However, residents of the three-unit building, most of whom said they are naturalized citizens from Morocco, tell a much different story and are accusing the police of being overly aggressive, causing unnecessary damage to their home and ruining their reputations.

In a statement, Revere police said officers responded to a “shots fired call” at 4:30 a.m., then called in the special operations team after residents refused to come out.

REVERE — For years, the pearly white duplex at 22 Francis St. has been a haven for a group of Moroccan immigrants. But in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning, it was dramatically upended by a SWAT team that converged on the home.


No gunfire was exchanged in the home, according to six men who live in the building. The men, who were detained for questioning and released, said they were sleeping when police arrived. They said they were startled and shaken by police blaring orders over loudspeakers outside and SWAT officers pointing long guns at their pajama-clad bodies.

A law enforcement official at the scene said four people came out of the building after police arrived, a man emerged sometime later after negotiations, and another man was forced out by tear gas.

Initially police detained the six men for questioning. However, as of Sunday evening, none had been charged with a crime, and police would not say whether they verified the tip that shots had been fired around the residence. One official said officers thought they smelled gunpowder at the scene.

Brahim Asseban and Mohsine Boughlal, two of the residents detained, admitted they did not immediately exit the home when prompted by police orders, which led to the hours-long standoff. The men said they were frozen in fear and had trouble understanding the English instructions over the loudspeaker.

Police initially arrived to the home around 4:30 a.m., according to Francis Street residents. The all-clear was ordered by police around 7:15 a.m.


“I thought they were going to shoot me,” Asseban said.

Boughlal said he dialed 911 during the standoff and tried to tell dispatchers he had done nothing wrong.

“We’re all American citizens,” Boughlal said later, when asked why he called 911. “We’re Muslims. But we’re not terrorists. We’re Americans.”

When they returned from the police station after more than six hours in custody, the men found their home ravaged by the police raid. Ceiling tiles were broken. Beds were flipped and clothes thrown across the room. Glass was shattered and doors had softball-sized holes.

Amin Kouhail, who lives on the top floor of the building and was among those held briefly by police, said he was fired from his job at a grocery store because he missed his morning shift.

Residents say that Revere police fired this object through a kitchen window. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

As he surveyed the damage to his downstairs unit, Marwan Ziwani rubbed his wrists to massage the marks caused by handcuffs.

Asseban, a gas station clerk, nearly cried as he watched his picture on local television news stations, worried that someone from work would recognize him.

“Oh my God. They will see my face,” Asseban said. “No one is going to trust me anymore. My friends, My job. They will think I’m a terrorist.”

Revere police declined several requests to comment for this story. In a previously released statement, the department said it called in the special operations response team to the home because “occupants refused to exit the dwelling.” Police also would not comment on the validity of the tip that shots had been fired, which led them to the Francis Street residence.


David Procopio, a spokesperson for the State Police, said the agency had a limited support role but was not involved in the search of the house or any arrests.

Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, said the office had no involvement in the standoff.

While the six men were cleaning their units Sunday afternoon, they questioned whether the police would have responded the same way if the residents were not Arabic and Muslim.

“I like safety. I like security. But this feels like discrimination,” Asseban said.

He acknowledged that he was the one who did not leave the apartment until police tossed tear gas through a window. But, he said he would have emerged voluntarily if police had knocked on the door.

Ziwani, who has lived in the first-floor unit for three years, said he empathized with the position of law enforcement officers but wishes the ordeal was handled differently.

He said most of the residents have difficulties with English.

At the time police arrived, Ziwani was sleeping in his room near the first-floor window. He woke up, he said, with a red laser from a police gun pointed in his direction.

“This wasn’t reasonable,” Ziwani said. “I felt like they treated us as animals.”

Earlier in the day, neighbors reacted with shock at the sight of such a large police presence on the quiet street. One neighbor, Coleen Pino, who lives next door to the house of Moroccans, said she allowed a member of the SWAT team to set-up a rifle in the window of her second-floor kitchen during the standoff.


“An interesting way to start a Sunday,” Pino said.

For Asseban, Ziwani, Boughlal and their housemates, the situation was traumatic. They said they are awaiting an apology from the Revere Police Department.

As of Sunday afternoon, the group said they had only been offered doughnuts.

Large holes were punched through several doors at the Revere house. Residents said police damaged ceiling tiles as well. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

Globe correspondent Nicole Fleming contributed to this report. Astead W. Herndon can be reached at astead.herndon@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @AsteadWH.