Earlier today, it was reported—everywhere—that a California man’s house was raided by a SWAT team on orders from the U.S. Department of Education. They were looking for his wife, who had supposedly defaulted on a student loan. The man was detained, along with his three children for six hours, while police conducted a search.

ANIMAL contacted the U.S. Department of Education and they released a statement, saying the media has got the story terribly wrong:

Here is a statement from our press secretary, Justin Hamilton:

“Yesterday, the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General executed a search warrant at a Stockton, Calif., residence with the presence of local law enforcement authorities.

While it was reported in local media that the search was related to a defaulted student loan, that is incorrect. This is related to a criminal investigation. The Inspector General’s Office does not execute search warrants for late loan payments.

Because this is an ongoing criminal investigation, we can’t comment on the specifics of the case. We can say that the OIG’s office conducts about 30-35 search warrants a year on issues such as bribery, fraud, and embezzlement of federal student aid funds.

All further questions on this issue should be directed to the Department of Education’s Inspector General’s Office.”

Sara Gast
U.S. Department of Education Press Office

I guess that explains why the U.S. Department of Education bought 27 spanking new shotguns!