Bounkham Phonesavanh, also known as Baby Bou Bou, is a toddler that was injured in a botched police SWAT raid in Habersham County, Georgia in May of this year. Police threw a flash bang grenade into the room the family was sleeping in and it landed in the baby’s crib. The subsequent blasts caused brain damage, a collapsed lung, severe facial disfigurement and burns. The young child had to have extensive surgery and rehabilitation at two different hospitals. The hospital bills amount to more than $800,000 and the family was pubically promised that the hospital bills would be paid by Habersham County.
Now, word comes that the county is refusing to pay the medical bills for the child, outraging the family. According to an attorney for Habersham County, “The question before the county board was whether or not it could be legally permitted to pay the expenses. After consideration of this question, following advice of counsel, the board of commissioners has concluded that it would be in violation of the law for it to do so.”
The Phonesavanh family has since left the state of Georgia and moved to Wisconsin. However the mother of Baby Bou Bou made the follwing statement regarding the police ,“This is happening every day to people [who are] being relentlessly and unnecessarily militarized by police who think just because they’re supposed to be upholding the law, they are above the law themselves. It’s time to remind the cops that they should be serving and protecting our neighborhoods, not waging war on the people in them.”
To learn more about this case and keep updated go to www.justiceforbabyboubou.com
