White Vigilante Groups Blockaded Small Town In Post-Katrina New Orleans And Murdered Blacks: Report

Think Progress:

Earlier this week, A.C. Thompson of The Nation revealed that after Hurricane Katrina, white vigilante groups patrolled New Orleans, blockaded streets, and shot at least eleven black men. It "was like pheasant season in South Dakota.

Read the whole story: Think Progress

Comments

[IDIOTA]

This just proves that if a natural disaster hits a town near you then...

[ReddzVoice]

WOW! This is ridiculous!

Peace and love...

[Slapmewhenitsover]

Anyone who has spent a lot of time in this area knows that what is written here is entirely possible.

[SKMojo]

New Orleans? Nice place to visit maybe, but I'd hate to have to live there.

[MacManLB]

Only 190 comments on the fact that black men were murdered in cold blood.

[Heru1]

5000+ gay comments calling Obama a bigot for inviting Warren to give an invocation.

[Snowspot]

So? There should be 5000 comments for both

[Heru1]

If they were trying to marry each other instead of being gunned down by whites there would be 5000 posts.

[Fernando]

Good point, but maybe that is because this sounds pretty damn implausible, even if they are on video people can and do claim to have done the wildest things. I personally don't see "white vigilantes" going into some hoods in Louisiana and getting out alive, Katrina or not. Call me crazy or gullible but I just don't see it.
Thinkprogress.com is a good source for opinion blogs but I'll wait until a more serious news outlet reports this story before I give it weight.

[maxbianco]

in 1995 my car broke down in a place near huntsville alabama. i will quote the man who stopped to help me. "you need to be gone from here before sunset"

Im a 44 yr old African american man. and to this day there are places in the south I cannot visit. There are many places even today populated by angry bitter racist.

[IDIOTA]

With all respect, I disagree with you. I have folks from down there (TX, LA, AL, GA), and if you are black, you watch your step, even if it seems unwarranted, because you are conditioned to expect the worst. I have no proof of the validity of the facts stated in the video, but the history of me and my folks lead me to believe the claims made, none of which are outrageous. But your experience leads you to a different conclusion, and I am fascinated by that.

[RTIII]

This past May I went back home to New Orleans. While there I looked up an old girlfriend and spent time with her and her husband. They now live in Algiers, in the general vicinity of Kable Drive and Mac Arthur Blvd - right in the heart of where we grew up and perhaps five miles from Algiers Point.

I listened in dumb-struck horror at the many, seemingly endless stream of tales of how they survived post-Katrina.

It would be impossible to convey anything like a true sense of the situation within the space we have hear. However I'll try and sketch it out:

The area was indeed dry. Gangs came through and tried to loot every house and killed several hapless folks who happened to be home. The few remaining homeowners banded together and kept a true "neighborhood watch" wherein they'd stake out their street corners, sit in a chair mid-intersection or otherwise similar, firearms loaded in plain view laid across their lap as they read a book or what have you to pass the time. Their area was spared and the surrounding unprotected areas were devastated by the looters. The cops came by and said to throw any looter's bodies in the (always nearby) river, "we don't want the hassle."...

Racist? Probably there was some of that. Primarily about racism? No. Lots of justifiable fear...
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[johnlee]

"Lots of justifiable fear" ,,,,,,,,, RTIII, you obviously didn't read the article. These were white gangs hunting down and killing innocent black men simply because they were black . They used katina as a opportunity to vent their racist hate. Protecting their homes had nothing to do with it.

[RTIII]

You obviously didn't read what I wrote. I wasn't talking about what was described in the article. I was talking about what was happening nearby. That way, there's some contrast, perspective, new information about the overall scene.
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[drolleen]

Read your own description:

"The cops came by and said to throw the looter's bodies in the river" WOW! Your friends shot "horrible looters" and the police conspired with them to hide evidence. Lovely.

Sounds to me like a Cheney excuse: "There are no rules in a war" so one can go back to before the time of the constitution. "There are no rules during a flood" so one can go back to the time before emancipation. Its not at all clear that vigilantes were needed. You have to bring evidence of how many looters actually killed hopeless folks.

I hope the Obama administration puts the FBI on these guys, and gets these guys in jail. Second degree murder rather than 1st degree due to circumstances, but every vigilante should be on trial.

[RTIII]

That's a mis-read, drolleen.

We're limited in space to write - and I can't afford the time to write a book. I never said that my friends shot looters. I said that neighbors gathered together to protect each other and sat out there with guns to protect their blocks - and it worked. They ALSO provided each other with food and water and other vital necessities, etc. Parts of the (whole) story are heart-warming.

Also, I'm not advocating what happened, only describing what I heard for you. And I'm not in a position to do the leg-work of investigative reporting in a state in which I don't even live, either, so please understand I can't go back and document what I heard.

Frankly, as I said, I was pretty disturbed what I heard.

BTW, this lawless situation went on for months due to the neglect by "the powers that be." When such a period of time passes, perhaps you can understand the need to stand up to create a defacto police department - I wasn't there, I won't second guess them. I will, however, never forget and perhaps never forgive the injustice given the city - as a whole - by the rest of the nation.
.

[RTIII]

That's a mis-read, drolleen.

We're limited in space to write - and I can't afford the time to write a book. I never said that my friends shot looters. I said that neighbors gathered together to protect each other and sat out there with guns to protect their blocks - and it worked. They ALSO provided each other with food and water and other vital necessities, etc. Parts of the (whole) story are heart-warming.

Also, I'm not advocating what happened, only describing what I heard for you. And I'm not in a position to do the leg-work of investigative reporting in a state in which I don't even live, either, so please understand I can't go back and document what I heard.

Frankly, as I said, I was pretty disturbed what I heard.

BTW, this lawless situation went on for months due to the neglect by "the powers that be." When such a period of time passes, perhaps you can understand the need to stand up to create a defacto police department - I wasn't there, I won't second guess them. I will, however, never forget and perhaps never forgive the injustice given the city - as a whole - by the rest of the nation.
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[maxbianco]

what color is a looter?

[RTIII]

Looters aren't any specific color, of course; they're the ones with "loot" that doesn't belong to them...
.

[IDIOTA]

There was also unjustifiable fear of the sort we seem to revert to as our sense of humanity takes a back seat to natural disaster. Fear spreads like wildfire sweeping through reasonable and unreasonable alike.

[The Lorax]

WTF!?

[SN365]

In 1990, David Duke (a prominent KKK figure and a republican candidate) ran for governor of Louisiana. At the time, President George H. Bush & Mr. Ronald Reagan urged the people of Louisiana not to vote for the bigot and many businesses threatened to pull out of the state if the racist won the election. To the shock on many, Mr. Duke won 39% vote in Louisiana. I left the LA the same year, and since then I have lived in four other Southern states (GA, AL, AR, TN) and I can tell you from my personal experience that a lot of people in all these states have one thing in common, hate those who are different from them; they are xenophobic. They are quite close-minded and sad people. Please, don't get me wrong! Not all southerners fall this category; there are a lot of decent people in this part of the country as well.

The violence against the Blacks in New Orleans does not shock me at all. The police in Louisiana, especially in New Orleans area have major problems with corruption and should not be expected to do anything about this and other crimes against the minorities in LA. Hopefully, federal prosecutors will investigate this issue, identify and prosecute committed hate crimes against the citizens of Louisiana.

[RTIII]

Yeah, I remember that campaign well - my favorite slogan from that campaign was, "Vote For The Crook, it's IMPORTANT!"

This, of course, because David Duke was running against the most indicted and not (at that time) convicted person in U.S. Political History: Edwin Edwards, The Crook.

Lots of people voted for Duke because they'd had enough of _seven_term_ (IIRC) crook Edwards - not because of racism.

Did some vote for Duke because of racism? Sure! All 39%? NO WAY. "You'd have to have been there" to appreciate how hated Edwards was - Edwards, a man who said at a party on election-eve (in which I was present!), "The only way I can lose now is if I'm caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy!"

...Now that I think of it, I believe the party was the Friday before Tuesday's election.

Whatever.

Point is; you can't blame everything on racism..

[SN365]

RTIII, I should agree with you that not all 39% may not have shared Duke's racist sentiments, but they fact they voted for him scares me. If I were them, I would have stayed at home rather than voting for the bigot. Yes, I remember the bumper stickers "Vote For The Crook, it's IMPORTANT!". The crook is in jail now, where he belongs.

[RTIII]

Yeah, I remember that campaign well - my favorite slogan from that campaign was, "Vote For The Crook, it's IMPORTANT!"

This, of course, because David Duke was running against the most indicted and not (at that time) convicted person in U.S. Political History: Edwin Edwards, The Crook.

Lots of people voted for Duke because they'd had enough of _seven_term_ (IIRC) crook Edwards - not because of racism.

Did some vote for Duke because of racism? Sure! All 39%? NO WAY. "You'd have to have been there" to appreciate how hated Edwards was - Edwards, a man who said at a party on election-eve (in which I was present!), "The only way I can lose now is if I'm caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy!"

...Now that I think of it, I believe the party was the Friday before Tuesday's election.

Whatever.

Point is; you can't blame everything on racism.

[Coinyer101]

gays and lesbians have and will continue to support equal rights for ethnic minorities even when they don't return the favor.

[AKJM]

Mardi Gras ?

[MyLowell]

omg!!! wtf does that have to do with anything? are you just trying to stir some kind of pot? i'm gay and it has nothing to do with anything...

[johnlee]

Coinyer101 To post something that has nothing to do with the subject matter shows your lack of compassion for "ethnic minorities" .

[IDIOTA]

But many, if not most, return the favor, particularly the younger folks who are less encumbered than their parents. It is a myth, for example, that ethnic minorities were a monolithic block against prop 8 in CA. If you believe that and are angry, then your anger is misplaced.

[ProAmericanLobbyist]

We the People installed the Constitution. We the People are the Boss, not the government. We the People have to hold OUR Government accountable. The FBI and Justice Department are not interested in protecting the Constitutional Rights of We the People. They are interested in protecting their organization and political bosses.

We the People have to sanction our Representatives. Un-elect Representatives that allow such crimes to go uninvestigated and unpunished.

[JulieSA]

Mayor Nagin runs NOLA. Maybe you should ask him why no one has been arrested for this.

[MyLowell]

there's a link to a petition you can sign demanding an investigation if you haven't already.

http://www.colorofchange.org/nation/?id=2044-698321

[happyboston]

so disgusted! i signed the petition and passed it on, you should as well.

[buggedabouttheus]

Will it take 30 years too before this is investigated, prosecuted and put to rest like the Emmett Till case? Will the justice department continue to allow the lawless live out their lives and then say after they are dead what a shame it is that those men cannot be punished because oops they are dead already? The state of Louisiana and certainly the dysfunctional police department of New Orleans will not do anything about these men because they are white and because their victims are black. Louisiana and New Orleans will never progress as long as it continues to live as if it is the 19th century and black lives are worthless.

Louisiana to be viewed as the backwards banana republic it is.

[LeftLeanWing]

We're gonna have to wait until there's a movie made about it with Samuel L. Jackson and Bow Wow

[Tanyars5]

i cannot even read this story tonight

[hapiday]

I've lived down south for 10yrs and it was unbelievable. I couldn't leave fast enough. Where's all the outraged people screaming about injustice and civil rights. Well, we know where they are posting, screaming, shouting, crying, whining, planning a lynch mob and name calling. Pray for PE Obama and America.

[MyLowell]

i have never lived in the south but i have heard about it and it's place i don't desire to be.

[GravitonX]

This is HUGE!