Posted on 09/09/2005 11:06:37 AM PDT by hipaatwo
Think local officials are less to blame for deaths in New Orleans than federal officials? In the most jaw-dropping story of the week, UPI has the police chief of Gretna, Louisiana, admitting that he closed off one of the major arteries out of New Orleans on Monday, before the storm hit:
"We shut down the bridge," Arthur Lawson, chief of the City of Gretna Police Department, confirmed to United Press International, adding that his jurisdiction had been "a closed and secure location" since before the storm hit.
"All our people had evacuated and we locked the city down," he said. The bridge in question -- the Crescent City Connection -- is the major artery heading west out of New Orleans across the Mississippi River.
He added that the small town, which he called "a bedroom community" for the city of New Orleans, would have been overwhelmed by the influx. "There was no food, water or shelter" in Gretna City, Lawson said. "We did not have the wherewithal to deal with these people. If we had opened the bridge, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged."
This is the Wash Times. Hardly the typical MSM outlet.
But nice try.
***Not all, but a sizable number of New Orleans residents are truly the scum of the USA. If you lived down there, you'd know that...***
Sad to admit, but it's true...
That sherriff did that to protect HIS people. At some point, REALITY has to replace political correctness.
If we haven't seen that in the last 10 days, will we ever??
Man, sometimes you think you know your fellow freepers and then a thread like this happens.
We're in St. Pete, and local police do not control the bridges...Florida Highway Patrol are the ones that close a bridge, not the St. Pete, Clearwater, or Tampa police department. They don't have the authority to close a bridge.
Which begs the question, were these bridges state roads, city roads, Interstates, etc.
Local police in our area do control causeway closings to the barrier islands.
Ah, so now you think people should be prevented from freedom of movement because of something they MIGHT do?
Perhaps you agree with the Democrats, then, that they should take away our guns because we MIGHT someday commit a crime with them.
Give it up. We're talking allowing groups of people across over the span of days.
Wait a second. They closed the bridge down on Monday, right? If I understand that correctly, hat actually isn't unreasonable. You can't have people stuck in cars sitting in traffic with a hurricane the strength of Katrina coming through.
"Your body mass is denser and thus weighs more than a vehicle."
Why is it indefensible? AS I understand it, he turned back only foot traffic, not vehicles.
What should he have done? Had he allowed the "small groups" of people into Gretna, where would they have gone? Into other people's vacant homes, businesses, etc.? This would have worsened the recovery and certainly not "saved lives," since it is doubtful that any of the 30 elderly people who perished at the Superdome would have been any less uncomfortable on the other side of the bridge. Gretna had the same heat, the same lack of power and electricity, etc., and no apparent resources.
If the story is true, and Gretna is unflooded, largely undamaged and habitable, it will be a valuable location during the recovery period, when the appropriate services can be relocated there.
And left it closed for several days afterwards. To keep anyone stuck in NOLA from crossing into their town.
After the hurricane was gone, there was no reason not to re-open the bridge.
You guys don't get it.
It doesn't matter who "owns" the bridge, or if he had the "authority" or if the bridge could hold people, trains, planes or elephants.
The chief took control of a checkpoint to protect what he had to protect.
Don't matter who owns the stinking bridge. At that time, at that place, he had a bigger gun.
The bridge was his, and he closed it.
Nuff said.
Maybe to someone's garden hose to get water?
Are we so concerned with property that we don't give a damn about helping DYING PEOPLE?
Good replies dirtboy. It's no wonder Republicans get branded heartless. So the stereotype is now everyone in NO is a criminal? So therefore it's ok to leave them in a disease flooded hell hole? Unbelievable. And Heaven help us if this police chief IS a Republican...
Tell you what. Take a gun and try to close the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philly. Take a few of your closest friends. You'll have the biggest gun.
And see what happens.
There's no cadence if they break step. Do you think a crowd of bedraggled hurricane refugees is going to cross that bridge in step? In a sufficiently large population, footfalls would be continuous, not rhythmic. This isn't rocket science.
Have we verified that yet? I see a lot of comments on here wondering if/when it was reopened.
I thought there was some rumblings that the commandeered bus story might not have been everything it was cracked up to be:
http://instapundit.com/archives/025399.php
I know Shep Smith was hollerin' about them not being allowed across the bridge, and this bridge was the only one close to where he was.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.