Katrina police could face the death penalty

AP

Wednesday, 14 July 2010


Four police officers could face the death penalty after being accused of gunning down two unarmed people in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

The city's corruption-plagued police department already faces several US federal investigations.

The four officers were charged along with two others in a 27-count indictment yesterday.

Five former New Orleans police officers have already pleaded guilty to helping cover up the shootings on the Danziger Bridge that left two men dead and four wounded just days after the August 2005 hurricane.

In one instance, a mentally disabled man was shot in the back and stamped on before he died.

Prosecutors say officers fabricated witness statements, falsified reports and planted a gun in an attempt to make it appear the shootings were justified.

Katrina police could face the death penalty - Americas, World - The Independent

Although I am strictly against the death penalty, going after corrupt cops who rely on fabricated evidence, fabricated witness statements, and falsified reports definitely is a good thing. If found guilty, they should go the jail for a very long time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/us...ed=1&th&emc=th

From the NYT:

Quote:

Eric Hessler, a lawyer who represents Sergeant Gisevius, said federal officials should have considered the chaos that the police were operating in during the first few days after Hurricane Katrina. “The federal government has clearly forgotten or chosen to ignore the circumstances police officers were working under and clearly chose not to factor in any of those circumstances when they decided to charge them with an intentional act of murder,” Mr. Hessler said in an interview.

I suspect that's actually quite true...

Quote:

The details of the shootings on the bridge that began to emerge, and which were elaborated on in the indictment unsealed Tuesday, were ghastlier than many in the city had expected. Responding to a call that the police were under fire, officers drove to the bridge over the Industrial Canal in eastern New Orleans in a Budget rental truck. Some were armed with assault rifles, others with a shotgun or a semiautomatic pistol. Mr. Brissette and five members of the Bartholomew family were walking across the bridge to get food and other supplies from a supermarket, the indictment reads, when the officers opened fire.

So it does seem like a case of mistaken identity/nervous policemen and a covering up of a screw up.

My personal take is that the "guns for everyone" approach of the US means that policing the population is a big russian roulette game for the cops. Which, of course, is not far off the vision of the Founders. They wanted people to be able to resist gvt oppression, didn't they? And what are cops but the arm and fist of the gvt?

What the Founding Fathers didn't anticipate is that cops, who want to live to their pensions, rather than not enforcing the dictates of the evil federal gvt, decided to go paramilitary on the public ass. Safety first. Obviously, such an attitude leads to accidents. And, given the downside of being caught, is it any surprising that the cops try and falsify reports? I mean, they are risking the death penalty for an admittedly major professional mistake. In any other job, it would only cost them their career... What would you do in their shoes? There's no downside to try and get away with it.

So, basically, I am very very sorry for the victims but I doubt that the cops are really bad people either. They just fucked up. And, in a situation like the US, it can escalate fast...

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