A woman has sued an Atlanta police officer for allegedly leaving her breasts exposed while taking her from her house to a squad car – where she sat several hours, topless, while officers stopped and looked at her, with one masked officer opening the car door to take a photo.
The incident took place during a pre-dawn, Swat-style raid staged by Atlanta police and agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (or ATF), on 8 February 2024. The agents sought evidence related to the arson of police motorcycles and cars, carried out in opposition to a controversial police training center known as “Cop City”, which has attracted local, national and internet media attention.
The raid – including the woman’s experience of being left topless for hours – was reported on by the Guardian at the time. The lawsuit, filed 23 May by Atlanta-area attorneys Jeff Filipovits and Wingo F Smith, asserts that the woman’s fourth amendment rights protecting her against unreasonable seizure were violated during the raid and draws on details laid out in the Guardian’s story.