What the hell is happening in New Orleans?
My journey started with a casual visit to Freeman, Libertarian Critter, where the Critter had posted a harrowing first-person story of two paramedics stranded in New Orleans and their attempts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, which were repeatedly rebuffed by out-of-control cops - or were they out of control? By the time you reach the end of their story, it almost seems like the official plan was to let people go hungry, get sick and die.
"What you will not see, but what we witnessed,were the real heroes and sheroes of the hurricane relief effort: the working class of New Orleans. The maintenance workers who used a fork lift to carry the sick and disabled. The engineers, who rigged, nurtured and kept the generators running. The electricians who improvised thick extension cords stretching over blocks to share the little electricity we had in order to free cars stuck on rooftop parking lots. Nurses who took over for mechanical ventilators and spent many hours on end manually forcing air into the lungs of unconscious patients to keep them alive. Doormen who rescued folks stuck in elevators. Refinery workers who broke into boat yards, 'stealing' boats to rescue their neighbors clinging to their roofs in flood waters. Mechanics who helped hot-wire any car that could be found to ferry people out of the City. And the food service workers who scoured the commercial kitchens improvising communal meals for hundreds of those stranded ...
"We walked to the police command center at Harrah's on Canal Street and were told the same thing, that we were on our own, and no they did not have water to give us. We now numbered several hundred. We held a mass meeting to decide a course of action. We agreed to camp outside the police command post. We would be plainly visible to the media and would constitute a highly visible embarrassment to the City officials. The police told us that we could not stay. Regardless, we began to settle in and set up camp. In short order, the police commander came across the street to address our group. He told us he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge where the police had buses lined up to take us out of the City. The crowed cheered and began to move. We called everyone back and explained to the commander that there had been lots of misinformation and wrong information and was he sure that there were buses waiting for us. The commander turned to the crowd and stated emphatically, 'I swear to you that the buses are there' ...
"As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move ...
"Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, 'Get off the fucking freeway.' A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water. Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups of 20 or more. In every congregation of 'victims' they saw 'mob' or 'riot.' We felt safety in numbers. Our 'we must stay together' was impossible because the agencies would force us into small atomized groups."
Reading that story led me to entire collections here and here of incidents where needed help was available for these people but turned away without explanation. What's going on here?
What is happening? and why? It appears to be a police state run amok, a disaster made worse by uniformed hooligans who were supposed to be helping. And why do I suspect that when these officers are called to answer for their barbarism, the response will be, "Ve vere chust followink orders"?
UPDATE: Claire Wolfe has posted a very nice analysis from Reason Online about why usually people react to disasters with greater cooperation and what went wrong this time. I don't know why the authors of the "Get off the Freeway" piece are identified as "liberal activists," however. Does that make it less likely they're telling the truth?
"What you will not see, but what we witnessed,were the real heroes and sheroes of the hurricane relief effort: the working class of New Orleans. The maintenance workers who used a fork lift to carry the sick and disabled. The engineers, who rigged, nurtured and kept the generators running. The electricians who improvised thick extension cords stretching over blocks to share the little electricity we had in order to free cars stuck on rooftop parking lots. Nurses who took over for mechanical ventilators and spent many hours on end manually forcing air into the lungs of unconscious patients to keep them alive. Doormen who rescued folks stuck in elevators. Refinery workers who broke into boat yards, 'stealing' boats to rescue their neighbors clinging to their roofs in flood waters. Mechanics who helped hot-wire any car that could be found to ferry people out of the City. And the food service workers who scoured the commercial kitchens improvising communal meals for hundreds of those stranded ...
"We walked to the police command center at Harrah's on Canal Street and were told the same thing, that we were on our own, and no they did not have water to give us. We now numbered several hundred. We held a mass meeting to decide a course of action. We agreed to camp outside the police command post. We would be plainly visible to the media and would constitute a highly visible embarrassment to the City officials. The police told us that we could not stay. Regardless, we began to settle in and set up camp. In short order, the police commander came across the street to address our group. He told us he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge where the police had buses lined up to take us out of the City. The crowed cheered and began to move. We called everyone back and explained to the commander that there had been lots of misinformation and wrong information and was he sure that there were buses waiting for us. The commander turned to the crowd and stated emphatically, 'I swear to you that the buses are there' ...
"As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move ...
"Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, 'Get off the fucking freeway.' A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water. Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups of 20 or more. In every congregation of 'victims' they saw 'mob' or 'riot.' We felt safety in numbers. Our 'we must stay together' was impossible because the agencies would force us into small atomized groups."
Reading that story led me to entire collections here and here of incidents where needed help was available for these people but turned away without explanation. What's going on here?
What is happening? and why? It appears to be a police state run amok, a disaster made worse by uniformed hooligans who were supposed to be helping. And why do I suspect that when these officers are called to answer for their barbarism, the response will be, "Ve vere chust followink orders"?
UPDATE: Claire Wolfe has posted a very nice analysis from Reason Online about why usually people react to disasters with greater cooperation and what went wrong this time. I don't know why the authors of the "Get off the Freeway" piece are identified as "liberal activists," however. Does that make it less likely they're telling the truth?
posted by B.W. Richardson at
9:57 PM
1 Comments:
I would add that James Wilson has some interesting stuff on NO over at his blog. But, he also has some nonsense from Alex Jones about the Mexican Army invading the US on today's post.
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