Murder and mayhem in New Orleans' miserable shelter

Reuters ^ | September 2, 2005 | Mark Egan

[HAL9000]

NEW ORLEANS, Sept 2 (Reuters) - With the rotors of President George W. Bush's helicopter sounding overhead, New Orleans' poor and downtrodden recounted tales of murder, rape, death threats and near starvation since Hurricane Katrina wrecked this city.

Ending days of abandonment since the hurricane struck on Monday, the U.S. National Guard handed out military rations and a bottle of water to thousands of evacuees -- the first proper meal most had eaten in days.

But as the masses lined up outside, herded by Army troops toting machine guns, inside the convention center where these people slept since Monday was the stench of death and decay.

Leroy Fouchea, 42, waited in the sweltering heat for an hour to get his ration -- his first proper food since Monday -- and immediately handed it over to a sickly friend.

He then offered to show reporters the dead bodies of a man in a wheelchair, a young man who he said he dragged inside just hours earlier, and the limp forms of two infants, one just four months old, the other six months old.

"They died right here, in America, waiting for food," Fouchea said as he walked toward Hall D, where the bodies were put to get them out of the searing heat.

He said people were let die and left without food simply because they were poor and that the evacuation effort earlier concentrated on the French Quarter of the city. "Because that's where the money is," he spat. A National Guardsman refused entry.

"It doesn't need to be seen, it's a make-shift morgue in there," he told a Reuters photographer. "We're not letting anyone in there anymore. If you want to take pictures of dead bodies, go to Iraq."

As rations were finally doled out here on the day President Bush visited the devastated city, an elderly white woman and her husband collapsed from the heat.

"I had to walk two blocks to get here and I have arthritis and three ruptured discs in my back," said Selma Valenti, 80, as her husband lay beside her, being revived by a policeman in riot gear. The two had eaten nothing since Wednesday.

Valenti and her husband, two of very few white people in the almost exclusively black refugee camp, said she and other whites were threatened with murder on Thursday.

"They hated us. Four young black men told us the buses were going to come last night and pick up the elderly so they were going to kill us," she said, sobbing. "They were plotting to murder us and then they sent the buses away because we would all be killed if the buses came -- that's what the people in charge told us this morning."

Other survivors recounted horrific cases of sexual assault and murder. Sitting with her daughter and other relatives, Trolkyn Joseph, 37, said men had wandered the cavernous convention center in recent nights raping and murdering children.

She said she found a dead 14-year old girl at 5 a.m. on Friday morning, four hours after the young girl went missing from her parents inside the convention center.

"She was raped for four hours until she was dead," Joseph said through tears. "Another child, a seven-year old boy was found raped and murdered in the kitchen freezer last night."

Several others interviewed by Reuters told similar stories of the abuse and murder of children, but they could not be independently verified. Many complained bitterly about why they received so little for so many days, and they had harsh words for Bush.

"I really don't know what to say about President Bush," said Richard Dunbar, 60, a Vietnam veteran. "He showed no lack of haste when he wanted to go to Iraq, but for his own people right here in Louisiana, we get only lip service."

One young man said he was not looking forward to another night in the convention center and wondered when conditions would improve. "It's been like a jail in there," he said. "We've got murderers, rapists, killers, thieves. We've got it all."

[Americanchild]

You know all these folks that lived in the ghettos in NO are probably going to fall into that same lifestyle here. If they can't change the victim mindset, nothing will change and Texas has to deal with a suddenly expanded population of gangsters. Here they have a chance to start over and they're already standing around with their hands out , blaming and cursing the very people trying to rescue them!

[SteveMcKing]

Oh! Gottcha.

[concerned about politics]

You are one ugly dude...but working for Satan. Fits you like a glove.
The end is coming...for you at least.

Get over yourself. Do you realize how stupid your "judgment" sounds?
Not even a bird falls from the sky without God knowing about it. Do you really think he'd miss a hurricane?

[vbmoneyspender]

But as the masses lined up outside, . . .

Never trust anyone who uses the word 'masses' to refer to other people. The use of that word (including by such luminaries as Stalin and Castro) provides a singular insight into how the utterer of the word feels about his fellow man.

[sgtbono2002]

If a city has preplanned a facility as a shelter the preplanning should include food and water supplies. Obviously this city govt. doesnt know jacksht about planning for an emergency. I am sure there are federal govt books and pamphlets on how to properly set up such a shelter.Some of them probably written during WW2. Maybe the Governor and the Mayor cant read.

[Dark Skies]

Check the guy I was responding to..."vvatcer"

He be gone.

Now get over your self-righteousness and tell me where I erred (not that I don't err all the time)...

But this time, tell me what is wrong...

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

of course they were animals. have you ever been to NO?

Yes, I have been there. Don't have much to argue with you about it neither. A lot of them think the voodoo thing is cute, too... It is not a place to bring children.

[auntyfemenist]

If these aren't true, too many true ones like it are. This question was asked a few posts back, but, have you ever been to New Orleans? It was full of savages before this. Now they are all concentrated in the convention center murdering children.

[Libertarian444]

What's being done to filter out the criminal elements before they ship them up here to Texas?

Absolutely nothing. And you can bet they won't be willing to stay put in shelters; eventually they'll end up on your streets.

[RasterMaster]

This will be the standard reply I'd present to all presstitutes and others who carry the water (make excuses for DUmocrats) when the subject is to blame Bush for all:

The nanny state/welfare mentality - it's always someone else's job. What part of MANDITORY EVACUATION do these fools in the media not get? The people on the coast were warned, told to leave, and chose to stick it out thereby endangered themselves and their families. That would be considered neglect when parents put their children in danger.

The Governor and Mayor's extreme ineptitude is what the bozos in the lame-steam media should be focused on. It was their job to prepare their constituents, NOT the federal government. There was ample time to prepare, and most responsible adults took to the road for safety. Yet all that was offered on the state level was another poor evacuation plan from the dimwit dimocrats. Either using "one way out" stuck in traffic or holing up in the dome, what choices!

Before the storm, they could have used all the school & city busses to evacuate those who couldn't make it on their own to higher ground further inland. But they chose weakness in the face of real danger instead.

After the storm, all resources were put at their disposal, yet they delayed making the request as well as delayed the delivery when aid arrived. Martial Law was declared and yet they still sat on thier hands allowing lawlessness to erupt. Neither can handle their jobs, yet refuse to step aside and allow someone else to handle it.

If President Bush hadn't announced the evacuation order, there would be more loss and suffering, mainly due to the clueless Democrats who failed to do anything - who, by the way, have been in charge of that state long before Bush ran for office.

When you have your hand extended, you shouldn't b!tch about getting aid when you were told to prepare for 3-5 days of food and water. When it comes to your family's safety, waiting on government to solve your problems is no better than waiting on a welfare check instead of getting off your arse and finding work.

But I guess wading around in sewage and griping about it is a much more pleasing alternative if you always pull the "D" lever when it's time to elect leadership. The failure of a democrat-led state is why the media is out in force trying to point fingers at Bush, when they all know the reality of the situation...their own failures cause many more to die than would have if they hadn't been slow to react.

[concerned about politics]

Don't tell me this nation isn't hurtling toward civil war. The intractable, irresistable and purely hate-filled Evil impulse that resulted in this article guarantees it. My self, I'm convinced (What with the lawlesness in NO as well) it's gun purchase time. I'm looking at the Springfield M1A.

All of America is watching this story, but they don't see the eeeeevil president Bush hurling the hurricane at these people. They see how the people down South are reacting more than anything. This is what they'll remember.
Give the American people some credit. The majority isn't that stupid. They know left wing hate speech when they hear it. They know Bush had nothing to do with it, and if Jeb Bush or Rudy Guliani were in charge of the states down there, it'd all be wrapped up by now.

[Boazo]

[johnb838]

Is it from now on going to be the federal governments responsibility to evacuate the inner city of every city threatened by a hurricane in the gulf?

[texasbluebell]

Posting this for those who didn't see it earlier -- note the date was last Sunday:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was Bush that asked the Gov and Mayor to order a mandatory evacuation, NOT their idea at all.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1475914/posts

Sunday, August 28, 2005, 11:47 am EDT
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that it was President Bush that had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.

[BohDaThone]

people were NOT released from jails. There were ample unjailed criminals for the looting. The prisoners were moved, under guard. The pictures you saw of prisoners on an overpass were distinct from the ones of ordinary folks on an overpass and wandering off.

[justkillingtime]

wait a minute..before I read any further..just what exactly is the U.S National Guard??????

[Dark Skies]

Are you God's man...are you filled with the Holy Spirit? If so, don't you think you need to communicate with me regarding your post? You might even want to seek humility.

I seek humility all the time...and it isn't hard to find.

[i_dont_chat]

Thanks for clearing that up. That seemed too crazy to be true.

[kublia khan]

I've noticed that trend myself

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

There is no excuse for that at all. Anyone connected with the city government, should be jailed...