Story Archive

Don’t Believe Everything You Read on the Internet

Louise Milan, 68, and her daughter Stephanie, 18, were sitting in their Evansville, Ind., home when there was a loud knock at the door. They heard a man yell, “Police department, search warrant, police department, search warrant!” — then windows and doors smashed, flash grenades went off, and a SWAT team stormed their house. Police were responding to threats that had been posted on the Internet using the wireless router in Milan’s house. The FBI later arrested Derrick Murray, who lived nearby and pled guilty to using Milan’s unprotected WiFi connection to log on and post the threats. Milan says the police used much more force than was necessary just to search for information. “We’re talking about a search warrant, not an arrest warrant,” their lawyer said. The city, however, says a “threat assessment” determined there were three known dangerous criminals associated with the house, and the level of response was “appropriate” — but not all that dangerous: they brought a TV news crew with them. Milan is suing the city. (MS/Evansville Courier Press) ...Sometimes the long arm of the law needs a slap on the wrist.