NASHVILLE – When federal immigration agents surrounded a south Nashville apartment and began banging on doors, the men inside were within their rights to turn off the lights and refuse to answer. The officers did not have warrants, either to search the apartment or to arrest anyone inside, according to court documents.
But that didn’t stop two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from going in through a bedroom window and then opening the door for other agents and arresting everyone they found.
Five Hispanic men who were in the apartment on Oct. 20, 2010 are some of the 14 plaintiffs now suing ICE over what they claim was a raid meant to rid the Clairmont Apartments complex of Hispanic residents.
The defendants deny those claims, saying they were conducting knock-and-talks to gather information about gang violence and threats against management, according to court documents.
Which version is correct will be one of many issues decided at a December trial, but on Friday the plaintiffs are asking U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell, in Nashville, to go ahead and rule on some things that happened that day.