There is an exception for cases of “hot pursuit,” like if they see somebody kill someone and run into a house, they don’t need a warrant.
Just to clarify, the person doesn’t have to have murdered someone. They just have to be a suspect of a felony. The officers have to have reasonable suspicion of the felony and have to have continuously chased them to the residence. This is called exigent circumstances, which allows for limited exceptions to the 4th amendment. Other such exigent circumstances include reasonable suspicion of imminent harm of an occupant of the residence, or destruction of evidence of a crime (does not have to be a felony crime).
The Harboring laws vary state to state, so know your local laws. In Minnesota where this happened, they were not at legitimate risk of a harboring charge. The only crime they had reason to think she was suspected of was illegal entry into the US (a misdemeanor, btw), and they had reason to believe that she was actually a legal resident as she provided her id to them. Without actual knowledge of a crime or reason to suspect a crime had been committed by her (which again, any initial suspicion was subsided by the ID), they could not be convicted of harboring. Given that, the 4th amendment holds sway and they would need a judicial warrant for the address she was occupying in order to enter without consent of the owners of the residence.
Everything that happened here was likely legal from all parties, even if the ICE agents were a bit passively threatening. The one exception may be if they actually entered their backyard, especially within the gated area without permission (the guy says they were going around back, but I didnt see any agents approaching or crossing their property from the back, so I cant confirm). That would still be criminal trespass on the agents then. They only have implicit permission to enter the curtilage of the property and approach via the most direct route to the publically accessible door to talk to the residents. This is the knocking doctrine. They have as much right to enter the property to knock on your door as any other private individual. But no more right than that without a warrant.
Unfortunately, the police are often a lot of latitude on their conduct related to “officer safety”. For example, there’s a lot of what would otherwise be unlawful commands that have been carved out specifically in the name of officer safety. Such as asking a driver to “exit their vehicle”, telling detainees to “keep hands visible and out of pockets”, telling bystanders “do not approach my investigation” or “stands where I can see you”, etc.
The latitude given is a recognition that they are ostensibly agents acting in the interests of the state and that their role comes with inherent risks in the course of performing their job that they and the state have an interest in mitigating. As such, they should be able to take minimally invasive measures to control the behavior of those involved with or near their active investigations to protect themselves. Given that, without them issuing an active threat of unreasonable violence (like “say that again and I’ll kill you”), simply having their hands on their weapons, or unholtering them when approaching a residence with limited visibility that they otherwise don’t have the authority to order everyone out of is probably well within the latitude given to law enforcement.
You should remember that if you are in a similar situation, what the law says may or may not matter. If a law enforcement officer is going to break the law and his colleagues do not stop them right then and there, for your personal safety it is usually in your best interest to comply as minimally as possible, but protest loudly and often about it. Make it clear that you are complying only under threat of violence or arrest. If the justice system works as it should, you can hopefully get compensation for having your rights violated and hopefully consequences for the violator (though qualified immunity is a bitch, so… don’t get your hopes up too high). But if you fail to comply and have your body permanently damaged or lose your life, there’s no true compensation for that. Take care of yourself first.
The most important tip I have to ensure that your case is taken seriously in a case like this is to record absolutely everything you can. At your first possible opportunity, submit an official complaint against the officer with as many details as you can ACCURATELY recall (do not lie, exaggerate, or include any information that you arent certain about. If they have footage disputing your claims, that may be entirely damning to your case) and a FOIA request for all information and body camera footage from your interaction as well. If you were hurt, seek out medical treatment for any injuries you sustained, no matter how seemingly minor at the time, and have them thoroughly documented. Seek out legal representation (some legal organizations exist specifically to combat abuses of the state, like the ACLU. Contact them and others directly too), and actually sue. It will take up a lot of your time for months or years, but the only way you get justice is to put in the work. Spread the body came footage and your own as far and wide as possible. Contact the local news with your story, post the videos online, send the videos to police critical youtubers that have a following and can boost awareness, and generally make it impossible to ignore for the city. As bullshit as it is, you will probably have to have the backing of overwhelming evidence of police misconduct AND public outrage in order to actually receive justice.
And sometimes that doesnt matter anyway. You also have to remember that law enforcement are only limited by the law in as much as others hold them to the law. If their coworkers, leadership, and the justice system do not enforce the law against law enforcement, then nothing prevents them from breaking the law. Protect yourself accordingly. That is the most important thing.
Just to clarify, the person doesn’t have to have murdered someone. They just have to be a suspect of a felony. The officers have to have reasonable suspicion of the felony and have to have continuously chased them to the residence. This is called exigent circumstances, which allows for limited exceptions to the 4th amendment. Other such exigent circumstances include reasonable suspicion of imminent harm of an occupant of the residence, or destruction of evidence of a crime (does not have to be a felony crime).
The Harboring laws vary state to state, so know your local laws. In Minnesota where this happened, they were not at legitimate risk of a harboring charge. The only crime they had reason to think she was suspected of was illegal entry into the US (a misdemeanor, btw), and they had reason to believe that she was actually a legal resident as she provided her id to them. Without actual knowledge of a crime or reason to suspect a crime had been committed by her (which again, any initial suspicion was subsided by the ID), they could not be convicted of harboring. Given that, the 4th amendment holds sway and they would need a judicial warrant for the address she was occupying in order to enter without consent of the owners of the residence.
Everything that happened here was likely legal from all parties, even if the ICE agents were a bit passively threatening. The one exception may be if they actually entered their backyard, especially within the gated area without permission (the guy says they were going around back, but I didnt see any agents approaching or crossing their property from the back, so I cant confirm). That would still be criminal trespass on the agents then. They only have implicit permission to enter the curtilage of the property and approach via the most direct route to the publically accessible door to talk to the residents. This is the knocking doctrine. They have as much right to enter the property to knock on your door as any other private individual. But no more right than that without a warrant.
Is holding their guns on her property not some sort of threatening issue? No warrant, no permission, and brandishing a weapon?
Unfortunately, the police are often a lot of latitude on their conduct related to “officer safety”. For example, there’s a lot of what would otherwise be unlawful commands that have been carved out specifically in the name of officer safety. Such as asking a driver to “exit their vehicle”, telling detainees to “keep hands visible and out of pockets”, telling bystanders “do not approach my investigation” or “stands where I can see you”, etc.
The latitude given is a recognition that they are ostensibly agents acting in the interests of the state and that their role comes with inherent risks in the course of performing their job that they and the state have an interest in mitigating. As such, they should be able to take minimally invasive measures to control the behavior of those involved with or near their active investigations to protect themselves. Given that, without them issuing an active threat of unreasonable violence (like “say that again and I’ll kill you”), simply having their hands on their weapons, or unholtering them when approaching a residence with limited visibility that they otherwise don’t have the authority to order everyone out of is probably well within the latitude given to law enforcement.
damn, that sucks.
Also I don’t even know wtf I would do if they had unholstered them. That would be insane.
You should remember that if you are in a similar situation, what the law says may or may not matter. If a law enforcement officer is going to break the law and his colleagues do not stop them right then and there, for your personal safety it is usually in your best interest to comply as minimally as possible, but protest loudly and often about it. Make it clear that you are complying only under threat of violence or arrest. If the justice system works as it should, you can hopefully get compensation for having your rights violated and hopefully consequences for the violator (though qualified immunity is a bitch, so… don’t get your hopes up too high). But if you fail to comply and have your body permanently damaged or lose your life, there’s no true compensation for that. Take care of yourself first.
The most important tip I have to ensure that your case is taken seriously in a case like this is to record absolutely everything you can. At your first possible opportunity, submit an official complaint against the officer with as many details as you can ACCURATELY recall (do not lie, exaggerate, or include any information that you arent certain about. If they have footage disputing your claims, that may be entirely damning to your case) and a FOIA request for all information and body camera footage from your interaction as well. If you were hurt, seek out medical treatment for any injuries you sustained, no matter how seemingly minor at the time, and have them thoroughly documented. Seek out legal representation (some legal organizations exist specifically to combat abuses of the state, like the ACLU. Contact them and others directly too), and actually sue. It will take up a lot of your time for months or years, but the only way you get justice is to put in the work. Spread the body came footage and your own as far and wide as possible. Contact the local news with your story, post the videos online, send the videos to police critical youtubers that have a following and can boost awareness, and generally make it impossible to ignore for the city. As bullshit as it is, you will probably have to have the backing of overwhelming evidence of police misconduct AND public outrage in order to actually receive justice.
And sometimes that doesnt matter anyway. You also have to remember that law enforcement are only limited by the law in as much as others hold them to the law. If their coworkers, leadership, and the justice system do not enforce the law against law enforcement, then nothing prevents them from breaking the law. Protect yourself accordingly. That is the most important thing.