Imagine just having survived one of the most devastating natural disasters to hit the U.S.,  possibly, one of the most traumatic experiences of your life.  You’re trying to get your mind around what just happened and figure out your next move for basic survival, and  BAM! you are hit with a shotgun blast and as you fade into darkness the last voice you hear is a stranger  screaming racial epithets. Now heaping insult upon injury, for years the shooters gleefully discuss intricate details of their actions with the press, their identity common knowledge yet to this day are walking the streets as free men.  This isn’t a Jim Crow Era event, it was the situation many African Americans found themselves in after Hurricane Katrina.

Algiers Point is a small tract of homes located on New Orleans’ West Bank.  The enclave has been the  recipient of quiet federal attention after these events came to light in a piece written by A.G. Thompson, for the Nation.  Right after Katrina, there were a number of racially motivated shootings perpetuated by the residential militia, thinly disguised as an attempt to protect their “property”. A free for all, shoot’em up if you will, against any African American that made the mistake of crossing the invisible line into their neighborhood. In one interviewee’s words “ it was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved you shot it“.

The most mind-blowing aspect of the accounts related in the article, is that these vigilantes felt comfortable to freely speak with the media, regaling tales of murder, witnessing murders, and committing assault with deadly weapons in multiple interviews and documentaries, because they believed, “no jury would ever convict”.  These accounts are backed up by witnesses and a variety of amateur videos taken of dead bodies lying on Algiers Point streets.  What is scary is that these men were almost right.  As of this date even after issuing a press release (after the story appeared in the Nation), stating that an investigation would be forthcoming, the New Orleans Police Department and the D.A’s office have done NOTHING.

This hush hush attitude towards Algiers is probably related to the multiple reports of police misconduct during Hurricane Katrina. Five years later the wheels of justice have slowly begun to turn, Federal authorities are gathering evidence about the atrocities in Algiers, and will hopefully start passing out indictments, like Santa Claus passes out presents on Christmas. After being interviewed by the FBI, one of the most effusive of those interviewed, albeit not the brightest, stated that he thought he would be “considered a neighborhood hero” but after being interviewed, “felt like a vigilante thug”

The U.S. government failed the victims of Katrina twice- once by leaving them stranded and helpless after the storm and again by failing to aggresively prosecute the officials and citizens  who instead of reaching down and giving their fellow man a hand in his time of need, chose to shoot him in the back and leave him for dead.  Five years is a long time to wait for justice, let’s hope, for the sake of the men that lost their lives and the families that lost their loved ones, for the sake of common decency, and our collective future as a nation-that it’s worth it.

Useful Resources:

Image courtesy of Jacob Applebaum

Post Katrina Shootings Discussed on Video

Katrina’s Hidden Race War

Police Misconduct Needs Broader Federal Inquiry

Charges Filed in Katrina Inquiry