Sentences Handed Down For Roles In Katrina Killings

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Five former New Orleans police officers were sentenced Wednesday to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for their roles in deadly shootings of unarmed residents in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, with the judge lashing out at prosecutors for two hours on their handling of the case.

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It has been over six and a half years after these shootings took place less than a week after Katrina hit New Orleans and the Gulf States. Six years since two people were gunned down in what turned out to be a cold blooded killing of two unarmed civilians. In the panic that was Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath that came after the storm had left. Nobody expected that the police would turn against the public that they swore to defend and that these officers would take the law into their own hands. I would say that during this tense situation these cops became so blinded by rage and fear that they just snapped. However, these cops knew what they were doing and how they were going to commit the act. It just so happened that they found the right opportunity to take the law into their own hands. Not too mention the ability to cover it up real quick.

What is even more appalling about these killings was how old these victims were. One of the victims was forty year old mentally handicapped male. That man's brother was framed by the police because the police tried to cover the incident up. The victim's brother spent time in jail because he was arrested by police and charged with attempted murder when the officers falsified that the victims shot at the police first. Yet two people were killed all because the police opened fire first. The other victim, a seventeen year old, was again a bystander when this went down. Poor kid probably had nothing to do with the incident and was just waiting on a way out of the city. Yet he had to die all because a few cops went on a power rage.

I know that most of you are going to say that the reason why this was covered up was to save the rear ends of the officers involved. That was most certainly the case when it came down to this case and the coverup that ensued from the shootings. Everything from falsifying the police reports on as to how the incident occurred to planting evidence suggesting that the victims were the ones who provoked the shootings to take place. Just to give you guys an idea, the New Orleans Police Department was and probably still is one of the most corrupt police departments in the country. This is most certainly the case when police officers are involved in a murder. The lead investigator for the police department will try and do almost everything in their power to keep an officer from getting in trouble. When this happens,

Did they do something to provoke the police into opening fire and kill two people in broad daylight in a flood ravaged city? We may never know what happened and how it went down because the two main victims that this case pertains to are dead. Did someone in the police department or another witness come forward with information pertaining to the shootings and the coverup that followed? I honestly don't think that we will ever know who came forward or not. If they were to come forward and say who they were and what they knew would be dangerous. That alone has to be the main reason as to why no one has came forward as to who they are.

Justice has been served...

reply to post by rbmgang


I would say that justice has been served even though it has been a long time in the making and a long time coming for this to have happened. It is every day that police brutality occurs, its just not reported by the media. When it is reported by the media in most instances the cops get blamed for everything. I realize that there are a large majority of cases out there as to where a civilian provokes action from the police like a beating and such. Usually, when a civilian causes the police to give them a good old fashioned beating. It gets turned around to where the cops are the bad guys. Nevermind that the person on the receiving end of the beating provoked the cops into beating them. Now granted that not all cops are bad cops but if you have just a few bad apples in the bunch. It makes the whole of the police department look bad in the long run.

This was one of those instances where no one did anything wrong and the cops weren't provoked by anyone.

The cops got what they deserved i hope......but i can also imagine the raw fear they may have acted under too....
Perhaps they percieved an ambush which didnt materialise or some such thing ....they certainly reacted with deadly force .........
The families of these victima have my deepest sympathies....after surviving the hurricane to be shot by what one thought were friendly rescuers .....sad..........

reply to post by stirling


They may have expected an ambush that never materialized and just went with their instinct and overreacted. Then again, the severity of the events in and around New Orleans at the time may have played a roll in the killings