Who?’ and they say, ‘Joshua Smiley.’”
She then showed the photos of her two sons to prove they were not the man they were looking for but they kept ordering her to “show me another one, show me another angle.”
“Ms. George’s sons share no physical or demographic traits with Smiley other than race and gender,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. George has never met or interacted with Smiley.”
After about 20 minutes, the cops realized they had made a huge blunder.
“At that point, the officer in charge tells me, ‘I think there’s been a mistake,’” she explained in the interview.
“And I say, ‘a mistake? What do you mean?’”
But they did not elaborate, leaving her ransacked home without apologizing, according to the claim which describes the botched raid as an “inexcusable error.”
George’s ordeal is the latest in a long line of botched raids on the homes of innocent people over the years.
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After they left, George searched Smiley’s name and discovered the man who had been listed as one of the 15th most wanted fugitives in the country had been arrested four months earlier in Indiana.
But somehow, word of his arrest never reached the federal agents who targeted her home.
“Before raiding Ms. George’s home, the officers didn’t check to see if Joshua Smiley was still at large,” states the claim.
“And yet, they planned the raid of Ms. George’s home ahead of time, talking to the condominium building and gaining access to locked entrances to Ms. George’s home in an upscale Atlanta suburb.”
“When the officers arrived at Ms. George’s unit, they banged on her door and shouted at her as if she were a dangerous criminal,” the claim continues.
Meanwhile, the dangerous criminal they were seeking was already behind bars, one week after he was placed on the most wanted list.
https://atlantablackstar.com/2026/04/19/georgia-cops-black-woman-raid-for-a-fugitive-who-was-already-in-jail-before-ransacking-her-home-and-fleeing-the-scene-without-an-apology/