Policeman 'fired at wounded men' in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Source: www.independent.co.uk...

A policeman sprayed gunfire at wounded, unarmed people and repeatedly stamped on a dying man on a bridge in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a court heard.


Michael Hunter, a former officer, told the court in New Orleans that he was shocked when Sgt Kenneth Bowen leaned over a concrete barrier and fired an assault rifle at several people who had been shot by police on Danziger Bridge, less than a week after the hurricane struck.

Yes.. Katrina stories are still coming out. This doesn't suprise me considering the way that these poor people were treated during and after the hurricane. The lack of water and food. Confiscation of guns and the treatment of people like they were animals... grrr.

reply to post by Nspekta


I'm from NOLA and lived through this crap. Actually, i evacuated like every SANE person did that weekend. The response from TPTB was disgusting.

Confiscating guns. Refusing Fed help. Refusing citizen help (ppl w/boats etc...). the list goes on and on, but the kicker is this:

New Orleans East, including the Lower 9th ward, are still decimated. Certain parts of the city still look like it did the day after the water receded. Thank God for Texas - where I now reside. BTW, I fear all govt. agencies aren't to be trusted (take it from a former NSA SIGINT analyst) and how this disaster was handled just proves my point. Don't depend on the Fed for jack, depend on yourself and your neighbors.

Thanks for the post. S & F for you. Everyone needs to be aware of the travesties that happened that week so everyone knows what to look for, how to avoid it and most importantly to stop it from happening again.

It was not just the police acting like fools, there were gang members running the show down there. People were told well in advance to evacuate yet they decided to stay. There was no law, cops quit being cops and decided to loot. Everything is calm now but put yourself into a Katrina situation, it would be like the end of the world where anything goes. Rapes, looting, murders all just chaos.

Several law enforcement took there own lives because of the things they did and what it cost people. I read 1 story from a credible source that military, or police dressed military style, went to every home where there was a documented gun owner, and confiscated the homeowners weapon at gunpoint in most cases. That was a nightmare for the single reason of George Bush. His pitch that FEMA, and by extension the DHS was the answer to all the problems of America. He should be prosecuted for not letting the Red Cross coordinate efforts. Didn't see the problems in Joplin you saw during Katrina. FEMA took the back seat there.

reply to post by Hillbilly123069


The confiscation of registered gun orders is.. well disgusting. Considering the 'right to bear arms' thing right?! Reminds me of 'Red Dawn'...(if you haven;t seen it, you must! its awesome!) When the invading forces arrive, one of the first things they do is round up all registered gun owners for confiscation and execution. For this reason, I have been apprehensive of getting a gun (its a little different here in Canada) because whether its an invading force or your own government.. they want your guns if the SHTF...

Eventually people will get tired of this you know. These stories need to each the people en masse. Eventually someone is going to see this happening, innocent people being killed. Harmed. The wrong (or right) person will see this happening, and they will pick up their own weapons and shoot back.

That makes me furious. I cant even explain the feelings that rush through me when i read and see this kind of thing happen. Police brutality, police state. Its not so prevelent(sp) here in atlantic canada. But i have a feeling there is something coming here, not sure what.

Needless to say, in such a case im not sure what i would do in such a situation

The way i understand it, US citizens have the right to bare arms. And in that kind of devestation, you need to protect your family.

reply to post by SirClem


Wow.. I can;t imagine being there and seeing the rights of citizens being stomped on by federal's... Thx for the S&F. I live a long long ways from New orleans, however the images of that distaster resonate with me still.

Originally posted by AzureSky
Eventually people will get tired of this you know. These stories need to each the people en masse. Eventually someone is going to see this happening, innocent people being killed. Harmed. The wrong (or right) person will see this happening, and they will pick up their own weapons and shoot back.

That makes me furious. I cant even explain the feelings that rush through me when i read and see this kind of thing happen. Police brutality, police state. Its not so prevelent(sp) here in atlantic canada. But i have a feeling there is something coming here, not sure what.

Needless to say, in such a case im not sure what i would do in such a situation

The way i understand it, US citizens have the right to bare arms. And in that kind of devestation, you need to protect your family.

edit on 8/7/11 by AzureSky because: (no reason given)

Totally agree! what you say reminds me of that part in 'V for Vendetta'.. after 'V' makes his TV announcement abou the 5th of Nov.. there is a part where a little girl is dressed up as 'V' and is shot by one of the secret police guys and the whole neighbourhood descends on him and kills him.. Kinda like the straw that breaks the camels back right? I think that stuff like that will happen and soon. People can only take so much, can only be backed into a corner for so long before we bear our teeth.

reply to post by Nspekta


I agree. Think of the situation as a stick. They keep putting pressure on either end of the stick, and its going to break. And when it breaks its not going to be pretty.

Last i understood not all weapons are registered, there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of unregistered weapons floating around.

I would pick up a weapon if such a future came about. Im not concerned with dying. Dying does not scare me (oddly enough, a lot of simple things do scare me).

This outcome seems to be fast approaching with food, gas, necessities increasing rapidly in price, the rate of unemployment soaring, the law system is flawed greatly, and the prison system is screwed too.

I always imagine a kind of, police brutality situation where i have done nothing wrong. How do you fight an officer of the law when you have done no wrong doing? yet he seems convinced you did, and will not listen to you?

Originally posted by BIGPoJo
It was not just the police acting like fools, there were gang members running the show down there. People were told well in advance to evacuate yet they decided to stay. There was no law, cops quit being cops and decided to loot. Everything is calm now but put yourself into a Katrina situation, it would be like the end of the world where anything goes. Rapes, looting, murders all just chaos.

You are defending the actions of this massacre of unarmed innocent people by a "truck load" (12) of state troopers and local police officers? Because, as you stated; "it would be like the end of the world where anything goes."?

No friend. Strong honorable, respectful people would not even contemplate "rape and murder" of the innocent. Only weak, child minded bottom feeders take such a cowardice path.

A family and friends, peacefully trying just to survive and find refuge were attacked by the very people who were entrusted to protect them; Why? For no other reason than to "send a message; Don't mess with us"! (testified by witness officer Michael Hunter)

This is not the action of some rogue insane cop but all 12 officers in that truck were complicit/evolved at some level. Not even one of those 12 disgraceful cops attempted to stop the others... something that everyone should take note of and wisely remember during such an event.

Two people were executed (17yr old James Brissette, & 40yr old Ronald Madison), 3 seriously injured (one women had her arm "blown off" attempting to shield her body and child from the hail of gunfire)

Even this poor women (Susan Bartholemew) was very nearly executed, Why? She could not show the criminal cops both her hands because they shot one of her arms completely off as she was attempting to shield her child: "She said the officers approached them as they lay on the bridge, threatened to kill them and yelled at them to hold up their hands. Of course I couldn't because my arm was shot off,' she said. 'I raised the only hand I had."

One of the murder victims (40-year-old Ronald Madison) was a mentally disabled man who was shot in the back.

As Mr. Madison laid there dying and gasping for his very last breath, his killer decided to torture him by stomping on his back before he died.

You say; "cops quit being cops", well not many would argue with you on that point but those same cops decided that they could be the ones "Raping, looting and murdering" simply because they were the only people to be legally armed... well this should speak volumes to every single American, especially gun owner, next time police decided to attempted to take our firearms. Never allow it.

Susan Bartholemew told jurors she felt bullets piercing her body as she huddled with her husband and teenage daughter behind a concrete barrier.

She recalled that her daughter, lying on the ground next to her, tried to shield her body from the hail of gunfire.

I prayed. I just called to the Lord because I didn't know what else to do,' Bartholomew said. Bartholomew said it wasn't until after the shooting stopped that she realized police officers had shot her, leaving her right arm hanging by just a strip of skin.

She said the officers approached them as they lay on the bridge, threatened to kill them and yelled at them to hold up their hands. 'Of course I couldn't because my arm was shot off,' she said. 'I raised the only hand I had.' Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

He [Michae12l Hunter] told the court how his colleague Sgt. Kenneth Brown randomly shot at wounded and unarmed people with an assault rifle and repeatedly kicked a mentally-disabled man as he lay on the ground dying from gun wounds in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a court heard. Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

Running out of recent things to bash cops around with so your dredging up stuff from Katrina?

That's some serious hate you got there.

Originally posted by kro32
Running out of recent things to bash cops around with so your dredging up stuff from Katrina?

That's some serious hate you got there.

Dredging up Katrina stuff? Bashing cops?

This topic is about an extremely important, on going Federal trial. No one is bashing cops, these criminals murdered unarmed innocent people.

If you want to defend these bottom feeders, by all means but do not attempt to undermine the OP's legitimate thread on current events.

reply to post by kneverr


Not defending them but this case was already thrown out of court.

Unless it's being tried again which I didn't notice in the op or the link.

reply to post by kro32

Police trial on Katrina shootings begins
June 28, 2011|Associated Press

source

reply to post by Maluhia


Nope I think it's been thrown out. At least it's underway if I'm reading this correctly.

la.findacase.com...

Yes here it is:

www.canada.com... gn=Feed%3a+canwest%2fF77+(canada.com+World+News)

The cops are no longer on trial just the cover-up by this one guy is.

Four of the officers facing trial — Sergeants Robert Gisevius and Bowen and Officers Anthony Villavaso and Faulcon — were charged in 2007, by then-district attorney Eddie Jordan.


A judge threw out the case, citing prosecutorial misconduct.


The fifth defendant, Sergeant Arthur Kaufman, was not involved in the shooting, but faces charges for participating in the cover-up.

reply to post by kro32

Running out of recent things to bash cops around with so your dredging up stuff from Katrina?

My point was that this is why the subject has come up again. Once again the story is in the news.

Originally posted by kro32
reply to post by Maluhia

 

Nope I think it's been thrown out. At least it's underway if I'm reading this correctly.

la.findacase.com...

You are misunderstanding some of the issues, which is very understandable in this drawn-out case.

This trial is on-going and being heard (testimony as recent as today) in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Eastern district of Louisiana:
U.S. District Court
500 Poydras Street, Room C-151
New Orleans, LA 70130


Here is a link with some very fine, up-to-date news coverage of this trial. There are even a few updated videos reporting from in front of the court house. < Link >

Just another reason why you should load up on black market guns. Hell with registering them, buy em from crack dealers, none of that background check nonsense either. No waiting three days.

This way when it comes to the clampdown, they won't come to your house.