Lawyer in Black Lives Matter ‘swatting’ case sues LAPD over search of home
An attorney for Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles leader Melina Abdullah has filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that a search of his home earlier this year by police officers was part of a broader campaign of intimidation and harassment against LAPD critics.
Dermot Givens represented Abdullah in her own case against the city, alleging heavily armed officers in tactical gear surrounded her home when responding to a report of a hostage situation despite red flags indicating it was a hoax.
A jury ruled against the civil rights activist in July, finding the LAPD officers involved acted within the law.
Givens’ suit, filed Thursday, alleges that the police raid on his home in January was the work of a “rogue police gang that was led by former LAPD Cmdr. Cory Palka to intimidate and silence members and supporters of Black Lives Matter including their attorneys.”
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Palka, who retired as a commander, served as captain of the department’s Hollywood division in 2017 and 2018. He left the department after being accused of tipping off CBS executives about a woman who had filed a report accusing former CBS Corp. chief Leslie Moonves of assaulting her in a restaurant parking lot many years before.
Palka did not respond to a text message seeking comment.
Givens, who offered no evidence of Palka’s involvement in the search of his home, alleged the former LAPD official was involved in “a pattern of illegal conduct,” which he said targeted the Black Lives Matter attorney and others who spoke out against police abuses.
LAPD officers descended on Givens’ Hollywood condo after obtaining a search warrant to find a man accused of stealing camera equipment. Police said an Apple AirTag was pinging in the vicinity of the home.
Givens alleges that police “duped” a judge into signing off on the warrant, which he argued was based on unreliable testimony from a police informant. Givens noted that the supporting affidavit put forward by police didn’t mention he was an attorney or list his address, one of five units in a larger complex.
During the search, Givens said he was escorted outside at gunpoint while officers rummaged through his belongings. At one point, he said, officers took photographs of privileged attorney-client records from Abdullah’s “swatting” lawsuit.
Givens said he also discovered some jewelry missing from two safes that had been opened during the search.
In her veto letter to the City Council, Bass said the proposal risked creating ‘bureaucratic confusion’ within the LAPD’s disciplinary system.
A judge later ordered the LAPD to return or destroy any “attorney work product” they’d taken or captured in the pictures.
LAPD spokeswoman Jennifer Forkish declined comment, saying the department doesn’t discuss pending litigation. An email sent to the city attorney’s office went unreturned Friday. Reached by phone, Givens said the suit speaks for itself and declined to comment further.
Palka and the city are named as co-defendants in the suit, filed this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, along with several officers who were involved in the search.
Givens, a longtime political consultant and attorney, has for years represented Abdullah, a college professor who emerged as a prominent organizer against police violence.
In the 2020 incident that prompted her lawsuit, authorities have said they believe the person responsible for the hoax 911 call had made other false calls to other police departments across the country.
Abdullah alleged police ignored signs that the hostage emergency the caller reported wasn’t real and proceeded to surround her home with more than a dozen officers in tactical gear.
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At a trial earlier this year, attorneys for the city argued that police should not be held liable for any damages, because they were responding to what they believed was a legitimate hostage situation. After five days of testimony last month, a jury ruled in favor of the city and the two police officials named in her suit, Sgt. James Mankey and Officer Jose Perez.
Abdullah’s legal team has sought to revive the lawsuit, alleging the original 911 call could have been a “fiction” made up by police authorities — and not, as police have said, the work of a teenager who fled to the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus.
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