New Orleans Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Post-Katrina Killing Cover-Up

[The Straight Story]

New Orleans Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Post-Katrina Killing Cover-Up
Wednesday, March 03, 2010


Described by local media as “a cover-up of shocking breadth,” New Orleans police officers are now being accused by one of their own of falsifying reports and planting evidence in a post-Katrina shooting that left two citizens dead and four others wounded. Police Lieutenant Michael Lohman, recently retired from the department, has pled guilty to obstruction of justice relating to the investigation of the shooting on the Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2005, only days after Hurricane Katrina struck the city.

Police had claimed they came under fire on the day of the incident, while survivors of the shooting insist they were ambushed by authorities who tried to hide what really happened. Lohman said he participated in the conspiracy by failing to order the collection of evidence or canvassing of witnesses, helping craft police reports containing false information, helping plant a gun under the bridge and lying to investigators. It is believed Lohman is now working with the U.S. Attorney’s office handling the case brought against the police department on behalf of the individuals involved in the shooting.

http://www.allgov.com/Controversies/ViewNews/New_Orleans_Police_Officer_Pleads_Guilty_in_Post_Katrina_Killing_Cover_Up_100303

[Dogtown]

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