Posted on 07/13/2010 2:25:50 PM PDT by tcrlaf
WASHINGTON –Six officers with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) were charged today in connection with the federal investigation of a police-involved shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina, the Justice Department announced today. The incident resulted in the death of two civilians and the wounding of four others.
The indictment charges four officers – Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso – in connection with the shootings, and charges those four officers and two supervisors – Arthur “Archie” Kaufman and Gerard Dugue – with helping to obstruct justice during the subsequent investigations.
The indictment alleges that officers Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso open fired on an unarmed family on the east side of the bridge, killing 17-year- old James Brissette, and wounding Susan Bartholomew, 38; Leonard Bartholomew III, 44; the Bartholomew’s daughter, Lesha, 17; and the Bartholomew’s nephew, Jose Holmes, 19. The Bartholomews’ 14-year-old son ran away from the shooting and was fired at, but was not injured.
The second shooting occurred minutes later on the west side of the bridge, where officers shot at brothers Lance and Ronald Madison, killing Ronald, a 40-year-old man with severe mental disabilities. The indictment alleges Faulcon shot Ronald Madison in the back as Ronald ran away. Bowen is charged with stomping and kicking Ronald Madison while Ronald was wounded, but not yet dead. Ronald later died at the scene.
SNIP-----------
The four officers charged with killing civilians face maximum penalties of life in prison or the death penalty. The officers face additional penalties for the remaining counts, which include charges related to a conspiracy to cover up what had happened on the bridge, and conspiracies to file charges against two of the victims, Lance Madison and Jose Holmes, on the basis of false evidence.
According to the indictment, officers at the scene of the shooting arrested Lance Madison and charged him with eight counts of attempting to kill police officers. Officers collected no guns or shell casings on the day of the shooting, and 30 casings they collected more than a month later were allegedly fired by officers rather than civilians. Madison was held in jail for three weeks, but was eventually released without indictment.
The indictment accuses Kaufman and Dugue of joining the other four defendants in a conspiracy to cover up what had happened on the bridge and to make the shootings appear justified. Kaufman is charged with obtaining a gun from his home and claiming to have found the gun at the bridge on the day after the shooting, and with making up witnesses and then creating statements from the fictional witnesses to help justify the shooting. Kaufman and Dugue are also accused of holding a meeting, in an abandoned and gutted out NOPD building, at which homicide sergeants instructed officers involved in the shooting to get their stories straight before giving formal audiotaped statements about the shooting.
Kaufman and Dugue, who concluded in a formal report that the shooting was justified and that Lance Madison and Jose Holmes should be arrested, are also accused of conspiring with each other and with other officers to have Madison and Holmes prosecuted on the basis of false evidence.
Kaufman faces a maximum penalty of 120 years in prison, and Dugue faces a maximum penalty of 70 years in prison.
Today’s indictment follows guilty pleas from five former NOPD officers who admitted that they participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice and cover up what happened on Sept. 4, 2005. The officers include former Lieutenant Michael Lohman, former detective Jeffrey Lehrmann, and former Officers Michael Hunter, Robert Barrios, and Ignatius Hills.
Sounds like an 18USC242 action to me. If convicted I hope these cops do get the needle.
Didn’t they go to Vegas to unwind from the stress of the storm?
They must be white cops.
Hunter, 33, said a New Orleans police sergeant fired an assault rifle at wounded civilians at close range after other officers stopped shooting and after it was clear that the police were not taking fire. He also says he saw another officer in a car fire a shotgun at a fleeing man’s back, although the man did nothing suggesting he was a threat to police. That man, 40-year-old Ronald Madison, who was severely mentally disabled, died of his wounds.
As part of his plea, Hunter also acknowledged taking part in a conspiracy with colleagues to conceal the circumstances of what he considered an unjustified shooting. At one point, in a meeting with other officers, a supervisor said “something to the effect of, we don’t want this to look like a massacre,” the court document says.
“I don’t think you can listen to that account without being sickened by the raw brutality of the shooting and the craven lawlessness of the cover-up,” said U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance after the factual basis was read aloud in the still courtroom by prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein, deputy chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
http://www.greenchange.org/article.php?id=5747
Former Lt. Michael Lohman and former Detective Jeffrey Lehrmann — officers who participated in the investigation of the shooting — in recent weeks both pleaded guilty to helping orchestrate a cover-up.
Lohman and Lehrmann admitted the NOPD’s internal investigation included imaginary civilian witnesses, a planted gun and false officer accounts to justify a shooting of unarmed people.
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 4 - A day after two police suicides and the abrupt resignations or desertions of up to 200 police officers, defiant city officials on Sunday began offering five-day vacations - and even trips to Las Vegas - to the police, firefighters and city emergency workers and their families.
The idea of paid vacations was raised by both Mayor C. Ray Nagin and senior police officials who said that their forces were exhausted and traumatized and that the arrival of the National Guard had made way for the officers to be relieved.
“I’m very concerned about individuals who have been here, particularly since the first few days, and have been through a lot of hardship,” Mr. Nagin said in an interview.
He said most of the police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers “are starting to show signs of very, very serious stress, and this is a way to give them time to reunite with their families.”
Mr. Nagin, who has been demanding more federal assistance for days as his city struggled with despair, death and flooding, said he had asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for the trips but the agency said it could not. He said the city, therefore, would pay the costs.
He said he believed there were now enough National Guard members in the city to allow the police to take a break and still keep the city secure, and he brushed off questions about whether such a trip might look like a dereliction of duty.
“I’ll take the heat on that,” Mr. Nagin said. “We want to cater to them.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05vegas.html?_r=1
Geez, that was fast.
From left: Robert Barrios, Robert Faulcon Jr., Ignatius Hills, Robert Gisevius Jr., Kenneth Bowen, Anthony Villavaso II, and Michael Hunter Jr.
A virtual rainbow of cop flavors. When are people going to stop race-mongering and realize that cops don't care what color you are when they are gunning you down. All they need to know is your NOT a cop.
To keep it straight or to train new forecasters...we call it CDDC...or "Cops Don't Do Cops."
I’d believe what you’re saying if it weren’t for the fact that the news media will spin this as an evil white cop incident (without really saying that and without showing ALL of the officer’s photos). Facts aren’t important to the media.. The perception they strive to create IS, however.
I detest most cops and believe that a substantial number are enamored with the power and authority that their badge grants them.
Nevertheless, these crimes occurred during an incredibly stressful event where the cops panicked and made poor decisions. 1st degree murder requires premeditation, and there is no evidence of that. These cops should be tried and convicted for manslaughter or negligent homicide, as well as for the cover up. Executing these cops would be an even greater abuse of justice than that which they committed.
They aren't charged with that crime. I believe they're being charged under 18USC242. Read the Statute. Death is a perfectly appropriate penalty for their crime.
Regardless of the charge, your advocating “the needle” is disgusting. I have seen no evidence that these cops intended to kill innocent people. A f*** up and a coverup do not warrant a death sentence.
Yep shooting some guy in the back while he was running away, a simple mistake that anyone could make. Obviously no malicious intent, after all you want the officers to be able to go home to their families don't you? < /sarcasm>
.
Then you ain't been looking very hard.
These monsters murdered in cold blood 3 innocent people using Government guns, driving Government cars, wearing Government uniforms, carrying Government badges, all while acting under the authority of the State. They then engaged in a criminal conspiracy to cover it up also as paid agents of the State.
That's a Conspiracy Against Rights under the Statute I so thoughtfully linked for you. They used Government firearms to do it.
The Statute is quite clear. They're supremely eligible for the Death Penalty and they should get it. The needle is too good for these creeps.
In a rational society they'd be hung by the neck until dead and it would be available on Pay Per View so everyone could see what happens to murdering thugs with badges.
Have a super day.
>>I have seen no evidence that these cops intended to kill innocent people.<<
The indictment alleges that officers Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso open fired on an unarmed family on the east side of the bridge, killing 17-year- old James Brissette, and wounding Susan Bartholomew, 38; Leonard Bartholomew III, 44; the Bartholomew’s daughter, Lesha, 17; and the Bartholomew’s nephew, Jose Holmes, 19. The Bartholomews’ 14-year-old son ran away from the shooting and was fired at, but was not injured.
The second shooting occurred minutes later on the west side of the bridge, where officers shot at brothers Lance and Ronald Madison, killing Ronald, a 40-year-old man with severe mental disabilities. The indictment alleges Faulcon shot Ronald Madison in the back as Ronald ran away. Bowen is charged with stomping and kicking Ronald Madison while Ronald was wounded, but not yet dead. Ronald later died at the scene.
Robert Gisevius, Kenneth Bowen, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso are accused of shooting two people and injuring four others. Two other officers, Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue, face related charges of violation of citizens' civil rights and obstruction of justice.
I'm not arguing about the victims' innocence, or the cops criminal behavior. Unarmed people should never, ever be shot. My contention is that this was the result of mass hysteria on the part of all people and authorities. It's not plausible that a dozen random cops conspired to murder innocent citizens that they didn't know. What possible motive would the cops' have in killing these people? What is plausible and logical is that they panicked and were too quick to shoot. After realizing their horrible mistake, they attempted a coverup. There is no evidence that these cops went to the bridge with the intention of shooting and killing innocent people. Therefore, what we have is gross, criminal-negligence and a criminal-coverup. No premeditation or original intent to kill innocents is demonstrated or even suggested in any press article. I'm not comfortable condemning people to death for screw-ups - no matter how great. If you are, so be it.
>>>you want the officers to be able to go home to their families don’t you?>>>
No, I want them to go to JAIL!
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