Atrios just linked to a Workbench blog article with more details on the Gretna police actions preventing refugees from leaving New Orleans on foot.
The link to the article:
http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/2748
"Police Trapped Thousands in New Orleans"
Atrios link:
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_09_04_atrios_archive.html#112628551184863229
snip of the Workbench piece below the fold.
"As the situation grew steadily worse in New Orleans last week, you might have wondered why people didn't just leave on foot. The Louisiana Superdome is less than two miles from a bridge that leads over the Mississippi River out of the city.
The answer: Any crowd that tried to do so was met by suburban police, some of whom fired guns to disperse the group and seized their water."
Of all the stories to emerge from Katrina, this one shocked me the most, and seems to be the most blatant racism. I heard a clip of the Gretna police chief defending the actions of police on the grounds that "someone" set fire to their mall, and they needed to keep similar people out to protect their country.
So on that justification...they terrorized desperate refugees and their children, seeking aid, food and water... bullied them, even shot at them.
I am looking for some kind of accountability for these thugs. This story needs more play in the MSM.