New Orleans Cops Finally Held Accountable For The Danziger Bridge Killings

[MobBoss]

Bestbank Tiger posted the photos from the OP above.

5 defendants. One or possibly two are black. It is difficult to tell with Anthony Villavaso from that photo.

Does it really even matter?

And the story mentions seven (the Danziger seven) that were complicit in the crime to varying degree. It matters because the allegation was made that it was white on black crime. Thats clearly been proven to be false.

 

[Formaldehyde]

It certainly was a matter of racism. Or do you think the NOPD would have responded similarly to two innocent and unarmed white families walking across the bridge?

 

[MobBoss]

It certainly was a matter of racism. Or do you think the NOPD would have responded similarly to two innocent and unarmed white families walking across the bridge?

So the black cops shot the black families and its racially motivated?

Okey dokey.

I remind you that this was a civil rights case, not a hate crime case.

 

[JollyRoger]

So the black cops shot the black families and its racially motivated?

Okey dokey.

If they would have cut white families a break, yes it is.

 

[Formaldehyde]

The way the NOPD responded in such an absurd manner is clearly racially based. And it certainly wasn't only time during the Katrina incident where they did so. And it countinues even today:

http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2011/04/orleans-city-jail-police

A federal justice report on policing in New Orleans since 2009 presents damning evidence of brutality, cop misconduct and systemic abuse of black citizens post-Katrina. The city’s jails are not far behind.

Something terrible lies at the heart of New Orleans - a rampant, widespread and apparently uncontrollable brutality on the part of its police force and its prison service. The horrors of its criminal justice system from decades before Hurricane Katrina and up to now lie somewhere between, with little exaggeration, Candide and Stalin's Gulags.

Spit on the sidewalk here, and you may be arrested - New Orleans has the highest incarceration rate of any city in the United States - and if you're poor and black and can't pay bail, you will enter a place where any protection under the American constitution and the Bill of Rights is stripped away. You will wait weeks or months to be charged, whether innocent or not, and in the meantime you will be subjected to foul, overcrowded jail conditions, prisoner-to-prisoner violence and the brutality of the deputies who guard you. God help you if you have a medical condition, or a mental-health problem, or if you're pregnant (you may deliver in leg chains - it has happened). "A minor offence in New Orleans," one civil rights attorney told me, "can get you into a hellish place."

On 17 March this year, the federal department of justice (DoJ) decided that enough was enough and it has made moves to have the New Orleans police department (NOPD) placed under the supervision of a federal judge. The New Orleans jail system will likely follow.

The department released a report covering only the past two years and ignoring several current federal investigations of police officers for murder. It says, more or less, that the NOPD is incapable on any level; that it is racist; that it systemically violates civil rights, routinely using "unnecessary and unreasonable force"; that it is "largely indifferent to widespread violations of law and policy by its police officers" and appears to have gone to great lengths to cover up its shootings of civilians. "NOPD's mishandling of officer-involved shooting investigations," the report says, "was so blatant and egregious that it appeared intentional in some respects."

And it didn't start with Katrina:

This month, two policemen were up in court, one accused of the killing and both of its cover-up in July 2005, a month before the flood, of Raymond Robair, a 48-year-old handyman from Treme. He was, it is alleged, viciously beaten and dropped off by both of them in a wheelchair in front of Charity Hospital. He died there of a ruptured spleen from the beating he took.

Both men pleaded not guilty. It was Thompson who doggedly pursued this and other stories over 18 months, with the help of many local activist groups, and reported it in the Nation magazine. Then there's Mary Howell, a civil rights lawyer on whom the Treme character Toni Bernette, played by Melissa Leo, is based. Howell has been litigating against the NOPD and the city's prisons for 30 years. In Treme, policemen leave the restaurant when Bernette walks in.

There were also a multitude of similar racist incidents that followed, and which were never even investigated, much less prosecuted:

Katrina's Hidden Race War

The way Donnell Herrington tells it, there was no warning. One second he was trudging through the heat. The next he was lying prostrate on the pavement, his life spilling out of a hole in his throat, his body racked with pain, his vision blurred and distorted.

It was September 1, 2005, some three days after Hurricane Katrina crashed into New Orleans, and somebody had just blasted Herrington, who is African-American, with a shotgun. "I just hit the ground. I didn't even know what happened," recalls Herrington, a burly 32-year-old with a soft drawl.

The sudden eruption of gunfire horrified Herrington's companions--his cousin Marcel Alexander, then 17, and friend Chris Collins, then 18, who are also black. "I looked at Donnell and he had this big old hole in his neck," Alexander recalls. "I tried to help him up, and they started shooting again." Herrington says he was staggering to his feet when a second shotgun blast struck him from behind; the spray of lead pellets also caught Collins and Alexander. The buckshot peppered Alexander's back, arm and buttocks.

Herrington shouted at the other men to run and turned to face his attackers: three armed white males. Herrington says he hadn't even seen the men or their weapons before the shooting began. As Alexander and Collins fled, Herrington ran in the opposite direction, his hand pressed to the bleeding wound on his throat. Behind him, he says, the gunmen yelled, "Get him! Get that n****!"

The attack occurred in Algiers Point. The Point, as locals call it, is a neighborhood within a neighborhood, a small cluster of ornate, immaculately maintained 150-year-old houses within the larger Algiers district. A nationally recognized historic area, Algiers Point is largely white, while the rest of Algiers is predominantly black. It's a "white enclave" whose residents have "a kind of siege mentality," says Tulane University historian Lance Hill, noting that some white New Orleanians "think of themselves as an oppressed minority."

Facing an influx of refugees, the residents of Algiers Point could have pulled together food, water and medical supplies for the flood victims. Instead, a group of white residents, convinced that crime would arrive with the human exodus, sought to seal off the area, blocking the roads in and out of the neighborhood by dragging lumber and downed trees into the streets. They stockpiled handguns, assault rifles, shotguns and at least one Uzi and began patrolling the streets in pickup trucks and SUVs. The newly formed militia, a loose band of about fifteen to thirty residents, most of them men, all of them white, was looking for thieves, outlaws or, as one member put it, anyone who simply "didn't belong."

The existence of this little army isn't a secret--in 2005 a few newspaper reporters wrote up the group's activities in glowing terms in articles that showed up on an array of pro-gun blogs; one Cox News story called it "the ultimate neighborhood watch." Herrington, for his part, recounted his ordeal in Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke. But until now no one has ever seriously scrutinized what happened in Algiers Point during those days, and nobody has asked the obvious questions. Were the gunmen, as they claim, just trying to fend off looters? Or does Herrington's experience point to a different, far uglier truth?

The new information should reframe our understanding of the catastrophe. Immediately after the storm, the media portrayed African-Americans as looters and thugs--Mayor Ray Nagin, for example, told Oprah Winfrey that "hundreds of gang members" were marauding through the Superdome. Now it's clear that some of the most serious crimes committed during that time were the work of gun-toting white males.

So far, their crimes have gone unpunished. No one was ever arrested for shooting Herrington, Alexander and Collins--in fact, there was never an investigation. I found this story repeated over and over during my days in New Orleans. As a reporter who has spent more than a decade covering crime, I was startled to meet so many people with so much detailed information about potentially serious offenses, none of whom had ever been interviewed by police detectives.

Nagin: Racism, red tape slowed recovery

INDIANAPOLIS — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Friday blamed racism and government bureaucracy for hamstringing his city's ability to weather Hurricane Katrina and recover from the disaster that struck the Gulf Coast nearly a year ago.

In remarks to the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, Nagin said the hurricane "exposed the soft underbelly of America as it relates to dealing with race and class."

"And I, to this day, believe that if that would have happened in Orange County, California, if that would have happened in South Beach, Miami, it would have been a different response," the mayor said.

The entire country should be ashamed about how the blacks were inhumanely mistreated in New Orleans before Katrina, immediately afterward, and continue to be so even today. And many of the NOPD who enforced this brutal discrimination and persecution of blacks were indeed fellow blacks.

If black cops directly contribute to racism, are they racists against their own people? Or are they merely willingly aiding and abetting the white racists?

 

[MobBoss]

The way the NOPD responded in such an absurd manner is clearly racially based. And it certainly wasn't only time during the Katrina incident where they did so. They still continue to do so even today:

The entire country should be ashamed about how the blacks were mistreated in New Orleans before Katrina, immediately afterwards, and continue to be so even today. And many of the NOPD who enforced this harsh reality were indeed fellow blacks.

If black cops directly contribute to racism, are they racists against their own people? Or are they merely willingly aiding and abetting the racists?

Are you now expanding this thread to move it to racism?

Because if you insist race was a factor in the OP case, I suggest you go back and re-read the entire link you gave. There isnt a single mention of race in any of the charges or in any of it that I can see.

Again, these simply were not hate crime charges. If it were 'clearly racially motivated' as you allege, then I would have expected a bit more reference to it in your original link than simply nothing.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

Once again, the issue here is a matter of civil rights laws, which I though was clearly stated in the OP. Do you have any actual opinions about those you wish to discuss, instead of your apparent misunderstandings of my opinions?

How is "Federal prosecutors have too much power and cannot be trusted" NOT an opinion? I realize that they did the right thing in this case, but threads don't exist in isolation. I've opposed federal police power in other threads, and given that background I should make it clear why this case is different.

What misunderstanding of your opinion is there? You defended federal police power and tried to deny that there is a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in federal court.

If you want to limit this discussion to the Danzinger shooting, there's no point to the thread because the evidence is clear and the guilty verdicts are a no-brainer. If you want a broader discussion, federal police power is relevant, and therefore so are the implications.

 

[JollyRoger]

I really don't see how they got convicted. They were merely protecting those finding food from the looters.

 

[Formaldehyde]

What misunderstanding of your opinion is there? You defended federal police power and tried to deny that there is a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in federal court.

I defended "federal police power" in this particular case and similar ones by pointing out it was an essential safety net in such situations, which is clearly explained in the OP. I then pointed out how Martha Stewart and Traficante have nothing to do with this issue. But no, I don't think a handful of cases like these show "a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in federal court". But that certainly doesn't mean I am "in love with the federal government" as you alleged.

It isn't even relevant to this topic unless you wish to discuss how the feds did so in this particular case, which you apparently don't. If you wish to discuss your own issues with the federal government in this regard, why don't you start a thread about them?

Are you now expanding this thread to move it to racism?

Because if you insist race was a factor in the OP case, I suggest you go back and re-read the entire link you gave. There isnt a single mention of race in any of the charges or in any of it that I can see.

Again, these simply were not hate crime charges. If it were 'clearly racially motivated' as you allege, then I would have expected a bit more reference to it in your original link than simply nothing.

Racism and bigotry is clearly a factor in all this. It is the primary reason why we need such federal laws which protect the civil rights of individuals, when local law enforcement refuses to do so in cases such as this.

Once again, none of this would have even likely happened if the victims had been white instead of black.

I've been following this case too, since I used to live in Nola. I'm glad justice is finally served...NOLA wont have a real recovery if people can't trust their public institutions, and nobody, especially the poor and black community, respects and trusts the police to do their job. New Orleans absolutely needed/needs federal help to shake up the police. I wonder what the mayor is doing about it now.

I really don't see how they got convicted. They were merely protecting those finding food from the looters.

It's interesting how so many others seem to have no difficulty seeing the racial aspects here.

 

[MobBoss]

I really don't see how they got convicted. They were merely protecting those finding food from the looters.

And here I thought the AP and AFP didnt put spin on such stories!!!

Racism and bigotry is clearly a factor in all this.

Not according to anything you linked in the OP.

It is the primary reason why we need such federal laws, which protect the civil rights of individuals when local law enforcement refuses to do so in cases such as this. None of this would have even likely happened if the unarmed innocent victims had been white instead of black.

Uhm...not all civil rights issues are about race.....

And since the cops started shooting from the windows of the van as it approached, I dont think the race of the people on the bridge was a factor at all. I mean if you load up the pdf graphic that gives the timeline of the case, the cops started shooting based upon a false report that they were being fired upon and they just opened up indiscriminately on people on the bridge. Race simply wasnt an issue here.

It's interesting how so many others seem to have no difficulty seeing the racial aspects here.

I think its interesting to see some so desparate to see race in everything.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Uhm...not all civil rights issues are about race.....

It is usually about racism, or bigotry, or both.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_and_political_rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.

Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples' physical integrity and safety; protection from discrimination on grounds such as physical or mental disability, gender, religion, race, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity;[1][2][3] and individual rights such as the freedoms of thought and conscience, speech and expression, religion, the press, and movement.

Justice Department Report on the New Orleans Police Department

Page 6:

The Department has failed to take meaningful steps to counteract and eradicate bias based on race, ethnicity, and LGBT status in its policing practices, and had failed to provide critical policing services to language minority communities.

Page 10:

Discriminatory Policing

We find reasonable cause to believe that NOPD engages in a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing in voiation of constitutional and statutory law. Discriminatory policing occurs when police officers and departments unfairly enforce the law - or fail to enforce the law - based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, religion, or LGBT status.

Indeed, the limited arrest data that the Department collects points to racial disparities in arrests of whites and African Americans in virtually all categories, with particularly dramatic disparity for African-American youth under the age of 17.

Page 11:

NOPD use of force data also shows a troubling racial disparity that warrants a searching inquiry itno whether racial bias influences the use of force in at NOPD. Of the 27 instances between January 2009 and May 2010 in which NOPD officers intentionally discharged their firearms at people, all 27 of the subjects of this deadly force were African-American. In our sample of resisting arrest reports documenting uses of force between January 2009 and May 2010, we found that 81 of 96 uses of force we reviewed (84%), the subject of the force was African-American.

And it goes on and on from there for 158 pages of incriminating findings.

It looks like the Justice Department thinks the NOPD is guilty of just about all classifications of civil rights abuses, especially those based on race.

 

[MobBoss]

Again, your topic is about the Danziger Bridge killings and the resultant trial, not inherit racsim in NO. Fwiw, all the racism stuff you are linking is quite off topic from the OP.