[Robert A Cook PE]

You're making excuses: The FIRST ones photographed looting were grabbing merchandise, clothes, electronics, shoes, radio's, TV's, and liquor/beer/drugs (drugstores), and anything portable.

They were NOT getting food and water bottles or soft drinks (until later.) The "morally correct" (truly needful) residences getting food and water/soft drinks were still holed up in FEAR of the initial flooding and looters roaming the streets.

More tragic: Every photo or radio report of a looter REDUCES BY THOUSANDS the number of people donating to the legitimate and moral people needing help; and reduces by MILLIONS the amount given by the rest of America!

The resentful thought naturally becomes (after hearing about looters running wild in a disaster area) "Why should "I" donate to people who are stealing things that I can't afford for my own family"?

[flashbunny]

I'm not making excuses. I haven't seen the video with the cops, so I have no idea what they were taking. All I could offer up was a theoretical.

The looting did start even before the storm, and people were stealing luxury items. THAT is when the crackdown should have started- a few looters getting shot by store owners or the police would have lead to less looting later.

In fact, if they had competent leadership, they should have announced that evacuation was mandatory, and subsequently ANY looters would be shot on sight.

The city and state being run by liberal probably stopped that from even being a possibility.