7 Police Officers Charged in Shooting Deaths of 2 Men in Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Thursday, December 28, 2006

E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
NEW ORLEANS —  Seven police officers were indicted Thursday on murder or attempted murder charges in a pair of shootings on a bridge that left two people dead during the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The district attorney portrayed the officers as trigger happy.

"We cannot allow our police officers to shoot and kill our citizens without justification like rabid dogs," District Attorney Eddie Jordan said.

The shootings took place under murky circumstances six days after the storm and became one of the most widely cited examples of the anarchy that descended after Katrina.

Two young men were killed and four people wounded on the Danziger Bridge, which spans 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, shootings occurred after shots were fired at Army Corps of Engineers workers.

Defense attorneys said their clients are innocent.

"As a wise man once said, a district attorney can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich," said Franz Zibilich, attorney for officer Robert Faulcon, who is charged with murder. "They heard only one side of the story."

After hearing weeks of testimony, the grand jury deliberated for two hours Thursday before issuing the charges. The foreman of the panel, Lee Madare, declined to comment in detail as he left the courthouse but asked a reporter, "Do you understand the word coverup?"

A spokesman for Mayor Ray Nagin declined to comment on the indictments. Police Superintendent Warren Riley and a police department spokeswoman did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press.

According to a police report, several officers responded to a radio call that two fellow officers had been hurt. When they arrived, seven people were seen running, and four began firing at police, the report said. The officers returned fire.

The victims were Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally retarded man, and James Brissette, 19. The coroner said Madison was shot seven times, with five wounds in the back.

In addition to Faulcon, police Sgt. Kenneth Bowen and officers Anthony Villavaso and Robert Gisevius were charged with murder. Officers Robert Barrios, Mike Hunter and Ignatius Hills were charged with attempted murder.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239657,00.html

I'm no apologist by any means but it sounds like an extremely difficult situation for the cops. I will reserve comment and watch the proceedings.

We know for a fact the "Police" committed armed robbery and looting. It's no big jump for me. I believe it in this situation untill proven otherwise after what I've seen.

Gettin screwed in the chocolate city.

I predict zero convictions.

Quoted: I predict zero convictions.

Yep.  You haven't seen corrupt until you have been to NO.

I thought when you had reaeaeal corupt departments the feds came in and took them over, prosecuted etc. I guess that's only for the vanilla departments.

Quoted: I thought when you had reaeaeal corupt departments the feds came in and took them over, prosecuted etc. I guess that's only for the vanilla departments.

I've never heard of the Feds taking over a department, they will press civil rights violations against individual officers.

Generally, if a department is taken over it's done by the State Police.

Quoted: Quoted: I thought when you had reaeaeal corupt departments the feds came in and took them over, prosecuted etc. I guess that's only for the vanilla departments. I've never heard of the Feds taking over a department, they will press civil rights violations against individual officers. Generally, if a department is taken over it's done by the State Police.

I've only heard of the feds doing it.
www.leaa.org/Shield%202000/fedohiopd.html

Feds Threaten To Take Over Ohio Police Department;
Could Your Town Be Next?, Darlene Hutchinson

A legal battle is now being waged in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, pitting the legal weight and limitless financial resources of the U.S. Justice Department against that town’s right to control its own police department.

At stake is no less than the fate of local agencies everywhere to control their own destinies versus an emerging pattern by the Clinton Justice Department aimed at federalizing municipal police departments, not to mention the states-rights concerns and the blurring division between the branches of government.

Unfortunately, Columbus isn’t the first victim. Already federal takeovers of departmental policy have occurred in Steubenville, Ohio, and in Pittsburgh, Penn. The police administrators in these two cities were, more or less, forced to sign consent decrees admitting their departments had participated in a pattern of civil rights violations and therefore needed the federal government to come in and run all future operations.

What sets Columbus apart, what makes them different from these other two cities which acquiesced, is that this municipality has a contract with the local police union and can’t make a deal with the devil without approval of FOP members — and thankfully they’re fighting. The city’s 30-year history of collective bargaining with rank-and-file legally forbids the city from exposing its officers to many of the changes demanded by the DOJ.

Therefore, since Columbus and the police union have decided not to sign the consent decree, the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the city to recoup all federal grant money awarded over the years. Some would call this extortion.

Bill Capretta, president of the Capitol City Lodge No. 9 of the Fraternal Order of Police in Columbus, says the lawsuit is the “latest step in a Justice Department campaign to impose federal (law enforcement) standards on police departments nationwide.”

Alleging a “pattern of civil rights abuses” by the Columbus police department, DOJ attorneys filed their suit on October 21 forcing Columbus to let the federal government implement their policy changes in the city’s police department, which would include training and staffing reforms, as well as new disciplinary and reporting procedures. The suit was apparently the culmination of a two-year investigation.

The Justice Department alleges that its investigation uncovered “a pattern of abuses” by officers and that that this pattern was tolerated by city administrators.

How Can This Be?

Many have asked how the federal government could threaten to recoup grant money spent years ago by local administrators; what authority do they have to extort the local police? In fact, these powers were vested in DOJ by the 1994 Omnibus Crime Act (the far-reaching law for which LEAA was the only outspoken critic among police groups back then). Now in accordance with the authority derived from this act, the federal government has deemed the city of Columbus incapable of correcting such “wrongdoing.”

So, essentially, any department which has accepted any federal grant money, and whose actions could be construed as inappropriate by a DOJ official (often a White House appointee), and who won’t give in when faced with a “consent decree,” may have to pay back the millions of federal dollars accepted and spent over the years (which could include everything from COPS grants, to money from “violence against women” legislation, to victims funding, training money, etc.).

Incidentally, The Columbus Dispatch reports that no less than 12 other cities nationwide are the focus of similar investigations (including New York City where Hillary Clinton’s opponent for Senate is currently mayor).

There’s further irony in that Raymond C. Fisher, who was the No. 3 guy at DOJ and the overseer of the so-called 100,000 COPS program (and who’s coincidentally been running the Columbus investigation), has recently been named by Bill Clinton as a federal judge — a lifetime appointment.

The Content Of The Consent Decree

The 48-page consent decree presented to Columbus officials by the Justice Department essentially says “The city denies all allegations and enters this Decree for the exclusive purpose of avoiding the risks and burdens of litigation. . . .” It seems this is yet one more indication of a pattern of how this Administration accomplishes it goals by backing its “victims” into a corner. Much like the pressure it’s exerting on the gun industry, Clinton appointees are going after local police departments trying to impose their “style” of policing.

Under the proposed consent decree in Columbus, a supervising lieutenant is required to review and/or discipline an officer who has “used force” five times in a one-year period. And the DOJ’s consent decree defines “use of force” as follows: An effort by a Columbus officer to compel compliance from a civilian which elicits more than minimal resistance, including use of chemical spray, and aiming a firearm at a civilian. (It excludes mere presence of a police officer or police canines, police issuance of verbal commands, handcuffing with minimal or no resistance, a come-along grasp when the civilian is offering minimal or no resistance, the display or brandishing of a firearm, and aiming a firearm at a civilian when a supervisor orders guns drawn for purposes of a tactical entry.) Obviously with such scrutiny, officers will be reluctant to act and use force when necessary, which could have a significant impact on the officers-killed and officers-injured rate which has decreased over the years.

Officer Jim Gilbert reports that “after five uses-of-force in one year, officers may be counseled by a lieutenant and be retrained and possibly reprimanded or fired. This is unbelievable. I know for a fact in my precinct, I go on anywhere from 5 to 20 gun-runs or shots-fired calls in a week. The street officers here are just amazed and keep saying to ourselves, surely they wouldn’t restrict or hamper something as important as officer safety, however, they are trying to do so.”

Another item within the proposed “consent decree” is the creation of an “independent monitor.” This independent monitor will report to a federal judge on whether the city is properly implementing the consent decree, and the IM can re-open any misconduct investigation or firearms-discharge investigation. Further, there is no time limit to file a complaint if the complainant alleges criminal behavior, excessive force, false arrest, unreasonable search/seizure, or discrimination.

The hiring of civilian auditors is also required, and the public will have input on crowd control policies if the provisions of this far-reaching consent decree are ever implemented.

Also, the consent decree requires that internal affairs investigators must follow-up on every complaint against officers, even anonymous ones. This way of thinking falls right in line with the initiatives the NAACP has been calling for the Administration to implement — a year ago the organization asked Clinton and Reno to start withholding federal law enforcement dollars from departments with an unusually high number of excessive-force complaints (even before the complaints are proven!).

The Side Effects

There’s an array of reasons why such federalization is unwise. First and foremost, it’s bad for officer safety when bureaucrats play Monday morning quarterback with no real knowledge of the pressures on the street. Recently we’ve seen criticism of cops in Seattle and at Columbine who “didn’t act quickly enough.” In contrast, the four NYPD officers who were pursuing a rapist when they encountered Amadou Diallo were charged with second-degree murder for responding too quickly when they opened fire on him after he suddenly reached for his waistband. Obviously, society is looking for infallible geniuses who will always make flawless split-second, life-and-death decisions in tough environments. Yet we pay surgeons 10 or 20 times as much as police to operate in pristine, controlled conditions.

With “independent monitors,” civilian review boards and out-of-touch administrators scrutinizing their every move, morale among police officers is bound to plummet, which is exactly what has happened in Pittsburgh, after officials in that city signed a similar consent decree in 1997, allowing a federal takeover. Under these conditions, apathy is a certain by-product.

Officer Chuck Bosetti, of the Pittsburgh FOP, says “proactive policing” is discouraged under the DOJ consent decree. As a result, disorderly conduct arrests have dropped in that city 60 percent since the consent decree was signed in 1997, and gun-related arrests have dropped 22 percent. Obviously cops are becoming reluctant to enforce laws, and Bosetti points to complacency. “We’re not the ones who are suffering,” he says. “We’re doing less and getting paid the same. It’s the public who’s affected.” Smokey Hynes, FOP president in Pittsburgh, predicted in 1997 when the consent decree was signed that police would refuse to “take that extra step” when investigating suspected criminal activity out of fear of lawsuits and baseless allegations.

Conversely, Pittsburgh Police Chief Robert McNeilly seems happy to be operating under the feds’ consent decree since he’s been able to implement changes he had already envisioned for the police department when he was hired, but now he’s having to hasten his reforms under DOJ’s watchful eye. Incidentally, Pittsburgh must operate two full years at 100 percent compliance before the restrictions are lifted (and even after two and a half years, they still have not reached 100 percent compliance).

One of the biggest arguments by officers in Pittsburgh is the requirement that all complaints against personnel are investigated, even anonymous ones, which encourages bogus and unfounded accusations. Further, unproven complaints are left in an officer’s file for three years after he leaves the force, and if an officer receives five similar complaints (even if all are anonymous), he may be counseled, transferred or sent for retraining. But the Pittsburgh chief doesn’t seem to understand the officers’ frustration and explains that investigating anonymous complaints against officers (even though it could be perceived as denying due process), reflects the model policies suggested by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. (Now it becomes clearer whose side the chief is on.)

Giving Cops A Voice

Ironically, the Clinton Administration, that openly acknowledged support by labor unions in securing the White House during the 1996 re-election campaign and continually claims to be supportive of law enforcement, is the force behind this effort that effectively crushes police collective-bargaining.

For instance, the consent decree’s “independent monitor” could make decisions in Columbus which would supersede and negate the present collective-bargaining process. What’s worse is that the city and DOJ were negotiating for more than a year about the proposed consent decree, more or less behind closed doors, and the FOP was barred from attending or commenting on those proceedings. Just this past summer, the police union and its officer-members were notified that the federal takeover of the department was underway.

Further proof of the Justice Department’s arrogant and dismissive attitude toward officers’ participation in determining their own fate was evident in the request made by DOJ to the presiding court to postpone deliberation on the suit until December 20, 1999. Police observers believe that date was selected as a blatant move to deny officers a role in the court proceedings since it came one week after the expiration of the FOP contract with the city of Columbus, and therefore the union could have been precluded from having a say in the matter.

Nonetheless, officers in Columbus are demanding to be heard. Shortly after the DOJ filed suit against the city (when the city failed to concede), the FOP filed a 19-page motion asking U.S. Judge John D. Holschuh to include the organization as a defendant in the DOJ lawsuit. FOP President Capretta claimed in the motion that the union is best able to defend itself and rank-and-file officers against the federal claims and protect their reputations, because the city has its own separate interests to look out for. Moreover, James E. Phillips, an attorney for the FOP, has demanded that the Justice Department divulge the specifics behind the alleged widespread abuse of civil rights by Columbus police, and if the FOP is approved as a defendant in the case, they can compel the DOJ to divulge evidence and specifics. “There are only three cases we’ve heard about,” says Phillips.

Three cases? Another source cites a dozen incidents of wrongdoing since 1993. This is amazing considering the literally millions of contacts between police and the public, and is hardly indicative of a “pattern.” Columbus officer James Scanlon said it best in a September 1999 letter-to-the-editor: “I want police officers held to a higher standard. Nothing is worse than a dirty cop. Let’s continue to bust them on a case-by-case basis and let their guilt or innocence be determined by facts instead of innuendo.”

But as this saga unfolds, at issue will be the definition of “pattern or practice” as given in the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill. Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the same phrase as used in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, saying that the matter at hand had to be the “standard operating procedure — the regular, rather than unusual practice. . . . [That] isolated or accidental or sporadic discriminatory acts” do not fall under the “pattern or practice” term. The three cases the FOP has been told about hardly falls under this definition.

As you can imagine, litigation for Columbus’ police officers and their union will be costly. Therefore, the FOP asked its 3,500 local members to raise their dues by $25 a month for the next four years to pay the legal fees which are expected to run near $2.5 million (or an increase of $10 for non-Columbus officers in the suburbs). Solidarity was obvious when the members approved the increase by 81 percent in November. After the vote was taken, the FOP chapter president said he hoped the results would send a message to Washington that Columbus would not go quietly.

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"Bill Capretta, president of the Capitol City Lodge No. 9 of the Fraternal Order of Police in Columbus, says the lawsuit is the “latest step in a Justice Department campaign to impose federal (law enforcement) standards on police departments nationwide.”


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Quoted: Quoted: I thought when you had reaeaeal corupt departments the feds came in and took them over, prosecuted etc. I guess that's only for the vanilla departments. I've never heard of the Feds taking over a department, they will press civil rights violations against individual officers. Generally, if a department is taken over it's done by the State Police.

+1 one on State Police taking over jurisdiction of corrupt force not Feds. In fact, it has happened in a locality close to me.

I remember this being reported at the time.  As I recall there were questions as to whether what happened was legit or not at that time.

Not sure how thats gonna pan out. werent they shot just for carrying guns? ANyway...


I want to see charges brought against all who illegally confiscated guns, guardsmen or otherwise and those who gave the order

Chocolate city, racist pieces of shit.

I remember when I heard this over the scanner. The radio calls I heard made it sound like a shoot-out not just cops shooting people for no reason.

Quoted: Quoted: I thought when you had reaeaeal corupt departments the feds came in and took them over, prosecuted etc. I guess that's only for the vanilla departments. I've never heard of the Feds taking over a department, they will press civil rights violations against individual officers. Generally, if a department is taken over it's done by the State Police.

Deeetroit has the dubious distinction of being under a fed order. So far they have done VERY little to fix their problems.

According to a police report, several officers responded to a radio call that two fellow officers had been hurt. When they arrived, seven people were seen running, and four began firing at police, the report said. The officers returned fire. The victims were Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally retarded man, and James Brissette, 19. The coroner said Madison was shot seven times, with five wounds in the back.

Fuck it, good shoot.


NEXT!!!!  

Quoted: I remember when I heard this over the scanner. The radio calls I heard made it sound like a shoot-out not just cops shooting people for no reason.

That's pretty much how the news story portrays it too.

The police are taking fire from a group of homies, and the police return fire.

And isn't it amazing how scores of NOPD officers just up and left the city high and dry, but here you have a few guys who were actually comitted enough to stick around and try to do their bloody jobs while there were a bunch of idiot thugs running around shooting at anything that moved....

And now the powers that be are trying to nail them for murder.

Sort of makes you understand why a lot of cops just up and left, don't it?

We will see how this one plays out.

There must be more to the story..

Quoted: Quoted: I remember when I heard this over the scanner. The radio calls I heard made it sound like a shoot-out not just cops shooting people for no reason. That's pretty much how the news story portrays it too. The police are taking fire from a group of homies, and the police return fire. And isn't it amazing how scores of NOPD officers just up and left the city high and dry, but here you have a few guys who were actually comitted enough to stick around and try to do their bloody jobs while there were a bunch of idiot thugs running around shooting at anything that moved.... And now the powers that be are trying to nail them for murder. Sort of makes you understand why a lot of cops just up and left, don't it?

Sorry man, I know it stinks for the decent guys there but that department has burned any benefit of the doubt I might give them.  I'd like to hear what comes out of this and I'm not inclined to think they just shot people for giggles, but my guess is the subsequent handling is what really stinks.

Just a massive fugged up situation.

The way the article account is written as with the steps leading up to the shooting, it would seem that lethal force was justified except for the five wounds in the back of that one person.

Quoted: Chocolate city, racist pieces of shit.

I was in N.O. about a month ago, worked at a building in the french quarter.

The locals i met despise nagin.

There was shop after shop with t-shirts bearing nagin's face, with the most hilarious insults on them.

One guy I talked to said nagin's comments(" chocolate city"," vote, there are people on the ballot that don't look like us") have caused several major groups to cancel their conferences that were planned to be held in N.O.

Whole service and tourism industry is pissed...restaurants,hotels,shops,casino.

They always put the word retarded in to make him seem like a "Nice " Downsey big glasses kind of gang banger.... OOOOo oho yeah he was shot in the back tooo..... Right after he got hit in the front.

Quoted: Quoted: Chocolate city, racist pieces of shit. I was in N.O. about a month ago, worked at a building in the french quarter. The locals i met despise nagin. There was shop after shop with t-shirts bearing nagin's face, with the most hilarious insults on them. One guy I talked to said nagin's comments(" chocolate city"," vote, there are people on the ballot that don't look like us") have caused several major groups to cancel their conferences that were planned to be held in N.O. Whole service and tourism industry is pissed...restaurants,hotels,shops,casino.

The citizens reelected him.

cnow-"I was in N.O. about a month ago, worked at a building in the french quarter.

The locals i met despise nagin."


They hate him so much they reelected him, and Gov Blanco as well.


NOPD is dirty no doubt but wait and see what happens with this one.

The district attorney portrayed the officers as trigger happy  The DA is a real peace of shit.  The bastard's first thing when he gets into office is to fire all the white prosecutors.  

The jury ws only out for two hours? Must have been a racist jury.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Chocolate city, racist pieces of shit. I was in N.O. about a month ago, worked at a building in the french quarter. The locals i met despise nagin. There was shop after shop with t-shirts bearing nagin's face, with the most hilarious insults on them. One guy I talked to said nagin's comments(" chocolate city"," vote, there are people on the ballot that don't look like us") have caused several major groups to cancel their conferences that were planned to be held in N.O. Whole service and tourism industry is pissed...restaurants,hotels,shops,casino. The citizens reelected him.

Since when does a majority draw the line between wrong and right. We are at a turning point in this country where the majority is going to be wrong. 51% doesn't make things "right", they only placate the inept people that they want to represent them.

tag

I've seen a documentary (the short kind) about this incident. Anything is possible. Because the PD wouldn't comment, the film makers only had one point of view.

One thing is sure: If an NOPD officers lips are moving, you need to assume he is lying without physical evidence to the contrary.

Two sides to the story is right....

I was in New Orleans right after Katrina. Most of the wild west stuff occured in the first week but it was more like an occupied combat zone than an American city when I was there (approx 3 weeks after).

I was stationed at a hotel in the french qtr. I personally observed some sad excuses for law enforcement on the part of N.O.P.D. That said I also saw some guys that had lost everything, put their families on buses bound for safety, and stayed to do what they could. Hats off to them.

In my opinion there were plenty of people down there that needed to be shot and weren't for one reason or another. One of the US Marshals I work with regularly has a good story of a stand off between NOPD and USM at a Nextel store. Guns out and no blinking...

I heard a story from a PSD team leader about a mexican stand off between his team and some cops they saw looting.

Lots of fucktards down there. Remember the 500 cops that went missing? Most of them never existed. It was a payroll scam.

So they RETURNED fire and then got busted for MURDER?

Quoted: So they RETURNED fire and then got busted for MURDER?

Thats what THEY say. The guys that survive say they got ambushed.

Quoted: The way the article account is written as with the steps leading up to the shooting, it would seem that lethal force was justified except for the five wounds in the back of that one person.

Two rounds were in the front. People tend not to stay stationary like paper targets.

ETA: If you take a couple shots at me and run, I'll put bullets wherever i can accuratly put them. If it's in the back then so be it. It's Still a justified shooting.

Quoted: Two sides to the story is right.... I was in New Orleans right after Katrina. Most of the wild west stuff occured in the first week but it was more like an occupied combat zone than an American city when I was there (approx 3 weeks after). I was stationed at a hotel in the french qtr. I personally observed some sad excuses for law enforcement on the part of N.O.P.D. That said I also saw some guys that had lost everything, put their families on buses bound for safety, and stayed to do what they could. Hats off to them. In my opinion there were plenty of people down there that needed to be shot and weren't for one reason or another. One of the US Marshals I work with regularly has a good story of a stand off between NOPD and USM at a Nextel store. Guns out and no blinking...

I completely agree with you Mongo45.  Me and Bamashooter were there from the beginning.  I didnt meet Bamashooter until mid october, he's got plenty of facts.  I was at a French Quarter hotel also for the first three weeks, lots of untold stories out there.  FPS, Marshals, various highway patrols and other state police would roll up and talk to us all the time.  These are the boys that helped out the few remaining loyal NOPD officers.  There was plenty of plenty that deserved to be shot!

Miss working with you Bamashooter!

Quoted: Quoted: Two sides to the story is right.... I was in New Orleans right after Katrina. Most of the wild west stuff occured in the first week but it was more like an occupied combat zone than an American city when I was there (approx 3 weeks after). I was stationed at a hotel in the french qtr. I personally observed some sad excuses for law enforcement on the part of N.O.P.D. That said I also saw some guys that had lost everything, put their families on buses bound for safety, and stayed to do what they could. Hats off to them. In my opinion there were plenty of people down there that needed to be shot and weren't for one reason or another. One of the US Marshals I work with regularly has a good story of a stand off between NOPD and USM at a Nextel store. Guns out and no blinking... I completely agree with you Mongo45.  Me and Bamashooter were there from the beginning.  I didnt meet Bamashooter until mid october, he's got plenty of facts.  I was at a French Quarter hotel also for the first three weeks, lots of untold stories out there.  FPS, Marshals, various highway patrols and other state police would roll up and talk to us all the time.  These are the boys that helped out the few remaining loyal NOPD officers.  There was plenty of plenty that deserved to be shot! Miss working with you Bamashooter!

Wild, wild, west.

It was great working with you. Maybe we can do it again one day.

BTW How's your brother doing?

Quoted: Quoted: There must be more to the story.. There is,  White cops, black victims.

Probably about sums it up.  

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: There must be more to the story.. There is,  White cops, black victims. Probably about sums it up.

I wouldnt call the guy that throws the first punch a victim just because he lost the fight....

Quoted: Quoted: There must be more to the story.. There is,  White cops, black victims.

Please, you have absolutely no idea what it was like, so STFU.  

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I thought when you had reaeaeal corupt departments the feds came in and took them over, prosecuted etc. I guess that's only for the vanilla departments. I've never heard of the Feds taking over a department, they will press civil rights violations against individual officers. Generally, if a department is taken over it's done by the State Police. I've only heard of the feds doing it. www.leaa.org/Shield%202000/fedohiopd.html

"You can 't professionalize unless you Federalize" Hitlery Klintoon

Remember that come 2008

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Chocolate city, racist pieces of shit. I was in N.O. about a month ago, worked at a building in the french quarter. The locals i met despise nagin. There was shop after shop with t-shirts bearing nagin's face, with the most hilarious insults on them. One guy I talked to said nagin's comments(" chocolate city"," vote, there are people on the ballot that don't look like us") have caused several major groups to cancel their conferences that were planned to be held in N.O. Whole service and tourism industry is pissed...restaurants,hotels,shops,casino. The citizens reelected him.

The locals I talked to thought Nagin was less corrupt than Landrieu.

Quoted: Quoted: I thought when you had reaeaeal corupt departments the feds came in and took them over, prosecuted etc. I guess that's only for the vanilla departments. I've never heard of the Feds taking over a department, they will press civil rights violations against individual officers. Generally, if a department is taken over it's done by the State Police.

The Feds have already broken up a huge crime ring within the NOPD back in IIRC the late 80s or early 90s.

I don't know if they assumed control for a short period or not.  Saw a Discovery channel doc. on it back when they actually showed educational stuff.

IIRC the problem was that even IA was corrupt!!

I've seen a documentary (the short kind) about this incident. Anything is possible. Because the PD wouldn't comment, the film makers only had one point of view.



I saw that as well. The older brother of the mentally retarded guy was interviewed. His version: He is moving his brother to safety across this bridge. This pickup truck full of armed men come approach them at a high rate of speed. He thinks they are thugs and he and his brother start running. His brother is hit. When they get to the bottom of the bridge, he lays his mentally retarded brother down in the grass to go and get help. His brother is shot multiple times by the cops. The police produced a witness that said the guy and his brother had a handgun. The police witness was a former cop that is now a convicted felon. He was located 300 yards away from the scene.

The surviving older brother is a well-spoken, employed guy without any prior criminal history (IIRC). His story seems very credible. I think this will be a very interesting trial.  

Quoted: The surviving older brother is a well-spoken, employed guy without any prior criminal history (IIRC). His story seems very credible. I think this will be a very interesting trial.

Sure -- a well-spoken, employed guy without any prior criminal history -- but on the other side we have cops, so we all know who's lying.  (cops don't lie.)

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: There must be more to the story.. There is,  White cops, black victims. Please, you have absolutely no idea what it was like, so STFU.   I wasn't there, but several of co workers did.  So you STFU.

Several of your coworkers did what, exactly?  Shoot civilians?  Get shot by the police?
I was here, and still am, and I can tell you that "white cops, black victims(sic)" is about the most assinine comment anyone can make about that event... or any other event that happened durring Katrina.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: There must be more to the story.. There is,  White cops, black victims. Please, you have absolutely no idea what it was like, so STFU.   I wasn't there, but several of co workers did.  So you STFU. Several of your coworkers did what, exactly?  Shoot civilians?  Get shot by the police? I was here, and still am, and I can tell you that "white cops, black victims(sic)" is about the most assinine comment anyone can make about that event... or any other event that happened durring Katrina.

I was there also. And I don't doubt the obvious.