Two young men were killed and four people wounded on the Danziger Bridge, which spans the Industrial Canal.
At the time, the sweltering city was still littered with corpses as rescuers tried to evacuate stranded residents and looters ransacked stores.
Police initially said the Sept. 4, 2005, shootings occurred after shots were fired at Army Corps of Engineers workers.
The district attorney portrayed the officers as trigger happy. In Oregon, this is a requirement of the job.
"We cannot allow our police officers to shoot and kill our citizens without justification like rabid dogs," District Attorney Eddie Jordan said. Obviously, this is not an Oregon District Attorney. Here, they can shoot and kill unarmed, naked, bruised and bleeding accident victims, but only after discharging two tasers completely into his tortured body, and nothing happens.
According to a police report, several officers responded to a radio call that two fellow officers had been hurt. When they arrived, seven people were seen running, and four began firing at police, the report said. The officers returned fire. Here in Oregon, killing unarmed people is a requisite. All they have to claim is that they THOUGHT he may be going for a weapon, even when they have just told him to unlock his seat belt, and get out of the car.
The victims were Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally retarded man, and James Brissette, 19. The coroner said Madison was shot seven times, with five wounds in the back. Par shooting, if it was Oregon, even without the confusion and chaos associated with a major hurricane.
In addition to Faulcon, police Sgt. Kenneth Bowen and officers Anthony Villavaso and Robert Gisevius were charged with murder. Officers Robert Barrios, Mike Hunter and Ignatius Hills were charged with attempted murder. Has anyone ever HEARD of an Oregon cop being indicted for killing a human being?
Ah well, the Big Easy seems to have a higher reach on the evolutionary ladder than does little Beirut.
Defense attorneys said their clients are innocent.
"As a wise man once said, a district attorney can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich," said Franz Zibilich, attorney for officer Robert Faulcon, who is charged with murder. "They heard only one side of the story."
After hearing weeks of testimony, the grand jury deliberated for two hours Thursday before issuing the charges. The foreman of the panel, Lee Madare, declined to comment in detail as he left the courthouse but asked a reporter, "Do you understand the word coverup?"
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We are a long way from cops in jail.