Rally planned for child burned in Cornelia drug raid

CLARKESVILLE - Several organizations have coordinated a rally for this Saturday at the Habersham County Courthouse in support of a 19-month-old boy who was severely burned a week ago in a drug raid at a Cornelia home.<br /> <br /> According to a Facebook page promoting the event, the Georgia Taxpayers Alliance is hosting the gathering on June 7, beginning at 11 a.m.<br /> <br /> Organizers say they will circulate a petition objecting to the execution of a no-knock warrant at a Cornelia home on Wednesday, May 28 that led to the serious injury of a toddler. (See content of the petition below.)<br /> <br /> The toddler was critically burned when officers with the Habersham County Sheriff's Office tossed a flash-bang grenade into the home and the device landed in a playpen with Bounkham "Bou-Bou" Phonesavanh. He remains hospitalized at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.<br /> <br /> Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell has said that officers followed protocol in the raid. He said the officers had no knowledge that children were staying at the home at the time the raid took place.<br /> <br /> The text of the petition reads as follows, according to the Facebook post by organizers:<br /> <br /> <i>WHEREAS: Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, all persons have the right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures.<br /> <br /> WHEREAS: A search which necessitates or results in the detonation of a stun grenade in a child's crib is per se unreasonable.<br /> <br /> WHEREAS: The Multijurisdictional SWAT team of Habersham County have violated the Fourth Amendment rights of Bounkham Phonesavanh and his family.<br /> <br /> WHEREAS: Bounkham Phonesavanh is an innocent, defenseless victim of the multijurisdictional SWAT team of Habersham County.<br /> <br /> WHEREAS: The search conducted by the multijurisdictional SWAT team of Habersham County constituted a violation of the guarantees of the United States Constitution as well as the Constitution of the State of Georgia. <br /> <br /> THEREFORE: We demand that the Sheriff, Sergeant in charge, the Deputy who committed the act against Bounkham Phonesavanh and any other officer involved be immediately terminated from their position within the department(s) and a case be presented in front of a grand jury and criminal charges be brought against each culpable person by the District Attorney of the Mountain Judicial Circuit District.</i><br /> <br /> The rally is scheduled to end at 1 p.m.