Dear Friend,
A new report in The Nation[1] documents what many have
claimed for years--for some Black New Orleanians the threat of being
killed by White vigilantes in Katrina's aftermath became a bigger
threat than the storm itself.
After the storm, White vigilantes roamed Algiers Point shooting
and, according to their own accounts, killing Black men at will--with
no threat of a police response. For the last three years, the shootings
and the police force's role in them have been an open secret to many
New Orleanians. To date, no one has been charged with a crime and law
enforcement officials have refused to investigate.
The report is helpful, but given Lousiana's horrible record on
protecting its Black citizens, justice will only come if we demand it.
I've joined ColorOfChange in calling on Louisiana Governor
Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, and the U.S.
Department of Justice--to conduct a full investigation of these crimes
and any police cover-up. Will you join me? It takes only a moment:
http://www.colorofchange.org/nation/?id=1994-696967
In the two weeks after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the
media created a climate of fear with trumped-up stories of Black
lawlessness. Meanwhile an armed group of White vigilantes took over the
Algiers Point neighborhood in New Orleans and mercilessly hunted down
Black people. "It was great!" said one vigilante. "It was like pheasant
season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it."
The Nation's article tells the story of Donnell Herrington, Marcel
Alexander, and Chris Collins--a group of friends who were attacked by
shotgun-wielding White men as they entered Algiers Point on September
1, 2005. As they tried to escape, Herrington recalls, their attackers
shouted, "Get him! Get that nigger!" He managed to get away. Alexander
and Collins were told that they would be allowed to live on the condition
that they told other Black folks not to come to Algiers Point. Herrington,
shot in the neck, barely survived.
And there's the story of Henry Glover, who didn't survive after being
shot by an unknown assailant.[2] Glover's brother flagged down a
stranger for help, and the two men brought Glover to a police station.
But instead of receiving aid, they were beaten by officers while Henry
Glover bled to death in the back seat of the stranger's car. A police
officer drove off in the car soon afterward. Both Glover's body and the
car were found burnt to cinders a week later. It took DNA analysis to
identify the body.
These are only a few of the stories of Black folks who were
accosted in Algiers Point, and you can read more in The Nation. But
unless you speak out, we may never learn the full extent of the
violence. Journalists have encountered a wall of silence on the part of
the authorities. The coroner had to be sued to turn over autopsy
records. When he finally complied, the records were incomplete, with
files on several suspicious deaths suddenly empty. The New Orleans
police and the District Attorney repeatedly refused to talk to
journalists about Algiers Point. And according to The Nation journalist
A.C. Thompson, "the city has in nearly every case refused to
investigate or prosecute people for assaults and murders committed in
the wake of the storm."
The Nation article is important, but it's just a start. For more than
three years now, these racist criminals have by their own admission
gotten away with murder while officials in New Orleans have
systematically evaded any kind of accountability. We have to demand it.
Please join me in calling on state and federal officials to
investigate these brutal attacks and the conduct of Orleans Parish law
enforcement agencies, and please ask your friends and family to do the
same.
http://www.colorofchange.org/nation/?id=1994-696967
Thanks.
------
1. "Katrina's Hidden Race War," The Nation, 12-18-2008
http://www.colorofchange.org/link/?id=1994-696967&cat=nation&link=1
2. "Body of Evidence," The Nation, 12-18-2008
http://www.colorofchange.org/link/?id=1994-696967&cat=nation&link=2
A new report in The Nation[1] documents what many have
claimed for years--for some Black New Orleanians the threat of being
killed by White vigilantes in Katrina's aftermath became a bigger
threat than the storm itself.
After the storm, White vigilantes roamed Algiers Point shooting
and, according to their own accounts, killing Black men at will--with
no threat of a police response. For the last three years, the shootings
and the police force's role in them have been an open secret to many
New Orleanians. To date, no one has been charged with a crime and law
enforcement officials have refused to investigate.
The report is helpful, but given Lousiana's horrible record on
protecting its Black citizens, justice will only come if we demand it.
I've joined ColorOfChange in calling on Louisiana Governor
Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, and the U.S.
Department of Justice--to conduct a full investigation of these crimes
and any police cover-up. Will you join me? It takes only a moment:
http://www.colorofchange.org/nation/?id=1994-696967
In the two weeks after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the
media created a climate of fear with trumped-up stories of Black
lawlessness. Meanwhile an armed group of White vigilantes took over the
Algiers Point neighborhood in New Orleans and mercilessly hunted down
Black people. "It was great!" said one vigilante. "It was like pheasant
season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it."
The Nation's article tells the story of Donnell Herrington, Marcel
Alexander, and Chris Collins--a group of friends who were attacked by
shotgun-wielding White men as they entered Algiers Point on September
1, 2005. As they tried to escape, Herrington recalls, their attackers
shouted, "Get him! Get that nigger!" He managed to get away. Alexander
and Collins were told that they would be allowed to live on the condition
that they told other Black folks not to come to Algiers Point. Herrington,
shot in the neck, barely survived.
And there's the story of Henry Glover, who didn't survive after being
shot by an unknown assailant.[2] Glover's brother flagged down a
stranger for help, and the two men brought Glover to a police station.
But instead of receiving aid, they were beaten by officers while Henry
Glover bled to death in the back seat of the stranger's car. A police
officer drove off in the car soon afterward. Both Glover's body and the
car were found burnt to cinders a week later. It took DNA analysis to
identify the body.
These are only a few of the stories of Black folks who were
accosted in Algiers Point, and you can read more in The Nation. But
unless you speak out, we may never learn the full extent of the
violence. Journalists have encountered a wall of silence on the part of
the authorities. The coroner had to be sued to turn over autopsy
records. When he finally complied, the records were incomplete, with
files on several suspicious deaths suddenly empty. The New Orleans
police and the District Attorney repeatedly refused to talk to
journalists about Algiers Point. And according to The Nation journalist
A.C. Thompson, "the city has in nearly every case refused to
investigate or prosecute people for assaults and murders committed in
the wake of the storm."
The Nation article is important, but it's just a start. For more than
three years now, these racist criminals have by their own admission
gotten away with murder while officials in New Orleans have
systematically evaded any kind of accountability. We have to demand it.
Please join me in calling on state and federal officials to
investigate these brutal attacks and the conduct of Orleans Parish law
enforcement agencies, and please ask your friends and family to do the
same.
http://www.colorofchange.org/nation/?id=1994-696967
Thanks.
------
1. "Katrina's Hidden Race War," The Nation, 12-18-2008
http://www.colorofchange.org/link/?id=1994-696967&cat=nation&link=1
2. "Body of Evidence," The Nation, 12-18-2008
http://www.colorofchange.org/link/?id=1994-696967&cat=nation&link=2