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N ew O rleans Police State

N ew O rleans Police State. The Militarization of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina NOpolicestate.org. Roles and Responsibilities. Federal National Response Plan (NRP) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) & FEMA State National Guard Units Law Enforcement.

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N ew O rleans Police State

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  1. New Orleans Police State The Militarization of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina NOpolicestate.org

  2. Roles and Responsibilities Federal • National Response Plan (NRP) • Department of Homeland Security (DHS) & FEMA State • National Guard Units • Law Enforcement

  3. Corruption & Mismanagement • Kenner, Louisiana Administration Officer Cedric Floyd • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) • Veterans for Peace • Louisiana State • Unequal distribution of resources

  4. Governor of LouisianaKathleen Babineaux Blanco: “These troops are fresh back from Iraq, well trained, experienced, battle-tested and under my orders to restore order in the streets. The have M-16s and they are locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will.”

  5. August 19 • NORTHCOM • DCO’s

  6. Friday August 26 • EMAC • Rotary Wing & Crew

  7. Sunday August 28 • 225th ENG GRP • Missions

  8. Monday August 29 • Initial Survey • SAR • Task • 48 hrs- 323 flight hrs 2,662 rescued 2,273 transported 170 tons of cargo 70 tons Class I

  9. Tuesday August 30 • No Mission DoD • Federalization • Request Federal Military Support

  10. Wednesday August 31 • SAR • Security/Law & Order • No to Federalization

  11. General Honore: witnessing NG soldiers patrolling the streets of New Orleans with guns up… “This is not Baghdad, these are American citizens.”

  12. Thursday September 1 • TF Katrina • DoD Resp. • Active DoD • Title 10

  13. Friday September 2 • NG Arrives • NG Troops • 256th BDE CMBT TM

  14. Brig. Gen. Gary Jones “This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” said General Jones. “We’re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.” The newspaper clearly got the message, referring in its report to troops coming in to “fight the insurgency in the city.”

  15. September 3 Humanitarian Assistance

  16. LTC Thibodeauz “I felt a great pride in the fact that the National Guard had saved the lives of 70,000 people through search and rescue, relief, and evacuation. The National Guard has a mission of supporting civil authorities during times of crisis. It is my belief that this unified effort was the reason for this tremendous success.”

  17. September 4 • DoJ & Law Enforcement Support

  18. September 6 • Forcible Removal

  19. September 7 & 8 • FRAGO 3 & 4

  20. Major Dancer “As we begin to prepare for another major hurricane I look back on the number of missions that the National Guard had conducted to date. Based on my expertise as the LANG JOC operations officer for the past five years, a typical hurricane response by the National Guard might entail anywhere from 2-300 missions. During this response the NG had been tasked with over 1,000 missions form the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. This number does not include the thousands of missions conducted by guardsmen working directly for local government that were not tracked at the JTF level. The magnitude of this storm had tested the National Guard and demonstrated that we were able to respond in an effective and timely manner.”

  21. New Orleans Police Department (NOPD)Brutality & Corruptionbefore and after Hurricane Katrina

  22. Robert Davis, 64 The New Orleans resident and retired school teacher, was viciously beat by three police officers after he was detained for public intoxication. Mr. Davis has been alcohol free for 25 years and was only in town to check on the damage of his property after Katrina. Shockingly enough the three officers were white and Robert Davis is black.

  23. The U.S. has the highest per capita prison population in the world • National incarceration rate per 100,000 residents is 486 • Louisiana incarceration rate - 816 – the highest per capita rate • Texas is 2nd at 694 • All of the 5 highest state incarceration rates are in the southern United States

  24. Intake at OPP

  25. Orleans Parish Prison (OPP)Pre Hurricane Katrina • Several building complex housing men, women and less than 100 juveniles • Average inmate population - over 6000 • 9th largest jail in the U.S. • 65% of those arrested and held are released without ever being charged with a crime • 60% of the population are individuals held on attachments, traffic, or municipal charges

  26. Sunday August 28, 2005 National Press Conference “[W]e have backup generators to accommodate any power loss… We're fully staffed. We're under our emergency operations plan. So we're only -- we've been working with the police department --so we're going to keep our prisoners where they belong.” ~ Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff Marlin N. Gusman

  27. OPP and Katrina • About 2000 inmates from other facilities are evacuated to the OPP complex including women and juveniles • At landfall, the OPP population is over 8000 • Last confirmed meal and clean water served is at dinner on Sunday August 28 • Inmates report loss of all phone privileges on Sunday August 28 • Those scheduled for release on or before landfall are told that they will be held until after the storm

  28. OPP after Katrina

  29. Angola “The Farm” • The Louisiana state penitentiary at Angola is the largest maximum security prison in the United States • Angola has been a prison, notoriously one of the most violent in the U.S., since the end of the Civil War. • The 18,000-acre prison is on the site of a plantation that derived its name from the area in Africa that many of the slave labors originated from – Angola • Inmates still perform manual farm labor

  30. Angola “The Farm” • Current warden - Burl Cain, with a staff over 1000 • Angola houses more than 5000 inmates • 3/4 of them black • 85%-90% of whom will die while inside its walls • About 42% of the prisoners come from Orleans and Jefferson Parishes

  31. Camp Greyhound

  32. Private Military Firmsand New Orleans

  33. Blackwater employees in New Orleans armed with M-16 assault rifles, handguns, plenty of ammunition and wearing bulletproof vests.

  34. PMFs are profit-driven organizations that trade in professional services intricately linked to warfare. They are corporate bodies that specialize in the provision of military skills—including tactical combat operations, strategic planning, intelligence gathering and analysis, operational support, troop training, and military technical assistance. P.W. Singer, from Corporate Warriors: The Rise and Ramifications of the Private Military Industry

  35. We are not simply a "private security company." We are a professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations firm who provides turnkey solutions. We assist with the development of national and global security policies and military transformation plans. Blackwater USA website, www.blackwaterusa.com

  36. Blackwater employees in New Orleans: September, 2005: ~200 employees. 164 employees under contract with FPS through FEMA. March, 2006: 330 employees. Blackwater still protecting FEMA sites. DHS contract HSCEFC-05-J-F00002 provided Blackwater with $33.3 million through December 31, 2005. Blackwater made $42 million in New Orleans through December.

  37. March 15 proposal from St. Bernard Parish to FEMA: FEMA would provide $70 million over 3 years for the St. Bernard Parish Police Department to supplement the police force with 100 contracted DynCorp employees. The DynCorp employees would: Wear the St. Bernard Parish police uniform; Carry weapons, and; Be deputized to make arrests. DynCorp has made $14 million since landfall.

  38. Instinctive Shooting International employee Yoav Bardugo patrols Audubon Place armed with an M-16 assault rifle. “It's safe for the rich people,” Bardugo said.

  39. Private Military Firms in New Orleans: American Security Group ArmorGroup Blackwater USA Body Armor and Tactical Security DynCorp Instinctive Shooting International Intercon Wackenhut

  40. This is a trend. You're going to see a lot more guys like us in these situations. Blackwater employee quoted in October 10, 2005 issue of The Nation Sources: The Baltimore Sun The Brookings Institution The Christian Science Monitor Democracy Now! The Journal Gazette (Ft. Wayne, IN) The Grand Rapids Press The Guardian The Nation The Times-Picayune USA Today The Virginia-Pilot The Washington Post

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