on the day of the incident, a warrant was issued for freeman's arrest for "disrupting a public gathering." this warrant was invalid, because georgia's "disrupting a public gathering" law had been declared unconstitutional in 2006. according to testimony by multiple witnesses at freeman's trial, freeman was arrested at his home by a swat team armed with semiautomatic weapons and accompanied by a k9 unit. at trial, the state denied that a swat team had been at freeman's home, but the arresting officer on record, mike lusk, had been identified previously in the gainesville times as a member of the hall county swat team. freeman later claimed in a lawsuit against the hall county sheriff gerald couch that after his arrest he was held nude in solitary confinement, threatened with death, and denied bedding and basic hygienic items (among other abuses) during a three-day stay at the hall county detention center.