Buckeye Reporter

On December 13, 2023, Bryan Montiea Wilson, a 33-year-old resident of West Columbia, South Carolina, began his workday at Harsco Rails as usual. However, the day took an unexpected turn when two men and a woman, identifying themselves as ATF agents but without showing badges, arrested him on charges related to drug trafficking and firearm possession.

Wilson was handcuffed and searched at his workplace. His supervisor retrieved necessary items for his diabetes before he was escorted out in front of his coworkers. At the federal courthouse, Wilson was booked and arraigned on an eight-count indictment alleging drug distribution and firearm offenses. The charges carried a potential sentence of up to 115 years in prison.

Throughout the process, Wilson maintained his innocence. His federal public defender investigated the claims further and discovered that Wilson had been mistakenly identified by West Columbia Police Officers Calvin Brown and David Thompson. These officers reported numerous undercover purchases from someone they believed to be Wilson based on surveillance reports listing his name and home address.

The real breakthrough came when prosecutors reviewed the case again. They moved to dismiss all charges against Wilson after realizing their mistake. The motion stated: “Further review of the case reveals that the interests of justice would best be served by a dismissal of the pending charges as opposed to further prosecution.”

Wilson was released from custody later that day but faced significant personal repercussions from the false arrest. He filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against Officers Brown and Thompson for false arrest and wrongful indictment/malicious prosecution.

The lawsuit detailed how the incident affected Wilson's life, including taking days off work due to stress, experiencing migraines, dealing with damaging rumors among coworkers, and concerns about his daughter's perception of him.

In response to rising violent crime in West Columbia in June 2022, ATF launched an "advanced intelligence-based" operation targeting criminal activities involving firearms and narcotics. Despite this operation resulting in multiple arrests and seizures of firearms, it also led to significant errors such as Wilson’s false arrest.

While neither ATF nor prosecutors commented on this specific case due to ongoing legal actions initiated by Wilson against them for damages caused by their mistake.

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