Police supervisor encouraged cover-up, knew officer planted gun while still on Danziger Bridge

[MountainLaurel]

Source: Times Picayune

Lt. Michael Lohman, a supervisor who led the detective unit that first investigated the shooting of six people on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina, has been charged with one count of obstruction of justice in a bill of information that was unsealed today. He is expected to plead guilty in a court hearing early this afternoon, after which U.S. Attorney Jim Letten has scheduled a press conference.

The document states that Lohman, who assigned a subordinate investigator to the case while on the bridge on Sept. 4, "concluded that the police shooting had been legally unjustified." He learned that the officers involved planned to lie about the shootings as a result, and "tacitly encouraged them to do so."

The document also states that Lohman knew an officer planted a gun at the scene, and that he suggested to two sergeants and the investigating officer "that they go back to the bridge to get rid of some of the shell casings" left behind by the officers.

The bill of information does not identify the sergeants or the investigator, but attorneys for two officers -- Sgt. Robert Gisevius and Sgt. Arthur Kaufman -- have acknowledged their clients have received target letters in the federal probe. Gisevius fired his weapon several times at the scene and Kaufman performed the initial investigation.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/02/police_investigator_encouraged.html

---

Finally, some justice for the victims of state-sponsored murder following Katrina and the Federal Flood.

[hlthe2b]

1. I (and other DUers) followed this online as it happened...

there were text messages and other internet live blogs that captured this event as it happened. It has taken one hell of a long time to get anywhere near the truth, but I am grateful if this is the start. However, the MSM and of course the RW bigots will forever continue their denunciation of NOLA with their pronouncements of violence and "lawlessness" interfering with rescue efforts.

[MountainLaurel]

2. I only vaguely remember coverage at the time

But then again, immediately after the storm I was more focused on finding a couple family members from Mississippi who had decided to leave after the storm had passed (and the storm surge from the bayou meant that they had fish swimming in their front yard). (They had arrived at their daughter's house in Atlanta at 5 am Tuesday, and she hadn't thought to let anyone in the family know.)

I have a feeling this is only the first of the indictments we'll see.

[hlthe2b]

3. It was criminal how the MSM ignored it or reported the official

"propganda" line word for word.

[MountainLaurel]

4. Oh, absolutely n/t

[Judi Lynn]

8. They didn't miss reporting seeing someone taking food from stores,

or someone going into a partially flooded store and making off with merchandise. THAT was the headline news, that, and the completely vile, contrived stories of rape after rape in the Saints' football stadium, and a parade of lies concerning the survivors themselves, caught in the rising waters, living without shelter and food.

We had all the time in the world to read our fill of twisted, racist fairy tales and hallucinations. They also DID seem to relish showing photos of all the dead people who had been surrendered to the flood, lying and floating in the streets.

Does anyone recall if they EVER managed to produce any acts of heroism or compassion or brotherhood among the survivors? I don't think so. They were too busy scribbling down all the hysterical, delusional reports of marauding bands of swamp creatures hell bound to steal everything in the city which wasn't tied down, then threatening all the "decent" white folks living nearby.

[hlthe2b]

9. A study in racism and bigotry towards the poor...

and a national disgrace.... The world will not quickly forget America's "compassion" for its own. Al Quaida could not have created a more effective campaign to harm the US reputation throughout the world.

[aquart]

27. +1

[defendandprotect]

14. +1000% --

[defendandprotect]

16. +1000% --

[Hoopla Phil]

25. Here is a report of one neighborhood pulling together

http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/content/shared/news/nation/stories/09/10KATRINA_ALGIERS.html

_____________________________________
For days after the storm, the several dozen people who did not evacuate from Algiers Point said they did not see any police or soldiers but did see gangs of intruders.

So they set up what might be the ultimate neighborhood watch.
_____________________________________

[happygoluckytoyou]

19. BASED UPON THIS INCIDENT AND NOTHING MORE... I HAVE CANCELLED ALL FUTURE TRIPS TO N.O.

i know.... not everyone there....blah blah blah.... SORRY CHUCK... LET THE COPS TAKE THE HEAT... THAT'S FINE...
USUALLY I VISIT EVERY 2 YEARS.... BUT THERE ARE SAFER AND SANER PLACES TO GO.....

[hlthe2b]

22. Just when they need the tourism...

Can't buy your logic, sorry.

[girl gone mad]

28. Yes, a lot of people were listening in on the police radios..

and transcribing events as they happened. That is one I remember clearly.

[Mithreal]

5. Our military encouraged planting weapons on murdered civilians

why shouldn't our cops.

Soldiers Discuss Using "Drop Weapons" To Cover Up Killing Innocent Iraqi Civilians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwRkiOE6G38
There are many other similar stories.

Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing
GAO Estimates 30% of Arms Are Unaccounted For
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/05/AR2007080501299.html

Couple quick links there.

Planting evidence is a lot more common than many of us would like to think and what we do to others in war will come home.

[MountainLaurel]

6. Thank you for the links

I'd never seen those before . . .

[Mithreal]

7. you're welcome

[defendandprotect]

15. +1000% --

... and I think I've read that Blackwater has also brought their own weapons

in -- basically illegal?

I hadn't see these links before -- thank you!

[winyanstaz]

10. Well...good news..and proof that some judges are still honest...

:) Finally some justice....

[NOLALady]

11. Mitch Labdrieu ran on "law and order".

He's promised to clean up the crime. Well, this is a start. It is past time to clean up the NOPD.

[KamaAina]

12. Yeah you rite!

oh yes, if any of y'all down there are interested in working for him, go here:

http://transitionneworleans.com

Hell, if I could figure out how to make my resume skills relevant to the city, I do it myself.

[suffragette]

13. They also used misrepresented incidents such as these to bring

in Blackwater and other mercenary/private security firms.

Glad justice was finally done here. Hope it will provide an impetus to investigate crimes the mercenaries committed.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051010/scahill

Blackwater is not alone. As business leaders and government officials talk openly of changing the demographics of what was one of the most culturally vibrant of America's cities, mercenaries from companies like DynCorp, Intercon, American Security Group, Blackhawk, Wackenhut and an Israeli company called Instinctive Shooting International (ISI) are fanning out to guard private businesses and homes, as well as government projects and institutions. Within two weeks of the hurricane, the number of private security companies registered in Louisiana jumped from 185 to 235. Some, like Blackwater, are under federal contract. Others have been hired by the wealthy elite, like F. Patrick Quinn III, who brought in private security to guard his $3 million private estate and his luxury hotels, which are under consideration for a lucrative federal contract to house FEMA workers.

A possibly deadly incident involving Quinn's hired guns underscores the dangers of private forces policing American streets. On his second night in New Orleans, Quinn's security chief, Michael Montgomery, who said he worked for an Alabama company called Bodyguard and Tactical Security (BATS), was with a heavily armed security detail en route to pick up one of Quinn's associates and escort him through the chaotic city. Montgomery told me they came under fire from "black gangbangers" on an overpass near the poor Ninth Ward neighborhood. "At the time, I was on the phone with my business partner," he recalls. "I dropped the phone and returned fire."

Montgomery says he and his men were armed with AR-15s and Glocks and that they unleashed a barrage of bullets in the general direction of the alleged shooters on the overpass. "After that, all I heard was moaning and screaming, and the shooting stopped. That was it. Enough said."

Then, Montgomery says, "the Army showed up, yelling at us and thinking we were the enemy. We explained to them that we were security. I told them what had happened and they didn't even care. They just left." Five minutes later, Montgomery says, Louisiana state troopers arrived on the scene, inquired about the incident and then asked him for directions on "how they could get out of the city." Montgomery says that no one ever asked him for any details of the incident and no report was ever made. "One thing about security," Montgomery says, "is that we all coordinate with each other--one family." That co-ordination doesn't include the offices of the Secretaries of State in Louisiana and Alabama, which have no record of a BATS company.

[KansDem]

17. Anybody going to prison over this?

Two citizens are murdered, but the Lt. is pleading "guilty" to "obstruction of justice?" :shrug:

[MountainLaurel]

21. I think more arrests are on the way

Or at least that's the way the local news is portraying it.

[Solly Mack]

18. k/r

[happygoluckytoyou]

20. time to send that memo to the new orleans tourist bureau... a city with out of control cops

[Tim01]

23. I read an after action report on New Orleans and Katrina.

It looks to me like there were bad guys of all types down there.
We all saw the video of the New Orleans cops taking stuff from Walmart, while claiming they were looking for looters. There were civilians who took the opportunity to steal as much stuff as they could from every place they could.
I know an insurance agent who saw police taking electronic equipment out of a house that hadn't been damaged.
I know there were some cops who had a standing order to confiscate all guns found,distribute good guns to relief workers who wanted them, and break the rest of them into pieces and throw them in the water. This same report said that a light at night drew gunfire every single time.

All the reports together show it was a big dangerous shit sandwich.

[scottban]

24. Just doing their jobs

In a police state such as the US, these cops were just doing
their jobs.  Just like cops and judges in 1930s germany.

[Mithreal]

26. .

How can you say we are in a police state? Mentioning 1930's Germany kind of kills your argument too.

If you are right, why did you risk posting this? How come you didn't provide some evidence or supporting arguments? Better get moving, they have triangulated your position.

[guruoo]

29. Remember how the story kept changing? ...

Police Kill Five Contractors on La. Bridge
Sunday September 4, 2005 11:16 PM

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.
http://www.aztlan.net/police_kill_five_contractors.htm

Police kill suspected looters who fired on contractors trying to make...
$2.95 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - NewsBank - Sep 5, 2005
In a separate incident, a helicopter lay on its side in New Orleans after an ... The civilian helicopter crashed Sunday evening near the Danziger Bridge. ...
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10C73E144D1F4890&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

Violence mars US hurricane rescue
BBC News - Sep 5, 2005
The incident occurred when contractors escorted by officers were fired at. ... while 14 contractors were crossing the Danziger Bridge under police escort, ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4214232.stm

Doubts Now Surround Account of Snipers Amid New Orleans Chaos
Pay-Per-View - Los Angeles Times - ProQuest Archiver - Nov 24, 2005
Large gaps remain in the police and civilian accounts of the incident. News of the Danziger Bridge shootings roared across cable television for a time. ...
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/930983551.html?dids=930983551:930983551&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+24%2C+2005&author=James+Rainey&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Doubts+Now+Surround+Account+of+Snipers+Amid+New+Orleans+Chaos&pqatl=google