Inquiry Begins Into Police Refusal to Let Katrina Evacuees Enter Town

[meegbear]

NEW ORLEANS — A grand jury investigation into the actions of suburban police officers who barred New Orleans residents fleeing Hurricane Katrina from entering the town was announced late Thursday by Dist. Atty. Eddie Jordan.

Law enforcement officials from Gretna prevented the evacuees, most of them black, from crossing a Mississippi River bridge into the predominantly white suburb.

The New Orleans residents, who tried to escape the city three days after Katrina hit, said their path was blocked by armed officers, some with dogs.

The Sept. 1 incident on a nonpedestrian toll crossing sparked charges of racism against the Gretna Police Department and City Council, and exacerbated already strained relations between the two cities.

<snip>

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gretna4aug04,1,1401866.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true

[ThomCat]

1. This is such a blatant violation of human rights,

trapping people in a disaster area, that I hope these cops and their entire chain of command who approved this bullshit all get nailed to a wall for a long, long time.

[rodeodance]

2. I recall this now. Great to see it is being followed up.

[mom cat]

3. Pure racism and inhumane to boot.

[LostinVA]

4. Some apologists on DU concerning this event

No excuse for it. I'm been in the aftermath of some pretty horrific natural disasters, and never saw anything like this happen -- even the area racists were pitching in to help people.

[smaug]

6. These criminals need to be sent to Angola -

The individuals responsible for this need to be stripped of their authority forever. While awaiting trial, they should be confined to the general population of the Louisiana state prison, Angola, with prison uniforms indentifying their town of origin. Methinks the grand jury hearings would be severely truncated.:D

For this crime, justice would be served to be most brutal.

[Iowa]

14. I understand the anger - and I am outraged too...

...but be careful what you wish for.

The individuals responsible for this need to be stripped of their authority forever. While awaiting trial, they should be confined to the general population of the Louisiana state prison, Angola, with prison uniforms identifying their town of origin.

The purpose of a trial is to determine who is responsible. We are living in a time when the presumption of innocence is under attack. Innocent people are being swept up, imprisoned, and tortured. Civil rights are always more important than revenge - but never more so than at this time in our history.

For this crime, justice would be served to be most brutal.

You seem to be saying that justice in this case requires brutality, and you imply in the previous quote that exposure to the general population of the Louisiana state prison would provide the required brutality. You are correct; our prison system is brutal. But rather than finding comfort in the "punishment" aspect of prison brutality ("that'll show em!!!)", I find it to be a sickening disgrace. I reject the notion that incarceration should constitute brutality - even for those who are guilty of heinous crimes. The very idea that innocent people are subjected to beatings, terror, rape, and even death - is absolutely abhorrent.

--Our state prisons are packed with minorities, who are obviously subjected to a different standard of "justice".
--Prisons are full of people who didn't have the money to buy their justice.
--Many who have been proven "guilty" by a jury of their peers have gone on to prove their innocence (DNA and other evidence) after serving considerable time.
--Our government is gearing up to go after dissidents.

Prison brutality isn't something we should be getting behind. It's an inexcusable outrage.

[hootinholler]

17. In addition, it's often a sentence to living with HIV.

I will give the devil himself the full protection of the law lest I loose my protections.

Wishing the Jury godspeed.

-Hoot

[spotbird]

12. The ridiculous defenses

likely not believable to those who made them.

[NorthernSun]

5. The feds should have stepped in immediately

Whoever ordered it has alot to answer for. Reminded me of Selma Alabama in the 1960s.

[uppityperson]

7. Good. eom

[B3Nut]

8. About damn time.

I thought steam blew out of my ears when I saw that story last year. May they get treble their just desserts.

Todd in Beerbratistan

[SeattleGirl]

9. I am so glad to hear this. What happened to those NOLA

residents was despicable and absolutely beneath contempt. I hope anyone and everyone involved in keeping the NOLA residents from getting into Gretna is indicted and convicted.

[High Plains]

10. Fucking redneck Gretna pigs. I hope they get what they deserve.

[spotbird]

11. Watch this,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moFv2zGF4Gk

It is the Faux clip of Shepherd Smith and Geraldo re the bridge blockade.


It puts to rest many of the claims about the condition of Gretna. They had water and electricity.

[eyeontheprize]

15. WOW, if the GJ sees that tape

they will want to hang them after a fair, fast trial. At least I do.

It is a shame that all they can do is indict, I hope that they do at least that.

[mcscajun]

13. About damned time!!!

Better late than never, I suppose.

This town's police and Council deserve a major league smackdown, especially to discourage such incidents in future, in Gretna and elsewhere.

[bvar22]

16. I am embarrassed to say that when I saw this,

for the first and only time in my life, I wished EVERY CITIZEN was heavily armed.

The 2nd Ammendment was put in place so that we could protect ourselves FROM the government.

[guruoo]

18. And let's not forget the Danziger Bridge killings...

What really happened on Danziger Bridge?
Posted on Tuesday 23 May 2006

<snip>

It was a week of dire flooding, rampant looting, death by drowning. Police were strained, beset by suicides and desertion. Four people were killed in confrontations with police that weekend alone.
Madison’s older brother, Lance, said he and Ronald were walking across the Danziger bridge toward another brother’s dental office when teen-agers ran up behind him and opened fire that Sunday morning.

By his account, he and Ronald were running away toward the crest of the bridge when a police team, responding to the report of gunshots, arrived in a rental truck and opened fire on people on the bridge. This seems to be a complete contradiction of what was initially reported, and Polimom is at a loss. Where, for instance, is any mention of contractors?

Beyond that discrepancy, though, is this disturbing information:
Autopsy results, made available to CNN by a source involved in the investigation, directly contradict that police account.

The findings list five separate gunshot wounds in Ronald Madison’s back. Three went through the body and exited in front. There were two other wounds in his right shoulder. None of the shots entered his body from the front.

<snip>

http://www.polimom.com/2006/05/23/what-really-happened-on-danziger-bridge/

[anotherdrew]

23. these lying pigs think they can kill citizens like animals!

I say it's time to find these pigs, find where they live. At LEAST let these pigs live in fear from now to the end of their miserable days.

[Timefortruth]

19. katrina changed my view

about gun control.

[struggle4progress]

20. Hurricane Katrina - Our Experiences

Hurricane Katrina - Our Experiences
By Paramedics Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky

We .. pooled our money and came up with $25,000 to have ten buses .. take us out of the City ... The buses never arrived. We later learned that the minute the arrived to the City limits, they were commandeered by the military.

By day 4 our hotels .. turned us out and locked their doors, telling us .. to report to the convention center to wait for more buses. As we entered the center of the City, we finally encountered the National Guard. The Guards told us we would not be allowed into the Superdome ...

We walked to the police command center at Harrah's on Canal Street and were told the same thing, that we were on our own, and no they did not have water to give us ... The police told us that we could not stay. Regardless, we began to settle in and set up camp. In short order, the police commander came across the street to address our group. He told us he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge where the police had buses lined up to take us out of the City ...

As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads ...

http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18427.shtml

[spotbird]

21. Criminals.

They are probably prolifers also.

[Canuckistanian]

22. All apologists should read this story

THEN come back and tell us that what the Gretna cops did was justified, in any way.

This was inexcusable behaviour bordering on the criminal.

[anotherdrew]

24. if the gangs in NOLA had balls

they'd find these Gretna sheriffs and handle this in their own way.

[struggle4progress]

25. Extrajudicial "justice" is typically arbitrary and ugly. While I have ..

.. no absolute commitment to legal process and nonviolence, there are quite strong pragmatic reasons to prefer both whenever possible, not only for general political reasons but also on the basis of "good neighbor" moral considerations.

[anotherdrew]

26. I'm not saying it SHOULD be done, but I find it odd that it isn't

for some damn reason these 'gangs' can only seem to shoot each other or otherl ocal bystanders.

[Rex]

27. Some had dogs? Did they also have firehoses?

Sometimes I can't believe what I read. Sometimes I can't post what I'm thinking. :mad: