Police Chief Says Thousands Trapped in New Orleans Convention Center

AP ^ | 1-Sept-2005 | AP

[Fitzcarraldo]

The New Orleans police chief says 15-thousand people are trapped in the city's convention center. And he says some are being raped and beaten.

Chief Eddie Compass says displaced tourists are "walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."

Compass said he sent eight eleven-man teams into the convention center. But as soon as the first team arrived, he said, "they were beaten back within 30 feet of the entrance."

Earlier, the city's mayor issued a "desperate SOS" on behalf of the thousands who are stranded at the convention center.

He also gave the go-ahead for them to march across a bridge to a dry area of the city and look for whatever relief they could find.

[DCPatriot]

This is a scary preview of what one should expect in the event of a coordinated multi-city attack on American infrastructures.

The government will prove to be nothing more than "the man behind the curtain".

[cwb]

While I understand your frustation, it has taken over two days alone to evacuate the hospitals and just get the critical care patients to other hospitals that will accept them. This isn't an easy task. For every sick person who leaves NO, they have to be placed somewhere else that has room..and doesn't disrupt the care of its own patients.

And sadly, most of the cities surrounding NO are also either damaged or dealing with those refugees who left before the storm. Buses can only carry 50 people at a time, and while the Astrodome has agreed to handle many of them, we are talking about relocating an entire city. This is a logistic nightmare, since even the surrounging areas are not equiped to deal with these people.

[rovenstinez]

I'd like to know how large of a percent of these affected are suffering from inability to continue their fixes on wine, cocaine or crack?

[jimbo123]

Chief Eddie Compass says displaced tourists "are getting preyed upon."

I wonder why?

[Modernman]

Kill, main, terrorize usa citizens with a good chance to live to do it angain another day.

New Orleans is mostly empty right now. Over 80% of the people got out. Many of the people who are left might be able to give a terrorist cell a run for their money in a firefight. National Guard are coming into town. There are few easy ways to actually get out of the city at this point. There is no media to show your attacks on Americans, so they can't get the publicity that terrorists crave so much. Any victims of your terrorism come from America's underclass, to a large extent, so people really won't care all that much about their deaths.

All in all, not a great terrorist target.

[StarSpangled]

Tourists are still there because their flights were cancelled and they couldn't get rental cars.

[ModelBreaker]

So I guess this is what happens when "the man" isn't in control eh? Savages will be savages.

Does this mean Rosseau was wrong?

[faithincowboys]

Pretty much all the unmarried men should be at Angola prison for the duration of this crisis.

Something tells me all of this chaos wouldn't be happening if in Salt Lake City?

[Trailerpark Badass]

I was wondering about terrorist cells too... but maybe these are really just 'ordinary' wicked people...

Yes, ordinary "wicked people" being preached to by Muslim clerics during their occasional stays in state custody.

[Enterprise]

Actually, you have made a profound point. This is a natural disaster, and not something born of a court decision. One would hope that the criminal element could put a sock in it for a while. But they can't! Not even for a few days! I think you are probably the first person to make that point in this type of scenario. And for the future, police and politicians need to be keenly aware that the criminal element will erupt savagely and brutally. I just hope that future leaders understand this and are prepared to respond accordingly.

[sandbar]

>>>Now the solution is to let the victims in there walk out and "seek whatever relief they can find." Does this make sense to anyone else???>>>

Nothing this government (local and national) since this catastrophre started has made sense to me. Completely inept, everyone involved!

[wyattearp]

Marshall law?

Law imposed by the Marshall??

You rang?

[Blessed]

>Anything is better than nothing and nothing is what they have received for days now.

2 days since levee broke.

>Anti-Submarine Squadron 2, as the helicopter touches down to drop off food supplies, Jan. 8, 2005.<

2 weeks after disaster.

[superiorslots]

This whole thing is a slow motion nightmare. Send in the troops now and start spraying lead!!!

[11Bush]

There are not enough troops because they are all being sucked into the Iraq quagmire. Heck, they don't even have enough helicopters in NO to do the job. Too many in Iraq.

I hope you forgot the sarcasm tag, because the alternative is you are to thick to think.

[sandbar]

>>>Have they declared Marshall law yet?

In word only it seems. But yes, it has been declared.

[winodog]

All it takes is a leader to do it once and the others will follow especially if that leader is a Iraq vet and displays some knowledge of tactics.

But it would not suprise me a bit if these were muslims who have just been waiting for this day.

[ExpatGator]

At Mardi Gras 1989, in broad daylight, a gang of thugs started pawing at the private regions of the females in our company of 8. When I started at them I got a pistol in the face for my troubles (luckily he did not shoot me). We barely got out of their with our lives, because I had the audacity to stand up to them. When I told a cop he shrugged his shoulders. I have not set foot in that diverse city since that day, and would not do so again. That experience left a lasting impression on me.

[MikeHu]

Are you suggesting that the breaching of the levees and the flooding of New Orleans was the Democratic plan to level the playing field?

[faithincowboys]

This is a country of crybabies. We always need somebody to blame. All things considered they are moving very fast. Unfortunately, the people of New Orleans are not especially civilized and they are shooting at the people who are trying to rescue them.