Free Republic

Oakland police will seek formal charges as early as today against several people associated with Your Black Muslim Bakery, including the alleged killer of a newspaper editor who had been working on a story about the controversial group that operates the bakery, the city's assistant police chief said Sunday. Howard Jordan said Devaughndre Broussard, a 19-year-old handyman at the bakery, had confessed to fatally shooting Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey, 57, near his offices Thursday morning. Broussard was one of seven people arrested in raids the following day. Jordan said Broussard and others, under investigation for their part in an...

In his confession to police, 19-year-old Devaughdre Broussard told detectives he considered himself "a good soldier" when he shot and killed journalist Chauncey Bailey for writing negative stories about Your Black Muslim Bakery, where Broussard was a member and worked as a handyman, authorities said. Broussard, who also uses the spelling Brossard, was formally booked Saturday on suspicion of murder. He was already on probation for a robbery conviction in San Francisco, and also had a pending case on charges of assault with a firearm from a 2006 San Francisco incident. In addition, there was a failure-to-appear warrant out for...

Aaron F. Broussard, the president of a Louisiana parish where hundreds of Marylanders helped in the days after Katrina, got a warm welcome from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. yesterday and the unusual honor of a speaking slot in the middle of his State of the State address. (snip) He got a rousing ovation from the Maryland legislators and dignitaries gathered for the speech. But when he returns home, Broussard will face signs stuck in lawns across the parish that say, "Lyin', Cryin', time to be resignin'" and a petition drive aimed at getting him out of office. His critics...

Aaron Broussard faced what should have been the greatest trial of his political career in 1982, when a jetliner slammed into Kenner eight days after he was sworn in as mayor and killed every person on board and eight on the ground. The new mayor earned his chops spearheading the grisly rescue and excoriating airline executives for not moving quickly to clean up the crash site, at one point screaming, with the mangled fuselage of the plane at his back, “Get your damned airplane out of my city!” Two decades later, the hurricane that dwarfed all other disasters has left...

Another Katrina Myth: Aaron Broussard’s “Emotional” Appearance on MTP (Updated: MSNBC/NBC Correction(?)) January 1, 2006 on 10:06 am In yesterday’s Chicago Sun-Times , Richard Roeper called Jefferson Parish, LA president Aaron Broussard’s tearful outburst, shown September 4th on Meet the Press, “One of the defining media moments of all the hurricane [Katrina] coverage”. … Aaron Broussard’s crocodile tears came at the tail-end of a tirade against FEMA, in response to a question from Tim Russert asking whether the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana could have been “more forceful, much more effective and much more organized in...

The fight for stronger levees has impacted people across Louisiana, and soon, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard will travel to Washington to make a personal appeal. But on Wednesday, Broussard told the Jefferson Chamber that pushing Congress for better levees throughout the region will only help his parish. In one breath, Broussard took some shots at members of Congress. “I promise you, the hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, in the eyes of the majority of Congress, is another inconvenience,” Broussard said. “It's another cost that they're asked to vote for that interrupts their domestic agenda.” However, in his next...

Only 2 members of council support it Wednesday, October 26, 2005 By Michelle Krupa West Bank bureau After paying $38,000 for newspaper ads detailing Jefferson Parish's response to Hurricane Katrina, the Parish Council is set to consider spending another $100,000 today for television commercials addressing residents' concerns and the council's "message of hope" for the future. In a proposed deal with WWL-TV, the parish would spend public dollars earmarked for economic development to finance a "public awareness campaign" with "the positive message that Jefferson Parish will remain vigilant in its efforts to create opportunities in the region," according to the...

Does the name “Aaron Broussard” ring a bell? Well, he is the president of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, who was immortalized on NBC’s “Meet the Press” right after Hurricane Katrina hit when he suggested – with tears in his eyes – that the slow response by the federal government resulted in the unnecessary death of the mother of one of his colleagues. When it turned out that his claims were disputed by the son of the deceased woman, Tim Russert invited Broussard back on “Meet the Press,” and as was reported by NewsBusters, Russert let him off the hook again. Last...

After nearly two months of public vitriol against his decision to evacuate pump operators before Hurricane Katrina, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard has admitted to "flaws" in the parish disaster plan, conceding that workers were sent "too far away" to be able to restart pumps before flooding ruined thousands of homes. In an advertisement financed with parish money and scheduled to be published in Sunday's Times-Picayune, Broussard again says dispatching 1,100 essential employees, including pump workers, to shelters in Washington Parish was the right call as a "potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm" aimed at Jefferson.

But he still defends worker evacuation: After nearly two months of public vitriol against his decision to evacuate pump operators before Hurricane Katrina, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard has admitted to "flaws" in the parish disaster plan, conceding that workers were sent "too far away" to be able to restart pumps before flooding ruined thousands of homes. In an advertisement financed with parish money and scheduled to be published in Sunday's Times-Picayune, Broussard again says dispatching 1,100 essential employees, including pump workers, to shelters in Washington Parish was the right call as a "potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm" aimed at...

Providing an exception to Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard’s unyielding stance that he evacuated all rank-and-file government workers before Hurricane Katrina to protect their lives, another top parish administrator has said he authorized 15 water department employees to man their posts during the storm. Walter Maestri, Broussard’s emergency management chief, said this week that he personally authorized the workers — nine on the West Bank and six in East Jefferson — to ride out Katrina inside water treatment plants so they could maintain potable water for thousands of patients who could not leave local hospitals because of fragile health. His...

Facing a steady barrage of criticism and now a lawsuit from owners of flooded property, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard has launched his most overt -- and possibly most expensive -- public relations venture since Hurricane Katrina, an attempt to explain his decisions during the storm and to lay out plans for the parish's future protection. In four full-page ads in The Times-Picayune costing $38,000 total, Broussard's administration discusses, in its own words, the steps it took before the Aug. 29 landfall and its plans for how to staff pump stations and fortify Jefferson's drainage system for future hurricanes, said...

Facing a steady barrage of criticism and now a lawsuit from owners of flooded property, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard has launched his most overt -- and possibly most expensive -- public relations venture since Hurricane Katrina, an attempt to explain his decisions during the storm and to lay out plans for the parish's future protection. In four full-page ads in The Times-Picayune costing $38,000 total, Broussard's administration discusses, in its own words, the steps it took before the Aug. 29 landfall and its plans for how to staff pump stations and fortify Jefferson's drainage system for future hurricanes, said...

Plaintiffs say parish violated pump policy Tuesday, October 18, 2005 By Paul Purpura West Bank bureau Jefferson Parish residents are suing Parish President Aaron Broussard and the parish, claiming their east bank homes flooded after drainage pump operators were sent out of town before Hurricane Katrina hit. Broussard and the parish "owed a duty to operate the drainage pumps" and "breached that duty by failing to man and operate" them, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in the 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna. The plaintiffs, who are seeking class-action status, want unspecified damages and want the case to be...

Broussard trying to fire chief of levees He had blasted parish for storm decisions Saturday, October 15, 2005 By Kate Moran East Jefferson bureau Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard said Friday he is moving to sack the head of the East Jefferson Levee District, who publicly questioned the Broussard administration's decision to evacuate drainage pump workers as Hurricane Katrina hurtled toward the Gulf Coast. Broussard sent a letter asking Gov. Kathleen Blanco to remove Patrick Bossetta as levee board president and to install Bobby Bourgeois, one of Broussard's deputy chief administrative assistants, as an interim board member. The request was...

He had blasted parish for storm decisions: Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard said Friday he is moving to sack the head of the East Jefferson Levee District, who publicly questioned the Broussard administration's decision to evacuate drainage pump workers as Hurricane Katrina hurtled toward the Gulf Coast. Broussard sent a letter asking Gov. Kathleen Blanco to remove Patrick Bossetta as levee board president and to install Bobby Bourgeois, one of Broussard's deputy chief administrative assistants, as an interim board member. The request was the latest sign that the Aug. 28 evacuation of the pump operators has become a political powder...

Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard said Friday he is moving to sack the head of the East Jefferson Levee District, who publicly questioned the Broussard administration's decision to evacuate drainage pump workers as Hurricane Katrina hurtled towards the Gulf Coast. Broussard sent a letter asking Gov. Kathleen Blanco to remove Patrick Bossetta as Levee Board president and to install Bobby Bourgeois, one of Broussard's executive assistants, as an interim board member. The request was the latest sign that the Aug. 28 evacuation of the pump operators has become a political powder keg for Broussard. While Bossetta was among the first...

A sense of outrage and disbelief is growing among Jefferson Parish residents at the decision by Parish President Aaron Broussard’s administration to evacuate drainage pump operators the day before Hurricane Katrina flooded southeast Louisiana on Aug. 29, according to extensive interviews with residents this week. They are frustrated that they didn’t know of the plan beforehand, stunned that the pump operators weren’t returned to their posts for more than 24 hours and anxious that parish officials have been slow, in their view, to justify the decision in light of the ensuing destruction. But mostly they are mad. “This wasn’t an...

Saying that he believes some of the flooding in East Jefferson from Hurricane Katrina was due to pump stations that were not running, East Jefferson Levee District President Pat Bossetta said Tuesday he’s ready to explore the feasibility of assuming operation of parish drainage pumps. Jefferson Parish, which is responsible for operating the pump stations, enacted its “doomsday’’ plan shortly before Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Under that two-year-old plan, designed to protect the lives of parish employees when a major hurricane is forecast to make a direct hit on the New Orleans region, Parish President Aaron Broussard’s administration...

Twice now, the President of Louisiana's Jefferson Parish, Aaron Broussard (an ambitious Democrat) has thrown teary tantrums on Meet the Press. Among his choice blubberings, "We've been abandoned by our own Government! Bureaucracy has committed murder! Some people need to be strung up. They need to be burned at the stake!" On national TV Broussard told a tragic story of a parish employee whose elderly mother drowned in a nursing home in a neighboring parish because Federal help arrived too late. "Is someone coming to get me, son?"Broussard quoted the frantic telephone calls. "Yes, somebody's coming to get you, momma,...