Looters Strip Stores in Front of Cops

Fox News ^ | Aug 30, 2005 | Associated Press

[Proud_USA_Republican]

NEW ORLEANS — With much of the city flooded by Hurricane Katrina, looters floated garbage cans filled with clothing and jewelry down the street in a dash to grab what they could. In some cases, looting on Tuesday took place in full view of police and National Guard troops. At a Walgreen's drug store in the French Quarter (search), people were running out with grocery baskets and coolers full of soft drinks, chips and diapers. When police finally showed up, a young boy stood in the door screaming, "86! 86!" — the radio code for police — and the crowd scattered. Denise Bollinger, a tourist from Philadelphia, stood outside and snapped pictures in amazement. "It's downtown Baghdad," the housewife said. "It's insane. I've wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not." Around the corner on Canal Street, the main thoroughfare in the central business district, people sloshed headlong through hip-deep water as looters ripped open the steel gates on the front of several clothing and jewelry stores. One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store. "No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store." Looters filled industrial-sized garbage cans with clothing and jewelry and floated them down the street on bits of plywood and insulation as National Guard (search) lumbered by. Mike Franklin stood on the trolley tracks and watched the spectacle unfold. "To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society," he said. The rest of the story is at the link.

[doc]

Anybody caught stealing whether on tape or in person will not be charged. They were suffering from "I just got hit by a hurricane syndrome".

[SONbrad]

Thanks for the visual! lol

[SevenDaysInMay]

Among the first video to be telecast was a of a grocery with it's ATM smashed open and "food and drink" smashed and scattered all across the isles.

Looters are but rats and deserve their jury of 12 (gauge). In crises without potable water, even beer is exusable, but not wine, liquor, electronics, clothes AND jewelry.

Looters are the most vile opportunistic parasites.

In my college days neighborhood in Austin, Texas, a creek flash flooded the cul de sac streets; within hours looters were prowling with cars and box vans stealing everything not destroyed until my ex-neighbor's family stood guard with 12's, M1-A, and AR-15 with bayonet. The occasional police patrols saluted them.

N.O. authorities have totally lost control.

N.O. should be abandoned as a dump and let fish flourish to become the GulfCoast's best fishing.

[varyouga]

Here you go. DUmmie FUnnies is an almost daily thread that shows some of the funnier DU posts. Just search for it on FR.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1473097/posts

[fmonkey]

I keep reading these posts saying that it's fine to be looting, as long as you're looting food. Or that if it was your family that was hungry, you'd be looting too. But I'm not fooled.
There were shelters set up all over the city. Shelters that are offering food, water, and a roof (albeit leaky). Basically this is what it amounts to: These people are irresponsible for not preparing or criminal for waiting until they could get away with taking other people's possessions as they wish.
If you care about your family so much that you're willing to steal to provide food for them, then you probably shouldn't have put them in the path of a storm that had winds moving 140 mph. The looting for survival story is a scam.

[expatguy]

I have thought it through and seen the same thing happen in Indonesia after the tsunami with people coming in from the outside and selling packages of noodles for US10.

[steve-b]

Until we can get relief food into these people - what other choice is there but to allow the looting of food? Sure we could just say let them die.

People aren't going to die in a day or two.

In any case, you're overlooking the long-term problem. If law-abiding citizens don't have full confidence that looting will be firmly suppressed, they will ignore evacuation orders and hole up to defend their homes... thus greatly increasing the death toll of future disasters.

[sit-rep]

I hope the blacks not there are proud of their culture...on the other hand, some are probably pissed they're missing out on it...

[Valpal1]

Until we can get relief food into these people - what other choice is there but to allow the looting of food?

I might buy this arguement if they had been without food for 5-7 days, but since they started looting immediately after the winds stopped, well, just seems like an argument for the TV movie version rather than reality.

I found it strange that so many looters had vehicles, but couldn't leave because of lack of transportation.

I don't know who to believe, liberals or my lying eyes. /sarc

There has been very little "survival" looting and a whole lotta wholesale theft of goods under color of anarchy.

[nygoose]

I am only presuming that the weapon will be assumed to be illegal. If it is legal, maybe the owner could get away with it. In a word, I'm not sure. Any thoughts?

[nygoose]

The state believes that an illegal firearm is what it says it is.

[expatguy]

Overseas the focus now is on the looting and nothing else. It is really a shame.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[Bear_Slayer]

The state believes that an illegal firearm is what it says it is.

That state then is an illegal state.