Video surfaces of armed police removing mansion squatters

Video has surfaced of armed police removing squatters from a mansion.

The footage shows authorities, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying guns and shields, entering and moving swiftly through the palatial address.

Police from Fulton County in Georgia, in the US, shared the report and video to their Facebook page, with the assurance that the operation at the Atlanta mansion was conducted safely.

The occupants were suspected of identifying as “sovereign citizens” police said.

They executed the raid, also involving a drone, after information that squatters had taken over the nearly 1400-square-metre property, which was behind large iron gates with gold insignias.

The footage shows several officers sweeping rooms of the lavish but empty home, pointing guns down stairwells and speaking to people whose faces have been blurred out.

The mansion has a White House-style entrance of soaring colonnades and arched windows, beyond a colossal circular driveway, with ornate staircases and gilded marble columns inside.

There are laws around how squatters must be removed from a property, police said.

“The Marshal’s Department was alerted to unauthorized occupants in a sprawling 15,000 sq. ft. mansion in North Atlanta,” the Fulton County Marshal’s Department post said.

“Significant precautions were implemented given the extensive area and indications that the tenants may identify as sovereign citizens.

“Additional units were deployed to the scene to ensure safety and effective monitoring. A drone was also used for aerial surveillance to assess the situation and identify potential inhabitants. This approach aimed to enhance the department’s response and maintain public safety during the operation.

“Georgia squatting refers to the unauthorized occupation of property without the owner’s consent. While property owners have the right to evict squatters, they must follow legal procedures.”

In Australia, a squatter may not be breaking criminal law if they enter a property through an unlocked door. It becomes a civil matter if a landlord or homeowner asks the squatter to leave and they refuse – then, it is trespassing, and they must take the squatter to court.

Claiming ownership of a property after squatting falls under adverse possession laws.

The period of time relating to adverse possession differs from state to state in Australia – 12 years in most and 15 years in Victoria.

Sydney law firm JB Solicitors explains on its website that under adverse possession laws, the original owner loses “their right to maintain the land if it is abandoned for a protracted length of time”.

The firm says that in order for a squatter claim ownership, they must “have been in actual, unrestricted, and continuous physical control of the land for a period of 12 years”, and, “the property was open and unguarded, leading one to believe the claimant was the rightful owner”, among other facts they must establish.