I just saw an interview on MSNBC with the Gretna chief

[SlowDownFast]

of police.

The fact of the matter is there was one way out on the west side of NO.

There were several ramps that led to the bridge going over to Gretna.

Multiple reports have it that the Gretna Police blocked the crossover.

They literally discharged firearms over the heads of people who tried to approach them. Some who did not fear them and tried to talk sense to them were reprimanded with racial slurs and told, "There'll be no Superdome over in Gretna."

MSNBC interviewed the Gretna Chief of Police tonite and hit him with some hard accusations but he fended them off under the explaination that Gretna had already been evacuated and they did allow an amount of traffic from NO which he said they bussed out until they finally shut the bridge down. He totally defended his actions, saying that in addition, if the levy busted on Gretna's side, he would have been responsible for NO residents heading that way.

I find it a poor excuse myself. I think his actions are reprehensible.

All they needed to do was take all the officers who blocked the bridge and place them at strategic points in order to deter looting and let them walk the fuck out out of NO. If he didn't have the resources to feed or water the masses, at least let them keep going out of NO, which was being flooded. It was a major roadway and route out. At least then, there might have been some more hope further down the line.

The bottom line was and is, he was trying to keep the "negroes" and "looters" from invading Gretna.

Shame on him.

[bullimiami]

1. he would rather they starve or die in NO than allow them to enter his city

he needs to be charged now with hate crimes. all of his officers that participated as well.

[thecrow]

2. Anybody have a link to the story?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

4. This an article that was written about it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4728676#4729160

[thecrow]

6. Many Thanks

:)

[CascadeTide]

3. it's really a tough call

he has an obligation to protect his jurisdiction so I can somewhat understand him not allowing people in when his city was not setup to distribute supplies. It's easy to blame him but if he only has a handful of officers and gets tens of thousands of people dumped into his city, it could become a big problem. I don't have all the facts so I can't say for sure.

It really never should have been an issue. There should have been plenty of supplies in New Orleans from day one and then there could have been an orderly evacuation. Instead, nobody has any food or water and all hell breaks loose, turf-wars break out and people suffered.

[oasis]

7. Yeah, tough call. Send the "Superdomes" back to hell or catch hell from

the locals.

[ovidsen]

5. The first hand account of the Gretna horror

This account, by two San Francisco EMS workers who volunteered for disaster relief in New Orleans after Katrina is, I believe, the first description of the Gretna cops blocking the Crescent City bridge. I found it Friday morning at the website of the British paper The Guardian, which describes it like this:

A deeply shocking account by two paramedics stranded in New Orleans alleges that police lied to residents, saying buses were waiting to evacuate them - and then fired shots above their heads when they tried to reach them.

It's well worth reading in full, and gives the lie to claims that officials did all they could to help people escape the stricken city.

Larrie Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky were attending a conference in the city when the hurricane struck. Unable to find transport, they pooled money with around 500 people staying in the same hotel and paid $25,000 for buses to come and pick them up. None arrived.

"We later learned that the minute they arrived at the city limits, they were commandeered by the military," the account says.

/snip

Check out the whole thing here:

http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/556/556_04_RealHeroes.shtml

It's very intense stuff.