what really happened in Superdome?

[butchcjg]

CNN is doing a segment on "Horror Hyped" at the Superdome.

I'm quite annoyed that it's essentially all white people who are denying that it was really that bad...and then one black guy who said that he didn't actually see the rape, but that it's well-known that women often don't report rapes so that doesnt mean it doesnt happen.

There were tons and tons of people outside the Superdome right after Katrina, all claiming rape and violence were going on (on camera). What about asking them?

[valerief]

1. And get the truth? Mais, no. Cover-up is the word of the day.

[ecstatic]

2. very bad job by Aaron Brown

No murdered bodies were found, and there was no evidence of helicopters being shot at.

Most of the stories were rumors gone wild. Most people didn't actually witness the events, they had just heard about it.

[Feron]

4. While a lot of it was exaggerated,

there is some truth. People were shooting at helicopters and one was arrested.

"The ATF Special Response Team (SRT), conducting surveillance in an area where citizens complained of nightly shooting, observed gunfire from an apartment window as a rescue helicopter flew over the neighborhood. As the team responded to the location, they witnessed two individuals leave the building and overheard them talking about shooting at the helicopter. When approached, the two ran back into the building."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050906/cltu070.html?.v=15

And there were murdered bodies found:

"Only two of those are believed to have been murdered.

One of those victims -- found at the Superdome -- appears to have been killed elsewhere before being brought to the stadium, said Bob Johannessen, the agency spokesman."

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl092705exaggerated.9bef3933.html

[markus]

7. The FAA says there were no reports of shots fired at any aircraft

and there are numerous reports of people on the ground firing into the air to attact helicopters that ignored all of their other attempst to signal.

It just didn't happen.

[joemurphy]

3. It would be nice if the Press told us what really happened.

This certainly conflicts with NPR reports a couple of weeks ago emphatically claiming that armed gangs were active in the Superdome; that guns were going off at night; that National Guard contingents that were there did nothing about it; that rape was happening -- indeed groups were putting women in the center of circles of men to prevent gangs from getting access to them.

If this was all myth, then someone is seriously wrong. The NPR report had witnesses describing what happened.

It is odd that with all the press coverage we had at the Superdome no one covered what was really happening.

Our journalists complain that they aren't respected. They might be if they'd spend less time buying expensive suits and getting their hair colored and more digging the dirt -- like they're supposed to.

[notadmblnd]

5. shock and hysteria

people so affected by what had happened that they became unsuspecting participants in a bad game of "telephone".

I am one of many people here that watched MSM coverage while simultaneously listened to the police scanners in NO almost 24/7 that entire week.

I listened as MSM reported alleged crimes time after time all the while never presenting any witnesses to these crimes. At the same time I'm listening to the scanners and there are no reports of crimes being committed in the Superdome. In fact on the Wednesday night/Thursday morning after the hurricane, I was listening to the guards in the superdome.

They were discussing a fire in a garbage chute (I also think this was briefly mentioned in the MSM and quickly dropped). Calls were made to the NOFD and NOPD. They were en route but were delayed by flood water and it sounded like the guards were getting panicky about the fire getting out of control and people panicking and rioting. The NOFD and PD arrived but the portable tankers that were needed hadn't got there yet. I heard the guard tell the NOFP to leave, that they could not provide the firefighters with security and they were getting ready to pull the plug on the operation. The NOFP refused to leave, they waited for their equipment, extinguished the fire and waited for the smoke to clear.

At the time I had no doubt in my mind that they were going to lock those people in and let them die. If it hadn't been for the fire department, deaths would have been in the tens of thousands.

I was horrified by what I heard that night, I posted here about it at the time in the "scanner" threads that were running. I still haven't changed my mind.

Anyway, I said all that to say this.. I believe the powers that be were trying their damnedest to provoke the people in the superdome, the convention center and on the streets to resort to violence that would result in massive deaths. When help was finally sent in.. it was with a battle zone mentality, Gen Honore told soldiers to put their guns down on more than one occasion.

The good people of NO didn't fall into their trap and their plan (for whatever reason) was aborted.

[Catherine Vincent]

6. I don't all those crimes happened.

I think a few people of the Superdome and the Convention Center said those things because they maybe thought they would get help sooner. They were pretty bad off in there trying to survive and was hoping for someone to save them. I don't blame them one bit.