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.

[Williams]

Uh, there are people criticizing President Bush, and the statements in this article are from the "leadership" of the city? The quotes make zero sense. Tourists are able to walk there to be raped, but eleven member police teams were "beaten back???" thirty feet from the entrance??? did they have guns? And there were 8 of these teams? 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???

[jpsb]

My best guess is terrorist cells enbedded in New Orleans, this is a golden opportunity if you are a terroist and can manage to get into New Orleans. The type of battle reports we are getting is not typical of criminals.

[Captain Kirk]

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.

[tfecw]

"My question is this, has the crime rate risen in NO the past few days or is this how it is on a typical day there and we just do not hear about it on the National News?"

I would say it's down. The corrupt politicians down there aren't added in their usual contributions

[wideawake]

Anyone who is raped in there should sue the city, the state, the mayor and the governor.

[HangnJudge]

Have they declared Marshall law yet?

Military cannot engage in USA city with
police powers until Marshall law has been declared
by the Governor of Louisiana
( my understanding )

[HairOfTheDog]

This bunch at the convention center have really grabbed my heart. The pictures and stories from there are desperate. I sure pray for swift aid for them.

[uncitizen]

he says some are being raped and beaten

You must understand this is out of pure desperation. The "long hot summer" heat, as well as lack of basic human necessities are to blame. Oh, and Global Warming and the Iraq War. All of this is Bush's fault.

[Williams]

oh, please.

[chris1]

What dirty rotten animals. They should let some of these parasites drown.

[SolarisRocks]

Multiple major airlines canceled flights 24 hours before the storm hit. They didn't have any way of getting out in time.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Gonna go out on a limb here. Tourists were staying in hotels. Hurricane hit. Hotels withstood hurricane. Levee broke. Water rose fast. Electricity and communications off. Concierge calls to the limousine driver went unanswered. After 3 days in hot, stinking hotel with no roomservice; tourist walks toward convention center. Bad things happen.

[Brad’s Gramma]

This is amazing... what kind of people have taken over down there?

My biased opinion? They were like this all along, their evil just below the surface. It's now out there for all to see.

[tomahawk]

Send in FEDERAL forces now, Delta Team if necessary.

This Sh*t has got to stop NOW.

[truthkeeper]

We are in the middle of witnessing some sort of national insanity. God help us all.

[joesnuffy]

The kind that have always been there and pampered as pets
of the lefties for generations...

The demons within never had the opportunity to get out
until now..

Darkest Mogadishu,Mississippi and Mogadishu on the Mississippi

[JimBianchi11]

I hope this is not true.

But sadly, my experiance tells me it is all to possible.

[hiredhand]

Whenever there is a small percentage of the population who commits serious crimes against the rest, and they KNOW they can get away with it, they DO.

That's all. We didn't need a disaster to bring all these criminals out into the open. It would have sufficed for the law enforcement organizations to simply state that they wouldn't stop anybody from looting and commiting other crimes.

They would have done it just the same. They were people "looking for a reason to party". ...and they got it.

I think it's about time to flood the area with Army National Guard troops now and get a handle on the lawlessness.

[HairOfTheDog]

Many couldn't leave. Flights were cancelled.