Hero of Katrina, sheriff may be prosecuted (Seized FEMA Ice Trailers)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11996534/

Randy Walker swears he would have died from his diabetes after Hurricane Katrina had a sheriff not seized two FEMA trucks filled with ice and distributed it to residents, many of whom had to keep their insulin cold.

Now, that sheriff could be prosecuted on charges of interfering with a federal operation.

Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee commandeered two 18-wheelers full of ice from Camp Shelby, a Federal Emergency Management Agency staging area, after five days passed with little relief for residents living without electricity in the wake of the deadly storm.

“Man, I was wanting to hug Brother Billy when I saw that ice. We were glad somebody was there to help us,” Walker, who would not give his age, said Wednesday.

McGee had worked out a deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of interfering, intimidating and impeding a federal officer, but U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton withdrew from the case without explanation and the Justice Department sent it to federal prosecutors in Louisiana.

[aquart]

1. But not the bastards on the bridge?

Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee is an American hero. And every one of us should thank him.

Are we prosecuting FEMA for not handing out that ice?

[bbinacan]

2. Way to go brother Billy!

They need to leave him alone.

[agincourt]

3. Conservative justice

No good deed in the face of the almighty Bush administration goes unpunished. Just as Abu Ghraib is Bush freedom.

[cornermouse]

4. Disobedience must be punished.

Surely you can see that. You can, can't you?

:sarcasm:

[RubyDuby in GA]

5. This is absolute bullshit!

How dare that sheriff serve and protect his fellow man! The bastard! Hang him from the nearest tree... :sarcasm:

What is the matter with this government???? Horsey boy gets to whine all over the cameras that he's done nothing wrong while the ones who were actually out working their asses off to actually do their best to help people are now being prosecuted? Everyday I ask myself what happened to this country.

[DearAbby]

6. I wonder where they would have found a jury that would have passed

a guilty verdict on this action, after five days of watching people slowly die on TEEVEE due to the inaction of FEMA...Should he have fought the charges?

[Peace Patriot]

7. It's just so sickening it's beyond belief!

The thing that gets me the most is when someone stands up to these bastards and gets beaten all to hell, or swiftboated, or blackmailed, or demoted, or subjected to mean, petty harassment, or unjustly charged. Heroes, whistleblowers, people with ethics, people with big things at risk, or, in this case, someone who saw a need in a desperate situation and did the right thing, regardless of any consequences to himself, FEMA be damned!

Well, one thing you can say for the Bush junta, they are creating a new generation of American heroes, in spite of their every effort to degrade and destroy every value we hold dear.

Bless you, Sheriff Billy McGee! I hope you read this, and know that we here at DU will help you in any way we can. Just ask!

:patriot: :applause: :patriot: :applause: :patriot: :applause: :patriot:

[Catrina]

9. Excellent post ~ bless Sheriff McGee indeed ~ he deserves better, in

fact he deserves a medal for saving lives. Is there a way to make his story known to the entire country? I will email it to people I know, and hope they pass it along, but I feel certain that the vast majority of Americans would be horrified at the thought of this man being prosecuted.

What have we come to when the greedy and corrupt and cruel are constantly rewarded and the good and brave are tormented?

Is there someone we can write to? Send this story to Congress and demand to know why action has been taken against this man, while none has been taken against those who caused the deaths of so many US citizens!

[wordpix2]

14. write your reps, the newspapers, everyone you know!

[damntexdem]

8. The feds seem determined to be hated by everyone.

And they're doing a good job of it. I guess the Bushistas figure they can't hold onto power much longer, and figure the hatred will transfer to a Democratic administration.

[struggle4progress]

10. Tons of Ice on Trips to Nowhere (NYT 2 Oct 2005).

<snip> The somewhat befuddled heroes of the tale will be truckers like Mark Kostinec, who was dropping a load of beef in Canton, Ohio, on Sept. 2 when his dispatcher called with an urgent government job: Pick up 20 tons of ice in Greenville, Pa., and take it to Carthage, Mo., a staging area for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mr. Kostinec, 40, a driver for Universe Truck Lines of Omaha, was happy to help with the crisis. But at Carthage, instead of unloading, he was told to take his 2,000 bags of ice on to Montgomery, Ala.

After a day and a half in Montgomery, he was sent to Camp Shelby, in Mississippi. From there, on Sept. 8, he was waved onward to Selma, Ala. And after two days in Selma he was redirected to Emporia, Va., along with scores of other frustrated drivers who had been following similarly circuitous routes.

At Emporia, Mr. Kostinec sat for an entire week, his trailer burning fuel around the clock to keep the ice frozen, as FEMA officials studied whether supplies originally purchased for Hurricane Katrina might be used for Hurricane Ophelia. But in the end only 3 of about 150 ice trucks were sent to North Carolina, he said. So on Sept. 17, Mr. Kostinec headed to Fremont, Neb., where he unloaded his ice into a government-rented storage freezer the next day. <snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/national/nationalspecial/02ice.html?ei=5090&en=215a593d71226349&ex=1285905600&pagewanted=print

[rodeodance]

11. oh, for heavens sake.

[hedgehog]

12. Whatever happened to the Coast Guard (Navy?) pilots

sent to observe who started rescuing people and who were court martialed for disobeying orders?

[suffragette]

13. This is upside-down world

FEMA and the National Guard hold the ice away from where it can help people and McGee takes action to get the ice to the citizens who desperately need it - so they want to prosecute HIM?
This is just insane.
McGee should be lauded as a hero and the people and entities which were blocking the delivery of critical supplies should be the ones prosecuted.

[wordpix2]

15. "He stole my FEMA ice & must be prosecuted!"---Fuhrer Bush

[wordpix2]

16. self delete