7 indicted in Katrina bridge shootings

[ThsMchneKilsFascists]

A grand jury looking into the shooting deaths of two men during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has indicted seven people, the U.S. district attorney's office said Thursday.

Neither the charges nor the identities of those indicted have been released and it was not immediately clear whether those indicted were members of the police force.

Reports arose last year that police had shot at least six contractors on the Danziger Bridge days after the storm hit New Orleans because they believed the people were looters.

Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally retarded man, and James Barsett, 19, died in the shooting.


http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/28/danziger-indictment-061228.html

[jus_the_facts]

1. .....

[ThomCat]

4. That picture always pisses me off.

It shows very clearly that the authorities went in there to persecute and prosecute, not to help. x(

It would be long past time that police officers were charged for their behavior. But I doubt those charges will go far enough or high enough.

[Javaman]

29. America; the new third world. nt

[Irishonly]

2. Finally

Now, if something would be done to the horrible police of Gretna.

[wryter2000]

8. Exactly what I was thinking

Something should be done to the bastards who wouldn't let the people off the bridge. I thought maybe this story would be about that.

[Irishonly]

10. I did too

[Janice325]

11. I was thinking about the cops in Gretna as well.

If only something would be done about those assholes.
:cry:

[ThsMchneKilsFascists]

3. AP story: Police Officers Indicted in New Orleans

Seven police officers were indicted Thursday on murder and attempted murder charges in a pair of shootings that left two people dead during the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The charges cover two separate shootings on bridges. In one case, two young men were killed on the Danziger Bridge connecting two predominantly black neighborhoods. In the other, four people were wounded on a span over the Industrial Canal.

At the time, the sweltering city was still littered with corpses as rescuers tried to evacuate stranded residents and looters ransacked stores.

Police initially said the Sept. 4, 2005, shooting on the Danziger Bridge occurred after shots were fired at Army Corps of Engineers workers. It became one of the most widely cited examples of the anarchy that descended after the storm.

<more>

http://www.forbes.com/business/energy/feeds/ap/2006/12/28/ap3286509.html

[Vidar]

22. I'm pleased. Way overdue.

[leveymg]

5. Are these the "contractors" who reportedly started the shooting?

There was an AP report, below, that those killed at the Danzinger Bridge were armed federal contractors. See, below. Is this a separate incident? There had been reports of some sort of shootout between the NOLA police and private security guards who had been sniping at fleeing residents. Anyone have any additional information?

Police Kill Five Contractors on La. Bridge


Sunday September 4, 2005 11:16 PM

AP Photo VTAP102

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge Sunday, killing five or six, a deputy chief said. A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said the victims were contractors on their way to repair a canal.

The contractors were walking across a bridge on their way to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain to fix the 17th Street Canal, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Corps.

Earlier Sunday, New Orleans Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people, killing five or six.

The shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, which spans a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.

No other details were immediately available.

[NorthernSpy]

32. remember when that story broke -- how the details kept changing?

The police shot a bunch of contractors!

Snipers shot a bunch of contractors!

The police shot a bunch of snipers who shot the contractors!

No contractors shot -- only snipers!


:eyes:


It was all very suspicious from the first. I'm proud to say that for many DUers, this one never passed the smell test.



Here's a Los Angeles Times article from a couple of months after the incident -- at a time when some in the media were starting to admit that the wildest-sounding reports from the disaster zone were probably not factual after all:

Doubts Now Surround Account of Snipers Amid New Orleans Chaos

[Matariki]

6. And FUCK the use of the word "looters"

that pisses me off to no end. In a devastated city with no stores, no water, no way out. How dare people use that word.

[KamaAina]

7. Finders keepers, looters weepers

White people doing the exact same thing were not called "looters", but instead "found supplies". :grr:

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/08/30/black_people_loot_wh.html

Flickr user dustin3000 uploads two similar news photos that show flood victims in New Orleans wading in chest-deep water. In each, a person appears to be dragging a bag or box or two of food or beverages.

The images were shot by different photographers, and captioned by different photo wire services. The Associated Press caption accompanying the image with a black person says he's just finished "looting" a grocery store. The AFP/Getty Images caption describes lighter skinned people "finding" bread and soda from a grocery store. No stores are open to sell these goods.

Perhaps there's more factual substantiation behind each copywriter's choice of words than we know. But to some, the difference in tone suggests racial bias, implicit or otherwise.

[Matariki]

9. yeah, i remember those photos. and yeah, it's obvious racism.

blech.

[-..__...]

12. There were "looters"...

and there were

"looters"

.

People grabbing food, water, medical supplies, diapers, items necessary for survival, etc is one thing that very few people could find fault with or blame the victims.

The assholes who were "looting" (yes... "looting"), TV sets, appliances, designer clothing, etc are the ones whose criminal behavior is inexcusable. Whether or not the items were flood damaged or covered by insurance is no excuse, nor does it make the crime acceptable.

Even worse... when there were instances of police officers joining in on the free-for-all.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/29/nopd.looting/index.html

I wonder whatever became of these two examples of NOLAs finest?...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_3q0k9KC30&mode=related&search=

Also speaking of... I wonder whatever became of this guy?...

http://www.weightlessdog.com/bld.nsf

He was an Internet icon for awhile and probably could have cashed in on it if he came forward or was identified at the time.

[Matariki]

13. I'd like to think I'd behave better if I lost EVERYTHING I owned

and didn't have insurance or savings or anything to help replace my loss. But I've never had to face something like that, so I don't know what it feels like and therefore I try not make judgments about it. I mean about taking things. What are things in a situation like that? Tv's and 'designer clothes'? I mean really, who cares? A whole city was lost, so what's a TV?

[valerief]

14. Say what?

<<The assholes who were "looting" (yes... "looting"), TV sets, appliances, designer clothing, etc are the ones whose criminal behavior is inexcusable.>>

The assholes who allowed the levees to breach are the ones whose criminal behavior is inexcusable. What the TV set people did was nothing, not in that environment.

Get your priorities straight, pal!

:spank:

[-..__...]

15. In the company of thieves.

One wrong doesn't right another.

"Priorites"?...

Lets see... my home is gone, no way out, my family is missing, I have nothing to eat...
but this 48" plasma TV set and Bose Surround Sound System ® will look fine and dandy
sitting in my shelter under the bridge abutment.

"Priorites"!?!

What planet are you from?

[Matariki]

16. you pretty sure this happened? sure it was rampant?

or did you see the same image shown over and over on tv - playing to the american public's fear of black people?

[-..__...]

17. Playing to the "fear of black people"

:eyes:

Like yeah... the media had nothing better to do than to foster fear of blacks during a crisis.

Hey... it's good for ratings and gun sales, so why not?

I don't know what channel you were watching (maybe it was a "Spike Lee Joint" kind'a thang), but, some of you really need to get over this non-existent media racism angle because it sooths your soul or helps you sleep better.

This perceived looting/racism/media oriented BS is getting tiresome. I mean really... can't you all conjure up something else to keep you up at night?

[Matariki]

18. are you serious?

'a "Spike Lee Joint" kind'a thang?' I don't quite know what to say to a comment like that, but that it reveals a lot about you.

[Matariki]

19. oh, and you evaded my questions

where did you get this idea of all these Television and Designer Clothes Looters?

[No Exit]

20. Know what's even more pathetic than stealing a TV when your home's in 6 ft of water?

Well, I'll tell you what's even MORE pathetic than someone stealing a plasma TV while his home's in 6 feet of water: what's even MORE pathetic is GIVING A GOOD GODDAM that some fucking multi-million dollar corporation lost a fucking plasma TV (or 100 plasma TV's) from one of its hundreds of identical stores!

To me, what was pathetic was listening to middle class people (and I am middle class) going on and on and ON, while watching images of "looters" on TV, going on and on and on about "Isn't that jutht dithgraceful? Those people are CRIMINALTH! We shouldn't help them!"

I don't know why some idiots (including police officers) were caught on camera going into stores and taking shit that they couldn't possibly use. I don't know why a Mercedes dealership on Poydras Street was cleaned out by cops "confiscating" the Mercedeses "for emergency use". (One cop was found in Texas in the Mercedes he "confiscated".)

But I damn sure know that I don't give a HOT DAMN if some fucking STORE--whose corporate officers probably live in fucking BALI or somewhere, and who just sit back and wait for their multi-million dollar check--loses some TV's to a bunch of people who are DROWNING in dirty water. Do those sanctimonious, TV-watching, middle class average Amur'cans think those stores weren't INSURED??

With bloated bodies floating around everywhere, I can't believe that people who purport to be "Christians" would dare to say a word because some goddam business lost some of its bling-bling in the worst U.S. mainland storm ever.

[Matariki]

21. what you said.

ayibobo and amen.

[valerief]

24. Well said. You stated it better than I could. nt

[Stella_Artois]

25. Hey you are right !

Taking electrical goods from stores that will in no way aid anyone in a city with no power is just *fine* when there has been a disaster ! It excuses all sorts of activity. Why stop at stealing TV's ? Other sorts of crime should be excused too in my opinion.

[valerief]

27. You do know the REAL crime was letting the levees be breached, don't you?

Everything else is just fallout from the REAL crime.

[NorthernSpy]

36. that's just moral equivalence

In the face of looming disaster, thousands of people were left behind to drown -- and what really sticks in your mind is the theft of some TVs.

People hoping to save themselves by trying to leave the disaster zone on foot were driven back into a ruined city at gunpoint -- but what really outrages you are those stolen TVs.


The cops opened fire on two families who were trying to cross a bridge. Now we hear that those cops have finally been indicted for murder, mirabile dictu.

And yet you're still ranting about crimes against TVs? And against what "excusing" crimes against TVs might lead to?

Well, what about excusing the choice to leave people behind to drown, and then shooting them for trying to save themselves; what might that lead to? And why doesn't it seem to bother you as much?


Nice little moral equivalence you've got going on, "Stella Artois".


:eyes:

[NorthernSpy]

31. thank you for saying that

According to some people, the fate of televisions in a store is the real tragedy of Katrina. You can tell they think that, because that's the only thing in any of this that they've ever demonstrated any real outrage over.

[NorthernSpy]

28. the media carried false, inflammatory rumors, and people here bought that shit!

Even after the director of New Orleans' Childrens Hospital had contacted the media to tell them their reports of mobs attacking the hospital were completely false, we were STILL treated to and seemingly endless barage of bizarre, obviously made-up shit. Do you remember:


The "roving rape gangs" at the Superdome? The freezer full of bodies killed by roving rape gangs at the convention center? The seven-year-old who'd had her throat slit? The snipers trying to pick off medics? The snipers trying to bring down aid helicopters?


You bet your ass you do.


So yeah, a lot of people would like to forget that whole episode. I'm not surprised.

[Missy Vixen]

39. The same images WERE shown repeatedly on news channels

especially on cable. I saw them; I know millions of other Americans saw them, too. If you watched the Katrina coverage for any time at all, you will have seen the same piece of tape run over, and over, and over.

>or did you see the same image shown over and over on tv<

:sarcasm: It's okay to let an entire city drown. Someone stole a television set from a store! :sarcasm:

Julie

[Matariki]

40. I don't think you meant to reply to my post?

I was pointing out the same thing as you - I asked D_S if he based his opinion on the "same image shown over and over on tv" (Yes you're correct - the same few images - and memes - WERE repeated over and over) - and he made some dumb-ass & racist comment about me obviously watching the "Spike Lee" channel. Ugh.

[Missy Vixen]

41. I'm so sorry, kineta

You're right, I clicked on the wrong post. I was trying to say I agreed with you.

I saw Spike Lee's documentary. I think it's his magnum opus, and I'm grateful he had the courage to tell the story as it was.

Julie

[Matariki]

42. I haven't seen that yet - thanks for the reminder.

and I think i misinterpreted D_S's comment as racist - when he might have meant I got my info about Katrina from Spike Lee's movie.

[valerief]

26. See msg 20. nt

[Feron]

43. Perhaps if you lived it...

you would have a different view. Looters are scum. It's one thing to loot food to survive, but most looted stuff because they could.

My neighborhood was pillaged by a group of white people who broke into people's homes and stole guns,jewelry, and liquor.

A family friend had a two story house who's first story was flooded out. Looters used a boat to steal all the valuables on the second floor.

And not all business owners are rich. There were many small stores that were looted and they will get a raw deal from insurance companies.

You know what pisses me off? People who condone and applaud looters.

[NorthernSpy]

44. when the people you leave behind to drown survive and steal your stuff...

Some people might be tempted to invoke the K word here.


I'll just settle for pointing out that the affluent society now has a material reason not to leave people stranded in the path of a killer storm.

[AtomicKitten]

23. I'm waiting for BushCo to be indicted for their negligence.

They really have to answer for Katrina.

[femrap]

35. And from what Greg Palast said recently.....

The Army Corps of Engineers saw the levees breach and notified the WH and * immediately....yet NOTHING was done to evacuate people. Remember the levees were breached after Katrina passed.

* is guilty of negligent homicide.

[AtomicKitten]

37. we can only hope

the Democrats pull the trigger on this

[Javaman]

30. Justice prevails. and yet...

What gave rise to this, other than racism, is the concept of; When the government* fails the people, stupidity rules. But the sad fact is: today, government and stupidity are synonymous.

[NorthernSpy]

33. Honest to God, I never thought this day would come...

I really thought they were going to get away with burying this whole thing.


Now, it seems there may be a reckoning.

[rman]

34. Among the likely culprits are mercenaries:

Democracy Now
Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
Monday, September 12th, 2005
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/12/1426242&mode=thread&tid=25

In addition to the thousands of military troops patrolling the streets of New Orleans, there are also scores of private soldiers that are now spreading out across the city, like those from the Blackwater Security firm.

...the Blackwater mercenaries became very well known internationally a few years back when four of their men were killed in Fallujah, Iraq. Two of them had their bodied burned and then hung from a bridge. And that resulted in the massive retaliatory onslaught against Fallujah that resulted in tens of thousands of people having to flee the city and scores of people being killed, and now Fallujah has become an international symbol of resistance, and that goes back to those killings of the four Blackwater workers.
...

---

To get an idea of what kind of people these are, search youtube for blackwater.

[pitohui]

38. update: one of the cops accused in a previous shooting

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/national-0/116743135880790.xml&storylist=louisiana&thispage=1

One of the seven policemen charged in a deadly gunfight on a bridge during the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina had previously been charged with murder in the 2001 death of a suspect, but the charges were dismissed.

Fraternal Order of Police lawyer Donovan Livaccari said Friday that Sgt. Kenneth Bowen had "acted within his rights to protect himself" in that case. Records show that the city agreed to pay the suspect's mother $12,500 to settle a lawsuit.

could be this cop has been trigger-happy for a long, long time