Reality Check of the Day: One of today’s big stories is an alarming ordeal allegedly experienced by Stockton resident Kenneth Wright.
Story goes that the Department of Education sent a local SWAT team to bust down Wright’s door at 6 AM yesterday, ostensibly in search of his estranged wife who had reportedly defaulted on her student loans. Wright claims he was hauled to a patrol car by his neck along with his three young children, and kept there for six hours while his home was searched.
Pretty alarming stuff, right? That’s what everyone seems to think! Except that’s not really what went down.
Sacramento’s ABC affiliate KXTV, whose news outfit initially reported this disturbing narrative, has since removed the story from its website, along with the video of last night’s on-air report. In its stead a new story was posted, which tells a dramatically different tale.
U.S. Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton told News10 that Wright’s house was not raided by a SWAT unit, but by federal agents from the Office of the Inspector General. Furthermore, the warranted search was not related to any defaulted loans, though he wouldn’t elaborate on the cause. According to News10, Hamilton said the OIG deals mostly with criminal offenses related to student aid fraud, embezzlement of federal aid, and bribery.
Prior to these “new details,” Wright told News10 he was demanding an apology for himself and his kids for the trauma caused by the raid.
[news10.]
