Bodies found piled in freezer at Convention Center

[ECH1969]

Arkansas National Guardsman Mikel Brooks stepped through the food service entrance of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Monday, flipped on the light at the end of his machine gun, and started pointing out bodies.

"Don't step in that blood - it's contaminated," he said. "That one with his arm sticking up in the air, he's an old man."
Then he shined the light on the smaller human figure under the white sheet next to the elderly man.

"That's a kid," he said. "There's another one in the freezer, a 7-year-old with her throat cut."

He moved on, walking quickly through the darkness, pulling his camouflage shirt to his face to screen out the overwhelming odor.
"There's an old woman," he said, pointing to a wheelchair covered by a sheet. "I escorted her in myself. And that old man got bludgeoned to death," he said of the body lying on the floor next to the wheelchair.

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09.html#077206

[all.of.me]

1. ugh, this is so sad, but it's the kind of info we need to get around!

what a nightmare this is. what a sad sad nightmare.

[saigon68]

2. THANK YOU KARL ROVE you MOTHER FUCKER

Diverting attention to the "GOOD STORIES" coming out.

[DS1]

12. I'd sooner thank the pieces of shit that took advantage of this situation

and did this to people. They should all be shot and hanged, and shot again in public.

[Mike Daniels]

20. Ooops. You blamed the actual perps in this case.

You should know that in reality that N.O. is populated entirely by angels and saints who would never have done this to fellow human beings if they hadn't been compelled to by Bush and Rove.

I couldn't believe that people were actually protesting people being searched before they could be admitted into a shelter. Never mind that the number of guns and weapons that were confiscated during the search proved that not taking those precautions probably would have allowed for more mayhem.

[bushisanidiot]

25. New Orleans did not consist completely of pure saints, but

AWOL George Bush knew that keeping the troops out for as long as possible would cause the worst in people to surface..

had that fucking idiot sent troops in when he PROMISED Blanco he'd send them, those people would have had protection!!!

[krkaufman]

43. Naw, searching people entering the 'Dome made perfect sense.

What didn't make sense was providing the 'Dome with NO SUPPLIES or PROTECTION, for 4 days!

[ninkasi]

22. Let them spin this...

Even now, as people still remain stranded, slowly dying, and bodies pile up, and the Bush gang blames everybody but themselves, even with the eyes of the world on them and their heartless disregard for human life, the female who spawned the worst president ever can be heard on NPR Marketplace saying...

"In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of
evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost
everyone I've talked to says we're going to move to
Houston."

Then she added: "What I'm hearing which is sort of
scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is
so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

So the incredible human misery, and the overwhelming problems facing the ones who survived, at least physically from the storm, are not scary. No, scary to this she-devil is that "they" might stay in Texas. What compassion! What empathy! No wonder her son is a sociopath.

Nobody who lived through this hurricane, none of the victims, are without scars, and damage which is held inside them, and might not show now. I have stopped thinking that my hatred of the neocons has reached it's limit. There are depths of depravity they will go to which I am unable to imagine, and they will go there. Had enough of them, America?

[krkaufman]

44. I don't wholly disagree with that old witch.

Assuming she had a charitable feeling in her heart, maybe she just misspoke. (Cutting her a lot of slack, given her past history. e.g. "So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?")

The *only* possible not-wholly negative outcome out of this disaster, is that the change may result in a net-positive long-term gain for many of the former residents of impoverished areas of New Orleans. I certainly wouldn't say that the disaster is presently "working very well" for anyone. There is only the hope that some positive may come from the disaster, if it opens Americans' eyes to the endemic poverty that remains in our country.

However, whatever long-term positive gains are made by some, will have little meaning to those who have been personally and permanently devastated by the disaster. And even those able to find a path away from the disaster, will retain scars.

"Working very well"...? I think not.

[alarimer]

47. Those of us living in Texas hope they stay and vote

Democratic. I do anyway. But I would guess they would want to go home eventually.

[MaineDem]

3. The reports, I'm afraid, will only get worse.

I really think people aren't prepared for the magnitude of this disaster.

How very very sad.

[Arkansas Democrat]

4. Oh Dear God!!

[soup]

5. .

endless tears
bottomless grief
eternal screams

a 7 year old with her throat cut, an elderly man bludgeoned to death

[all.of.me]

6. and a 5 year old gang raped. what the fuck?!?!?!

[soup]

7. There's just no words, genevat.

none.

[Wcross]

46. Some people are pure evil.

My only hope is that there were witnesses and the people who are guilty have their day in court. I am 100% for the death penalty for raping and murdering children. If a 100% iron clad case can be made against an individual then I would have no problem with the ultimate punishment. You don't harm children or you will die. Its as simple as that.

[marshall]

17. Do they know who did it?

Is there any way they can identify who did this? They need to be identified and separated from the rest of the evacuees.

[bemildred]

8. Shades of Abu Ghraib.

Let's see you bury these atrocities, Mr. Bush.

[progressivebydesign]

16. Ah. But the military did not do the atrocities in the Dome. n/t

[SeanQ]

19. But are they both indications of a deep sickness

in our culture?

They blamed Clinton for causing the fall of morals in this country by encouraging blowjobs and infidelity. How much worse are these atrocities?

[bemildred]

30. I don't believe I mentioned the military. nt

[nd farmer]

9. Good wake up call for the spoiled in America

Crap happens all over and even here.

[OneBlueSky]

13. yeah . . . . they'll wake up, yawn, have their coffee, and . . .

go right back to their three-car, two-tv, one-point-five kid lives . . . after all, it's not their problem, now is it? . . .

[unschooler]

38. Welcome to DU, nd farmer!

:hi:

[really annoyed]

52. Welcome!

You are absolutely right. I am still sick about it though.

Welcome to DU!

[expatriot]

10. "What's more, officials appeared to have no plan."

Nearly a full week after Hurricane Katrina, a rescue force the size of an invading army had not yet begun the task of retrieving the bodies Sunday. What's more, officials appeared to have no plan.

[UpInArms]

11. Iraq-hardened vet had no stomach for it:

"I ain't got the stomach for it, even after what I saw in Iraq," said Brooks, referring to the freezer where the bulk of the bodies sat decomposing. "In Iraq, it's one-on-one. It's war. It's fair. Here, it's just crazy. It's anarchy. When you get down to killing and raping people in the streets for food and water … And this is America. This is just 300 miles south of where I live."

[mikita]

14. OMG a bit off topic...

but "it's fair"??????? WTF??

[nothometoday]

18. I think what he meant was

That in a war, this is stuff you see, and live with, and God forbid, Have to do to survive...My take is he is sick at heart that it is happening in the united states.
I don't think he meant it "was cool". to do in a war, Either.

[tblue37]

26. Raping people for food and water?

How would that work?

[bettyellen]

53. dehydration and starvation can excaberate mental illness.

not excusing rape, but explaining... that is a connection to the amount of violence.
you make sick people sicker, put em in a pressure cooker, and see what happens.
now you know, it becomes a war zone.
remember those bodies were dying and rotting amongst them. and the freezer isn't working. i'm sure some people thought it was the end of the world.

[defiant1]

15. Wow....

:puke:

[daleo]

21. Though they could not confirm it - an important qualifier

"One of the bodies, they said, was a girl they estimated to be 5 years old. Though they could not confirm it, they had heard she was gang-raped."

I expect many bad things did happen, but this report is another rumor.

[Lars39]

23. That's why there needs to be autopsies.

[daleo]

24. I agree, that is one important reason for autopsies.

Rumors and urban legends get out of control at times like this. Lack of facts feed the fire. Rumor and urban legend often reinforce existing stereotypes and prejudices.

After 911, Iraq, etc. I have learned that the phrase "it could not be confirmed" should be respected.

[LostinVA]

29. BUT, there was a child in the freezer w/ a slashed throat

This is harder to say didn't happen, you know? They were many, many good and decent people in the Dome and CC... but the laws of odds dictates there were also some bad, even sociopathic, people in there. Evil people. I'm sure some unspeakable things happened there....

[-..__...]

31. I hate to think about it, but there's one possibility here.

Maybe a parent killed their own child rather than seeing the kid suffer
under the conditions that were present in the Superdome?

Given some news stories posted in the past regarding religious nut-jobs killing their own kids for one reason or another, it's possible that the murder (if true), was the action of some "waiting for the rapture" type.

[LibraLiz1973]

48. I dont think a parent would be able to slash their childs throat

[Carni]

59. Two words:Andrea Yates

It's disgusting but there it is.

[daleo]

34. One guardsman made this claim

If you re-read the article, you will see this claim was made by one man, and the reporter didn't substantiate it (he waved his arm and said something like "there's another body of a 7 year old boy in there"). We don't even know if the guardsman saw this body, or just heard a story and repeated it. Some people were hit with an incredible wall of water, and glass was flying everywhere during the hurricane. It is possible that a terrible accident was transformed into a murder, based on the observation of a body. Rumors and urban legends can happen like that. At this point we just don't know.

Which isn't to say that some bad things didn't occur, given the size of the crowd, the psychological state people were in, and the physical condition (lack of light, etc). But, for myself, I want a greater evidence base than what I have seen so far.

The same goes for vague claims about the government flooding the 9th ward to save the French quarter - I need more evidence, although I have reluctantly allowed such possibilities into my world view.

[RaleighNCDUer]

39. Do you know how it happened?

Surging flood waters push someone through a plate glass window, and you may well see the same result.

You don't go to the bank on rumors.

[Carni]

58. You're right

And it would only take one whacko in that huge crowd to commit that unspeakable act. It is bothering me though that the whole stadium is being depicted as a bunch of animals.

[Carni]

56. I have a hard time believing all these rape/murder stories as well

Widespread raping and throat cutting of children?

I have a real hard time buying that--maybe I just don't want to believe it.

I don't know it just has the whole race baiting vibe to it IMO

I read a thread earlier here on DU that said a study showed 35% of men would rape if they knew they wouldn't be caught and I thought that was very insulting to men.

I would believe 3% but not 35--sorry I just don't.

[leveymg]

27. NOTE: Source of atrocity stories is one ANG guy recently back from Iraq

I wonder whether the reporter bothered to confirm the strange tale of child rape and murder inside the Superdome being told by this one guardsman, Mikel Brooks.

All this may be true, but before the grizzly details gets told and retold and used as justification for the delayed search & rescue and military-style intervention into the city, I'd like to see some corroboration.

[KoKo]

32. Could be the guy is projecting stuff he saw in Iraq and isn't stable

enough to be on the ground in this disaster. :shrug;

[BlueStateGirl]

57. One of the fasmilies interviewed on today's Oprah show had been

inside the Superdome and told the same story.

One of the women said a young girl was raped and murdered inside the Superdome.

Another family said they left the Dome because of the violence.

[sakabatou]

28. EW

[Lori Price CLG]

33. Too bad ****'s isn't one of them. n/t

[TomClash]

35. "They're just poor niggas and a few white trash"

"Not OUR kind of people."

And hey "stuff happens."

[progressivebydesign]

36. Can all the people defending the crimes please read this thread? n/t

[bettyellen]

54. crime or "commandeereing food"?

i guess it's black and white for some people though.

[Carni]

60. For that matter looting plasma TVs

In an environment where you can't sell the thing is an act of sheer stupidity--gang raping and slitting a five year old's throat is something all together different.

The slitting the 5 year old's scenario is serial killer type behavior and an average thug wouldn't be getting involved in all that (IMO)

Even in prison child killers are targeted. If the case and the story is true than a truly aberant serial type did it, not just some hyped up gang banger reveling in an anarchy environment.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

37. Bush should not have sent people to an unguarded Convention Center

I don't get it. If Bush had half a brain, he wouldn't have sent those people to the Morial Convention Center. Why weren't they searched like the people at the dome were searched?

This makes me so mad. Why did Bush do this?

[Chicago Democrat]

40. THANK YOU BUSH AND BROWNIE AND RUMMIE

BURN IN HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY!


Be reborn as a bug!

[Ilsa]

41. "I ain't got the stomach for it, even after what I saw in Iraq,"

"I ain't got the stomach for it, even after what I saw in Iraq," said Brooks, referring to the freezer where the bulk of the bodies sat decomposing. "In Iraq, it's one-on-one. It's war. It's fair. Here, it's just crazy. It's anarchy. When you get down to killing and raping people in the streets for food and water … And this is America. This is just 300 miles south of where I live."

[dweller]

42. there are many interesting reports

at that link. This is just one.

bookmarking the link, nom'd post.
dp

[Up2Late]

45. Can't say I didn't expect this.

They are hiding a LOT of the deaths from the American public. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately) the rest of the worlds media is not hiding them from their population.

[thethinker]

49. What I can't get over

What I can't get over is the fact that the National Guards left bodies on the side walk for days. They loaded the buses with people walking past those bodies. Why couldn't they have taken those bodies to the freezer? They had time to play cards. That hit me the hardest of anything.

When in America have we ever treated the dead with such disrespect?

[Judi Lynn]

51. They know the MEpublicans won't criticize them for this.

They're showing the world just how much value they place in human beings who don't conform to their identical images.

They must believe their MEpublican empire is going to last a thousand years and they'll never have to face the consequences of their actions.

[really annoyed]

50. Just horrible...

Just horrible.... :cry:

God, I am so angry right now.... How can we treat people like this?

[riverwalker]

55. the 7 year old

was raped and killed and the crowd beat the guy who did it to death.
Arthelle Neville 's cousin was at Convention Center and told her about it.

[daleo]

61. Did she see it, or hear about it?

Urban legends arise quickly in crowds under these conditions.

[marshall]

62. I would imagine she saw it.....but probably wishes it was an urban legend

"Neville said that she, too, was raped during those chaotic days. "What he took from me was nothing, because he can't take my spirit, he can't take my soul. My soul is New Orleans."

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/090405/new_soul001.shtml

[daleo]

64. I have read her story before, including accounts of her own rape

And it does seem well attested. She also notes that she saw a lot of heroism too.

As I said before, I don't dismiss the fact there crimes committed during the disaster, I just won't believe accounts that aren't backed up by something more than hearsay. As another poster pointed out, lack of proper security and disaster preparedness were the crimes that made other crimes possible. And of course underspending on levee maintenance in the first place.

[txindy]

63. That story has been around since the media first arrived there.

I've heard it since last Wed. or Thursday, I know that. Long before the NG arrived, so it isn't just the word of one NG soldier. He came in long after that story first surfaced.