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."
The bridge was closed to foot traffic long after the hurriance hit, did its damage, and left.
I have no idea .. but we can add it to the list of questions the Media/Press won't ask of the Governor
They kept the bridges closed. There were even a few shots of the guards on the bridge at the same time the mess at the civic center was going on. The walk from the Civic Center to the bridges is not that far.
Clearly President Bush had KKKarl Rove call this police chief and had him keep the bridge closed because he hates black people.
Chalking this up to racism is ridiculous leftist bullcrap.
Ha!
(sad)
Sorry, but the PD kept the bridge closed long after the hurricane was gone.
No wonder they couldn't walk out of there.
They sure did let the media in and out, didn't they.....
Well they send inspectors to reopen the bridges here and do not allow their use until the inspections are completed. Sometimes that involves divers being sent to inspect the underwater parts. Trucks in particular can vibrate a bridge and cause piling failure with disastrous results.
It's not as straight forward as it looks.
I urge caution before conclusions.
Then why not say due to high wind warnings instead of this, I wonder?
I remember Shep Smith screaming about not being able to cross the bridge, "Let Them Cross The Bridge!"
I remember Shep Smith screaming about not being able to cross the bridge, "Let Them Cross The Bridge!"
See post #53, I urge caution before conclusions.
If the story were accurate the Times-Picayune would carry it. But seeing that the story is riddled with inaccuracies and not telling the entire story they have not published it.
Snort.
JUST DAMN!
But -- in an example of the chaos that continued to beset survivors of the storm long after it had passed -- even as Lawson's men were closing the bridge, authorities in New Orleans were telling people that it was only way out of the city.
An absolute disgrace. (Via Rogers Cadenhead). I renew my suggestion that the Civil Rights Division look into this, as there's some reason to think it was racially motivated.
UPDATE: This satellite photo shows the Crescent City Connection bridge as a "dry route to safety." (Compare with this map.) But it was a blocked dry route. So while the Red Cross was being kept out of New Orleans, refugees were being kept in.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's more on Chief Lawson. Meanwhile, reader Jim Chandler doubts there was racism involved: "Most of the police officers I've seen there are black, so where does the racial motivation come in?" The article suggests otherwise, but I don't know. I think DoJ should look into it, though.
Lawson said that once the storm itself had passed Monday, police from Gretna City, Jefferson Parrish and the Louisiana State Crescent City Connection Police Department closed to foot traffic the three access points to the bridge closest to the West Bank of the river.
The incident described in the article occurred AFTER the hurricane passed.
And at least some of it happened on Wednesday - after the city flooded.
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