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It is not clear whether the new ruling will lead to new charges. In April, New Orleans coroner Jeffrey Rouse ruled that Glover died in a homicide, a reversal of a ruling from his predecessor who first ruled that the cause of death was accidental and then concluded that it was “undetermined”. Gregory McRae, the officer convicted of burning Glover’s body, is serving a 17-year federal sentence, while a federal jury acquitted David Warren, the second officer, saying Warren fired in self-defense, mistakenly believing Glover was armed. Henry Glover, an unarmed black man, was shot and burned by local police officers, after he was discovered prowling a local strip mall looking for baby supplies. Fear of looters led to the formations of barricades and guard posts in an effort to keep people seeking refuge at bay. Other militia groups formed in and around Algiers Point, a primarily white enclave located across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans.

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Court testimony show police shot him in the back with a shotgun and then stomped on him as he lay dying.Ī federal jury convicted five officers in 2012 of charges related to civil rights violations and obstructing justice, but due to prosecutorial misconduct, the convictions were overturned and a new trial is pending. Ronald Madison, one of the men killed, was mentally disabled. One of the most serious cases involved members of the New Orleans police department who, six days after the hurricane hit, stormed a local canal bridge and fired upon a group of unarmed civilians, killing two men and wounding several others. It just became very unnerving.”Īt the time, fear of looting led to the formation of quasi-militia groups, primarily made up of white residents or local police, who guarded areas in and around New Orleans, leading to racially motivated violence that would take years to prosecute.

But in those moments, when we had so much work to do, the reports were frightening the rescuers. “We knew there would certainly be some criminal element, but this rampant violence that was reported was definitely out of proportion to the reality.

Photograph: Michael Ainsworth/AFP/Getty Images Blanco enlisted the national guard to drive the buses instead.Īs the national guard patrols, Louis Jones, left, and Catherine McZeal help each other walk down flooded Poydras Street in New Orleans as they go to the Superdome on 1 September 2005.

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For example, she said school bus drivers refused to drive their vehicles into New Orleans to help in the evacuation because of the dangerous situation they heard about on television. Gunshots fired in the air, for example, intended to attract attention from rescuers were often translated as attacks on helicopters.īlanco said the media amplified stories of widespread violence it could not verify, which impacted rescue operations. Since the flooding confined the media largely to one area downtown, journalists could not report with depth what was happening in the neighborhoods, which created an information vacuum. Hyped stories were difficult to verify because of circumstance.

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Just because a reporter sees some dude in waist-deep water with a TV on his back is not a reason to shoot.”īlanco said her statement was intended to “stop the noise” and send the message, not just to looters but to everyone else, that things were under control. Because while the local press may make you perceive you have civil disorder, you don’t. Honoré said he disagreed with Blanco about the statement, telling her: “I don’t think you want to put that out. Many took her words as a declaration of martial law, although Blanco told the Guardian that was never the intent.

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These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so if necessary, and I expect they will.” In a midweek press conference, Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco warned looters that local troops “have M16s and they’re locked and loaded. At left is Louisiana state police superintendent Henry Whitehorn.įear of looting also prompted local officials to overreact, he said. Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco addresses a news conference at the command center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on 1 September 2005.