Police officers executed a warrant to search Iris Mena's house for deadly weapons and evidence of gang membership.

Mena was asleep in her bed when the SWAT team, clad in helmets and black vests, entered her bedroom and placed her in handcuffs at gunpoint.

The Supreme Court of the United States began its analysis by pointing out that "Mena's detention was, under Michigan v. Summers, plainly permissible."

The court noted that the governmental interests were particularly high because this was a search for weapons and a wanted gang member resided on the premises.

[1][2] In addition, the Muehler Court's one sentence justification—“this case involved the detention of four detainees by two officers during a search of a gang house for dangerous weapons”—set the bar remarkably low.