Thursday, February 25, 2010

Murder On The Danziger Bridge


After Hurricane Katrina, we heard stories of a possible police massacre on the Danziger bridge. It was said that when six people tried to walk out of New Orleans, where conditions were deteriorating badly, to find the supplies they needed to survive, they were met on the bridge by police officers who opened fire on them, killing two (one of them severely disabled) and wounding four people.

The survivors had claimed the police had opened fire for no reason, but the police claimed it was self-defense. Police even showed a firearm they claimed the people had and had threatened police with. The police were charged with murder and attempted murder, but a Louisiana judge threw out all the charges and it looked like justice would be thwarted.

But the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in and took over the investigation, and it looks like the truth is finally coming out. We now know that the police had murdered unarmed innocent civilians (probably because of the color of their skin) and then planted a firearm to try and justify their heinous actions.

Yesterday, former New Orleans police Lt. Michael Lohman pled guilty to Obstruction of Justice in a federal court. Although Lohman arrived at the bridge after the shootings, he was told what had occurred and encouraged the guilty officers to lie about it, and then helped them to plant the firearm at the bridge. He will be sentenced on May 26th.

It's good that Lohman was charged and convicted for his part in the Danziger Bridge murders, but hopefully this is just the start for federal prosecutors. There are several others, both those who committed the crime and those who covered it up, who need to be convicted of the vicious actions of the police that day on the bridge.

The police are supposed to protect all Americans regardless of their race or color (or sex, age, religion, ethnic origin or sexual preference). The murderous police actions on the bridge that day has tarnished the image of good police officers across the country. That can only be rectified by bringing justice to the six victims.

(The picture above shows the FBI closing down the Danziger Bridge on September 26, 2009 to investigate the shootings.)

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