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Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time - Season 1 Episode 4 - Shoot To Kill - Full Movie
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00:00in order to destroy our people you got to take away their humanity it was not all the storm
00:13they didn't care whatsoever about getting us out of here because it should never have taken that
00:22long but they were more worried about something else I hate to say it can't protect our property
00:30and I don't understand why they're not being even harder when law enforcement is present order is
00:35expected without it terror and mayhem can ensue I need reinforcements I need troops man thousands
00:45of newly arrived guardsmen have been ordered to take the city back from armed looters they
00:51said that New Orleans was out of control ruled by thugs when they came down there that's all
00:58they found is some hard-working God-fearing people that just happened to be poor is martial law in
01:06effect there I don't know why that isn't in effect well martial law something to shoot leaders on
01:11site states Congress well the martial law comes from the United States Congress it is a complicated
01:16process would you request martial law I've already called for martial law in the city of New Orleans
01:23the breaking news of this hour the mayor of New Orleans redeploying 1500 city police tonight he
01:41says taking them off the search for survivors putting them instead on the search for looters I was in
01:50the Hyatt Hotel along with the rest of the executive staff of the mayor it was at that point that police
01:57chief compass came into the room where the mayor and I were he said I've got a problem so the room
02:04cleared out and the police chief said last night one of our officers was just shot in the head New Orleans
02:12police officer Kevin Thomas stopped four suspicious men at the Chevron in the city's West Bank three
02:18cooperated but when he went to frisk the fourth a bullet from a 45 ripped through his head this savage
02:26attack that almost took his life you had situation where people are actually shooting at the police
02:30was in the case of Kevin Thomas where he actually got shot in the head chief compass knew the officer
02:38and he became very emotional that's when the mayor responded to the police chief and said you do whatever
02:45you need to do to get this back under control tonight in a rare move practically unheard of in the United
02:54States martial law declare I told my officers the rules of engagement are still in effect we are not
03:03shooting looters I am not condoned in the use of deadly force except if your life is in danger I was
03:12adamant about that but I was one man in one place this was a citywide disaster you know and I couldn't
03:22be in the minds of 1300 police I still say today we didn't have a crime problem during Katrina we
03:30had an evacuation problem we had a command and control issue we had logistic issues we had
03:35transportation issues to get people out as quick as we could but it wasn't a crime problem but boy we
03:41got a lot of troops and police on the street we're ready nobody's gonna loot this town when you got all
03:47these old people in the building over here fucking died hello there are still an awful lot of problems
03:55on the ground there are still perhaps thousands of people who are trapped in flooded homes rescue
04:00workers have to get out and they have to get to them and bring them back because by this point
04:03they've got to be running out of food and water
04:06good morning critical hours ahead in New Orleans rescue teams getting back to work in the aftermath of
04:14hurricane Katrina they're trying to save people trapped in their homes since the storm hit it was
04:21all about life-saving that's it to know that you are actually the exact right person for the job and
04:30that you have the perfect training for it it means it's go time but we started to hear that civilians
04:39were shooting at the helicopters so we were in the middle of hoisting a bunch of people and we only
04:47had like six people in the helicopter and they just dropped the bare hook without a rescue device so I
04:53knew that was just for me so I clipped in and went up and then they just shut the door and I was like
04:59what's going on like we hit we got a basically an empty plane and they're like a helicopter crashed and I
05:05was like oh my god the story was that there was a SWAT police van that had been taken over by civilians and that they were
05:15shooting at the helicopters they stopped all rescue operations and everybody had to land at the Coast Guard Air Station
05:23I got in the call from the White House and said the boss want to know are there snipers in New Orleans because if they are he would a drop the 82nd Airborne
05:35in I said there's no snipers in New Orleans what people are doing is they're shooting to try to get attention
05:41they said okay but if they proved to be there we're going to send federal troops and federalize the entire operation
05:47that would have been a big deal that would have put a large contingent of federal troops in charge of enforcing the law
05:53against the people of New Orleans we did not need that there wasn't an uprising that needed to be suppressed
06:03there were people who needed to be helped an active force needed to handle the humanitarian side of the disaster
06:11so now we were back at the Coast Guard Air Station and we're like oh my god who is it who is it that crashed
06:23and then found out it was us my helicopter in particular they thought had crashed or got shot at because nobody
06:35had heard from us for hours nobody had heard from us for hours but once we realized that we were the
06:41so-called missing party then word got back to you know the powers that be but it took them a while
06:51basically our whole fleet and not just us it was you know other branches and stuff were grounded for that time
06:57period when they thought a helicopter had crashed and I had the radio on and I was just listening to
07:03listening to everything going on and I was just like oh my god we're not going to get them all
07:09yeah it's like we're not going to get them all
07:21so we were chumpy and a bit because we were but I felt like we were wasting time
07:25so what I found actually insulting was the stuff about how there wasn't enough done because of race
07:33when that was the opposite for us but I know that's not true for everybody
07:39my personal experience was that there were helicopters out there but they were flying
07:45more going towards the Lakeview area Lakeview is an affluent area with very nice houses people of
07:55higher income and when you are in the water in harm's way and a helicopter is just passing
08:03over you constantly going and you know where that wasn't fair
08:19that's why I worked on fishing boats trying to get people out of attics out of harm's way
08:27so the storm hit Sunday and this was Thursday
08:31and we felt as if
08:33the help was coming
08:35but we were having a hard time understanding
08:37why it wasn't there yet
08:39we did not know that help
08:41was being stopped
08:43we still had a lot of people on
08:45rooftops needing to be rescued
08:47but we knew
08:49there would be people who said
08:51I've got a boat
08:53I'm getting out on the water
08:55and I'm saving whoever I can
08:57and that's all we had
08:59for quite a while
09:01every day we follow the same path with the boat
09:05and every house
09:07had water up to the roof
09:11every house
09:15you had people who were trapped in the attic
09:19but the intense heat of the day
09:23was overwhelming
09:25back up old boy
09:27back up
09:28back up
09:31we got him
09:35I hear somebody else
09:37yo
09:43you see there's a difference in
09:47a cry for help
09:49and a wailing
09:50I've heard both
09:53and uh
09:54you realize
09:55that help really isn't on the way
10:05I got you madam right here
10:06just hold on
10:07it's gonna be alright
10:08I saw Eric doing his thing
10:09and he saw me
10:10and
10:11as I was past
10:12and I was like
10:13oh look that's Eric
10:14oh look that's John
10:15it was like
10:16hey buddy
10:17I can't
10:18turn around and chit chat
10:19which I got to go
10:20but nah
10:21it was good to see
10:22I couldn't see him
10:23doing anything different though
10:24John Kelly
10:25I can't say enough
10:26about that brother
10:27he's
10:28he could do it all
10:34I lived in American can apartments
10:36used to be a cannery
10:37so after the hurricane hit
10:39and the flood
10:40we went door to door
10:42so many people rolled to the door
10:44in their wheelchairs
10:45and when I closed the door
10:47I looked at my cousin Chris
10:48I said man
10:49these people are in trouble
10:50when we don't have
10:53any elevators
10:55these people gonna die
10:56in their apartments
10:57I said we got to get them out of here
11:00I had 170 people in the build
11:07people were still coming to the build
11:10say hello
11:11hey
11:12so they went to the roof
11:14so I went and I got the fire extinguishers
11:16you know those ones with the parlor inside of them
11:19and I sprayed out DRP MREs H2O
11:24that was acronyms that we use in the military
11:26so it was just a little quicker
11:28the helicopter would fly over us
11:32and read the little thing
11:33and fly over
11:34they're like oh they come and get us
11:35but then they flew over me
11:37for a couple of days
11:38reading my sign on the roof
11:39and they weren't trying to do anything
11:40but I saw them rescue all the white people
11:43at the building
11:44behind the American can
11:46I said man let me
11:47hopefully I'm not right
11:48but let's get all the black people
11:50off the roof
11:51all the white people
11:53in the wheelchairs
11:54on the top of the roof
11:55I said I hope I'm not right
11:57fifteen minutes later
11:58gave me whatever I need
11:59fifteen minutes
12:00I said man I got sixty elderly right now
12:08if we don't get them out here
12:09there's going to be a morgue in here
12:11so they lifted off the roof
12:14the people were able to walk around or whatever
12:17I settled them to the bayou where the helicopters were picking people up
12:21I didn't do it by myself
12:24I had twelve people that helped me get all this together
12:26and I didn't know I was going to have to like organize this rescue
12:31and make it happen
12:33but I wound up evacuating and helping 244 people get rescued out of the American camp
12:40but when you're in America
12:44and this supposed to be the greatest country on the planet
12:47and I'm watching how they're treating their citizens
12:51and how they're not worrying about their citizens
12:53like they're like second class citizens
12:55man it was appalling
12:57after all the stuff I did for this country
12:59and for them not to give you food and water
13:03cause you're black on the roof man
13:05that's a hard pill to swallow
13:14people still inside the Superdome
13:16and the situation there is getting very...
13:1723,000 according to the federal authorities
13:1923,000
13:20even as officials work to clear the Superdome
13:22and pick up survivors from the interstates
13:24there are new problems
13:26the real hell on earth in New Orleans this morning
13:28was here at the convention center
13:30one of the official evacuation sites
13:33but there are no buses here
13:35and there's no sign they're coming soon
13:36state and local officials are pointing the finger at Washington
13:39and vice versa
13:40I just want to know why they don't bring me buses
13:42I want to take these people out of here
13:44New Orleans mayor issued an urgent SOS on Thursday
13:47for storm victims trapped at the convention center
13:50supplies there are running out
13:52we go baby out here
13:53they don't have no formula
13:55no water
13:56and they want us to survive out here
13:58where's FEMA?
13:59where's the mayor?
14:00somehow the state and government
14:12hadn't exposed the fact that when the focus was on the Superdome
14:16we had an equal number of people at the convention center
14:19that were standing outside
14:25we first learned at the convention center
14:27we being the federal government today
14:29I've heard you say during the course of this evening
14:31on a number of interviews
14:33you just found out about it today
14:34don't you guys watch television?
14:36don't you guys listen to the radio?
14:38how is it possible that you're not
14:39that we're getting better intel than you're getting?
14:41we had a crew in the air
14:43we were showing live pictures of
14:45of the people outside of the convention center
14:47we're feeding those people in the convention center
14:49but it begs the question
14:50why are you discovering this now?
14:52it's five days that FEMA's been on the ground
14:54the head of police says it's been five days that FEMA's been there
14:58I believe a lot of people outside of the city
15:01probably combined the convention center and the Superdome
15:05into one building
15:07just not knowing
15:09those two terms together
15:14people outside of the city
15:16saw that as one place
15:18you know with all due respect
15:19the people in the convention center are being fed
15:21the people in the bridges are being
15:24with all due respect sir
15:25the people in the convention center are not being fed
15:28our reporters
15:29the people in the Superdome
15:31I'm sorry you're absolutely correct
15:33we're getting the supplies to the convention center now
15:36we found out much later that
15:38as we were telling people in the federal government
15:42that in the Superdome they have food and they have water
15:46at the same time in the convention center there was no food
15:51there was no water
15:53we're finding food wherever we can
15:55I just finished serving the old folks as best I could for what we had
16:01I hadn't ate
16:03I hadn't ate in like three days
16:05you know we're all out there
16:06the whole day that passed by
16:08all the hot sun
16:09we're out there in the hot sun all day
16:11the sun beaming
16:12this is a federal disaster not a local one
16:15first let me tell you there have been deliveries of food
16:17water medical supplies to the Superdome
16:19and that's happened almost from the very beginning
16:21but this is the convention center
16:23I have not heard a report
16:25of thousands of people in the convention center
16:27who don't have food and water
16:29no food no water
16:31people in here are dying from 1980s
16:34I can't stand it here anymore I can't stand it I don't ever want to go back here anymore
16:47when the police chief was telling me at the convention center
16:51hey we got all these thugs down there
16:53what are you talking about
16:55they say oh they're arresting they're fighting with my cops down there
16:58we need more troops in here to help control them
17:02we need more police
17:05so I went down there and they were just like the people at the Superdome
17:08waiting for somebody to tell them how they were going to evacuate
17:13these people haven't seen security here at the convention center for four days
17:17the fear was that they would turn violent
17:19that they would attack supplies and buses
17:22and look at them
17:23they're sitting peacefully
17:24they're just waiting for a ride
17:26that's taking too long to go
17:28I call that the patience of the poor
17:31I grew up that way
17:33you learn to wait
17:35when you're poor
17:38in America you're not free
17:40and when you're poor
17:42you learn to have patience
17:44you lose choices when you're poor
17:47and you don't pick where your kids go to school
17:50you don't pick where you live
17:51and you don't pick where you go to the doctor
17:53if you can get to see one
17:55you don't pick where you go
17:58so many of these people
17:59almost all of them that we see are so poor
18:02and they are so black
18:04and this is going to raise lots of questions
18:06for people who are watching this story unfold
18:10we didn't have no protection out there, you know
18:13but for some reason
18:15everybody was kind of calm because of the crisis, you know
18:18they knew what was going on
18:20they knew right now
18:21this is just a time for survival
18:23one thing about the poor people from New Orleans
18:26we knew how to survive
18:28if anything else
18:29we knew how to survive
18:30we knew how to eat
18:31we knew how to you know
18:32we knew how to get food
18:33we knew how to work
18:34but we can't survive in water
18:38and we cannot survive in water
18:40that's over our head
18:41you know what I mean
18:42y'all got us with that
18:44over 4,000 National Guard troops were operating in New Orleans today
18:51more arrived in armored vehicles
18:53another 12,000 have been ordered to the region
18:56in simplest of terms
18:58exaggerating conditions on the ground
19:00just makes things worse
19:01we believe that we need to free up the National Guard
19:04essentially to do security in the city
19:07I think probably the mission that came through the loudest
19:11was it's really messed up down there
19:13and you need to go help fix it
19:15and that's probably not the right mindset
19:17of people who should arrive here should have
19:22after we got to the Superdome
19:34we were greeted by the National Guard
19:37and the National Guard wanted to search my daughter
19:41my niece
19:42they wanted to go inside their bras
19:45and their underwear
19:46and search this 2 year old baby
19:48and go inside of her pamper
19:50to see if we had any weapons to go inside the Superdome
19:53and then told me I couldn't bring my dog
19:59so I walked down to the Hyatt
20:02and the clerk at the desk
20:05I was like here's my credit card
20:07can we just get a room
20:09just one room
20:10she said no ma'am
20:12the computers are down
20:14we're on auxiliary electricity
20:16but you can stay
20:18and they said anyone with pets
20:21y'all have to go to like the third floor
20:23I think it was
20:24to the ballroom in the third floor
20:27I just had surgery
20:29and I had forgotten my medicine
20:31so by now it's like hours
20:34since I've taken a pain pill or anything
20:37and I'm in severe pain
20:38I'm trying not to show it
20:39I'm trying not to show it
20:40I'm trying to be strong for them
20:41but I'm sweating
20:43and I'm shaking
20:44and I'm cold
20:45and I'm hurting
20:46and my daughter
20:49and my niece
20:50left
20:52left the hotel
20:54and went to
20:57I think they said they went to Walgreens or something
21:00and so they came back
21:01with like this big Santa Claus bag full of shampoos
21:05and Tylenol
21:06and they were all excited
21:08and they got this bag
21:09mom we got you some medicine mom
21:11you gonna be okay mom
21:13we went looting
21:15I was like oh my god
21:17you guys could have been killed
21:19y'all could have been shot
21:20then they boarded up the hotel
21:25and they weren't letting anybody else in
21:28and they were you know telling us
21:30that we had to act accordingly
21:34and this guy was knocking on the door
21:38and he kept saying you know let me in
21:41let me in I was already in there
21:43let me in
21:44and the National Guard saying
21:46sir do not advance
21:48we can't let you in here
21:50sir do not advance
21:53so we had all of this
21:55and I'm like scared to death
21:57half of the time
21:58we got the military walking around
22:00pointing guns
22:01making folks go to sleep
22:03lay down
22:04move here move there
22:05you know
22:06hurry up hurry up
22:07I said move now
22:08pointing guns at you
22:09and you're like okay
22:11it was a lot
22:18it was a lot
22:19it kept you so defensive
22:21that your body
22:22ate
22:23from you know just
22:25wondering what next
22:26what next you know is it
22:28I know something else is gonna happen
22:29what next
22:30Governor Blanco talked to some of her guys
22:37from the National Guard
22:38and she went out and did a press conference
22:40and said
22:41I have one message for these
22:43for these hoodlums
22:46these troops know how to shoot and kill
22:49and they are more than willing to do so if necessary
22:53and I expect they will
22:55I said Governor
22:57you don't want to tell your troops to shoot people to kill
23:01that's your people
23:03oh General
23:06ma'am please
23:08that's not something you ever want to do
23:10by any government elected official
23:12is to tell their troops to shoot civilians
23:15that will flip our democracy
23:19we saw what happened at Kent State
23:23when troops over some bullshit mission
23:26went out there and shot students on the campus
23:29I didn't want to be any part of an operation
23:31where troops thought they had cart blank to shoot people
23:38it took four days but the National Guard
23:40finally rolled a relief convoy
23:42into downtown New Orleans today
23:44our job was to protect people and evacuate them
23:47that was the priority
23:48not protect some store or protect property
23:55what is justified what's not
23:56I think there ought to be zero tolerance
23:58of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this
24:02and we struggling people going loose stores
24:05and they're bringing us the juices
24:06and they're about to kill them
24:07then we're going to have nothing
24:09we need to be very careful when
24:11we feel that the tone has shifted
24:14and if suddenly
24:16the mission feels like we're protecting stuff
24:20instead of helping people
24:24we're
24:26I'm probably getting it wrong
24:31yeah
24:34and then
24:37the rumble of trucks
24:39it's clear the rescuers feared the ones that came to help
24:42at least initially
24:44this was not a combat operation
24:46there was nobody shooting at it
24:47but federal troops had the perception of what
24:50they saw from
24:52exaggerated report on television
24:54that the city was out of control
24:56can the National Guard get the city of New Orleans under control?
24:59violence seems to be everywhere
25:01some thugs are even threatening EMS personnel
25:03we'll have the very latest
25:06some of them have been fresh from Iraq
25:08and they knew what the counter and sniper rule was
25:11if you got 10 troops
25:12all of them are pointing in different directions
25:14looking for the sniper
25:16looking at the ground
25:17looking at eye level
25:18looking on top of buildings
25:20and that was a concerning scene
25:23when those troops turned the corner
25:25from Padres to Convention Street
25:28pointing their weapons
25:29in many cases
25:30they were pointing weapons
25:31at a place
25:32where a lot of ladies
25:33with babies
25:34and elderly ladies
25:35were standing
25:44in a disaster
25:45one of the first things you got to do
25:46is figure out what rules you're going to break
25:47the rules federal officers don't tell the National Guard what to do
25:59and at that time we didn't work for the National Guard
26:02National Guard didn't work for us
26:04put those damn weapons down
26:05put those damn weapons down
26:06put those damn weapons down
26:07put those damn weapons down
26:08I'm not going to tell you again god damn it
26:11get those god damn weapons down
26:15put those weapons down damn it
26:17well you see them doing dumb shit
26:18yeah you tell them what to do
26:19because they do a lot of great stuff
26:20but if they're doing dumb shit
26:22that's not consistent with the mission
26:24which is to take care of the people
26:26then yeah I tell them what to do
26:28we put a god damn weapon in there
26:30weapons down
26:34put it on your back
26:35that Guardsman who's in Wisconsin
26:36who's packing their bag
26:37and they're preparing to come to Louisiana
26:39kind of feels like they're going to a war zone
26:41and they weren't
26:43but that's the mindset they brought with them
26:45that it was really really bad here
26:47put that weapon down on your back
26:49to deliver it to them
26:52when you're in rescuing people
26:53you don't point guns at them
26:55by that time I became
27:01somewhat of the de facto voice
27:03because I was on the ground in New Orleans
27:05not in Baton Rouge and not in D.C.
27:08and I knew one of the implied tasks
27:12was to get the story straight
27:14and I clearly understand our mission
27:16was to save lives
27:18hey tiger
27:19hey tiger let's go
27:21again the people aren't the problem
27:22the system's the problem
27:24the lack of systems that took care of all these people
27:27was the problem
27:28but the people aren't the problem
27:29go help the people
27:30and I think that got lost
27:32you know my understanding is that martial law is in effect
27:36and it's at this point
27:38we can't protect our own
27:40martial law was never enacted in New Orleans
27:43Ben Negan announced that martial law was in effect
27:46but he didn't have the authority to declare martial law
27:49and that contributed to a lot of confusion on the ground
27:53in practice declaring martial law
27:56meant giving the police chief the authority to do whatever he needed to do
28:02that's my understanding of martial law
28:04there was rumor that New Orleans was under martial law
28:08but no one had ever told the police department
28:11hey we're under martial law
28:12no that never happened
28:13but there was rumors about all of that all over the police
28:17so did some officers believe that?
28:20there's a possibility
28:21there was a lot of opportunities there to do
28:25some unsavory things
28:27but people with integrity don't do that
28:29I can vouch for my men and women that work for me
28:32didn't happen
28:33now
28:34you had some policemen
28:36probably had unsavory intentions
28:38and kind of stepped over the line
28:39I'm sure you
28:40not just some you probably had a lot
28:42it was a Friday evening
28:50the buses didn't come none through the week
28:52so we thought it was mainly gonna come on Friday
28:58so it started getting almost dark
29:01every time the people out there would see lights coming down the street
29:05they thinking that's the buses coming to take us away
29:12a call came from down the street
29:13they thought it was a bus
29:14so that was it was a cop call
29:16and the cop you know he rode back
29:18he rode past
29:19took his time
29:20this little guy was like
29:22hey hey hey hey hey
29:23he was just like
29:24when they gonna send the buses
29:26so the cop he slowed down a little bit
29:29then the guy felt like he was being ignored right
29:32so he turned around and walked off
29:35and when he turned around and walked off
29:37the cop rode the back window down
29:41and stuck his shotgun out the window
29:44and hit the little dude
29:45they hit the little guy in his back
29:46BOOM!
29:50and then the guy just dropped right there
29:52like he did
29:53he killed this man in front of all these people
29:56and the guy's sister was out there
29:59like that lady not gonna never be right
30:01you know what I'm saying
30:02as long as she lives
30:03she's not gonna never be right
30:04because she witnessed her brother getting killed for nothing
30:07trying to find out some information
30:09well I thought that was the coldest thing in the world
30:12like the police really killing people
30:14and they're killing people in front of everybody
30:17so I just felt like I was like okay well this was gonna happen to me
30:22I thought that was gonna happen to me
30:24I definitely did
30:37when we knew that there was no food and water at the convention center
30:41and the number of people kept growing
30:44and it had reached above 20,000 people
30:47the mayor said
30:49if you're at the convention center
30:52walk
30:53at least then
30:55you know you're walking
30:57toward
30:58the safety of others
31:00we found one evacuation route
31:02to walk across the Crescent City Connection
31:04on the overpass
31:06down Highway 90
31:07there's buses coming
31:08you may be able to find some relief
31:10so we were up on the interstate
31:16and it was hot as hell
31:20it was unbearable in some situations
31:23you didn't have access to water
31:25so my sister and the people we were with decided
31:28we were gonna go as far down as we could go
31:30and we walked down trying to get as close as we could
31:34to the algaes
31:35to the bridge
31:36the Great New Orleans Bridge
31:37the only thing we were looking for
31:38was to be able to find some place safe
31:41but that didn't happen
31:53by the time the word got to the people at the convention center
31:57and they began to walk across the Mississippi River Bridge
32:00unfortunately the story of lawlessness
32:03took such a life of its own
32:06that good members of law enforcement
32:09but also emergency personnel
32:11and surrounding neighbors
32:13turned people back
32:16turned good people back from help
32:19you ready for this?
32:22no
32:23you think this is one of the scariest things
32:25that you've ever had to do in your life?
32:26I can honestly say yeah, it is
32:28when we get to the bridge
32:29it's gonna be fucking scary
32:30yeah
32:31we're gonna be crossing the Crescent City Connection
32:32yeah
32:33the situation is
32:34everybody who's stuck on this side of the river
32:36without transportation
32:38is in the area that we're going to right now
32:40walking, desperate, without food or water
32:43haven't eaten in a few days
32:45haven't drank in a few days
32:48you know, so
32:49it's gonna be a pretty desperate situation
32:51when we get there
32:52and
32:53I can honestly say
32:54I have no qualms about shooting anybody
32:56it's just that much lawlessness right now
32:58man
33:01they'll have no mercy for us
33:02no, we have no fear
33:04we will shoot first
33:05and I'll shoot first
33:06and ask questions please
33:07right
33:13we'll have to be picking them off the front
33:17here we go
33:18they have set up a checkpoint
33:20at the bottom of this bridge
33:21this is the bridge that takes you from New Orleans
33:23over into Gretna
33:24from Orleans Parish into Jefferson's Parish
33:26it's the only way out
33:28it's the
33:29it's the connection to the rest of the world
33:31and they've set up a checkpoint
33:32and anyone who walks up out of that city now
33:35is turned around
33:36you are not allowed to go to Gretna, Louisiana
33:39from New Orleans, Louisiana
33:40over there there's hope
33:42over there there's electricity
33:44over there there's food and water
33:46but you cannot go from there to there
33:48I think the government will not allow you to do it
33:50we were not allowed to go across the Mississippi River Bridge
33:59even though that's still Orleans Parish
34:01which is where our taxes go
34:03we were told we could not go into that part of the city
34:09they were under the impression that people were just going to want to leave New Orleans to go rob them
34:19which you really wanted to get out of New Orleans so you could live or survive
34:24well I was uh I was here
34:29this is Algiers
34:30Algiers Point to be exact
34:33Algiers is the West Bank
34:35well we really didn't have any water there
34:40because it was just like a dry land
34:42but they had uh trees down you know
34:45and limbs and you know stuff in the streets and stuff like that
34:49but forest water they didn't have no water on the west bank of the river in Algiers
34:55well I just said other hurricanes that hit New Orleans
34:59if they don't affect the west bank we don't leave
35:02you know cause we can survive
35:05it don't damage that bad
35:08you gonna have food in your house
35:11probably just need water
35:13Katrina didn't bring no flooding on the west bank
35:16none
35:18but Algiers was not safe
35:23some of the areas were telling the people don't come over here
35:28it wasn't safe at all
35:31it really wasn't
35:32one of my neighbors came around here
35:38and he came he was trembling
35:40man what's wrong with you
35:41he said man they tried to kill me
35:44he said man there's some white boys around the corner
35:47and I had to beg him not to shoot him
35:51I was down the street
35:53and they said where you from
35:55where you at
35:56turn around turn around
35:57I said hold on
35:58I live right here
36:00in the next block
36:01turn around turn around
36:03well I didn't believe it
36:05I went around that with him
36:06if you want to call a vigilante
36:08yeah
36:09well we just
36:10looked out for everybody
36:11yeah we did
36:12yeah we did
36:13you had to do what you had to do
36:15you know
36:16you had to shoot somebody
36:17you had to shoot somebody
36:18no we had that simple
36:20we shot them
36:22they were looters
36:24oh I see
36:25we tried to shoot
36:26to put them down
36:27we didn't try to shoot a kill
36:28oh okay
36:29we killed a number of them
36:30how many did you kill roughly
36:32who cares
36:34who cares
36:36who cares
36:37who cares
36:38what matter
36:39yeah I hear you
36:40it doesn't matter
36:41they chose to die
36:42they chose to commit suicide
36:44how do you know the vigilantes
36:46you see them
36:48how they patrol around here in trucks
36:51four charge trucks
36:53driver and a passenger
36:55and then two in the back
36:57with long guns
37:00and nobody telling them anything
37:02there was no police
37:04no police
37:06no army
37:07no national guard
37:09nobody
37:10then they put in a shoot to kill
37:12a curfew
37:14a dust to dawn
37:16shoot to kill
37:17but there's nobody left
37:19young blacks was being killed in this community
37:24when you hear the gunfire
37:27it's not something I'm just making up
37:30it's out there
37:31it was great
37:32I gotta go
37:33it was like pheasant season in South Dakota
37:35I gotta go
37:36if it moved
37:37you shot it
37:38you shot it
37:47I remember
37:53that
37:54the storm had passed
37:56and
37:57we were just you know
37:58in Al Jaze
37:59when no information
38:01no food
38:03no water
38:04nothing like that
38:05something like that.
38:12The train of me and the day my brother left me,
38:16that's what it mean to me.
38:19The day my brother left.
38:21Henry Glover was my younger brother.
38:24He was going out to, you know, help his sister and help his family,
38:28you know, to go out and trying to get water
38:32and stuff that we need to survive.
38:35I hear my brother-in-law from a distance.
38:38Dirty!
38:39That's my nickname, Dirty Red.
38:41Dirty! Dirty!
38:44Police shot your brother.
38:46I said he shot, my boy shot him where?
38:49I go out screaming, running down the street
38:52and ask him where my brother was
38:55and I found my brother laying in the streets, shot.
39:00I knew it was the police when the first time I heard he was shot.
39:03My brother-in-law, that's what he was saying.
39:05A police shot your brother.
39:10So when I looked to the left, car coming down the street,
39:14so I flagged that car.
39:16I said, man, my brother been shot, give me some help, help me.
39:19He said, man, come on, put him in the car.
39:21I heard a gunshot, but I wasn't pinching.
39:23I thought it might be fireworks.
39:24I saw a gentleman laying on a manhole
39:28and his brother and his brother-in-law picked him up
39:31and put him in my backseat of my car.
39:33When I picked him up, blood was hitting the car like it was raining.
39:38It sounded like it was raining.
39:43I told him to bring him to the hospital
39:46and William Tanner told me about a school called Haven School
39:51where the police had a makeshift substation up there.
39:54So Tanner, the guy we flagged down, he said, man, I know the police is over here.
40:00They should have a doctor over there.
40:02So we shoot out.
40:03So I can bring him to Haven School
40:05because I know two days out of the storm they had medical attention.
40:08They had a truckload of stuff over there.
40:10These are the police.
40:11So I thought I might get him the help he needs.
40:14Five of them come out, get on the ground.
40:19Get on the ground now.
40:21Get on the ground.
40:22I said, we need help.
40:24He shot.
40:28And they start beating us up.
40:30Well, they kicked me twice in the stomach
40:32and hit me with them 16 rifle inside my cheek.
40:35He punched me in the face.
40:37Bah!
40:38Stuck me up.
40:39Put his hand around my throat.
40:41Choked me till I was...
40:43My eyes rose in the back of my head.
40:45I thought they was going to kill me.
40:47For them to be beating me,
40:49that's when they registered,
40:51these are the people who shot him.
40:54They did take a picture of us.
40:55It was with the police,
40:56handcuffed behind the police,
40:58NOPD's car car.
41:00I saw one of them had flares in his pocket
41:03and he drove off with my car
41:05with Henry glove in the back seat.
41:07I told Edward, I don't think I'll see that car again.
41:10Because I figured that when the flares he had in his pocket,
41:13he was going to burn the car up.
41:19His remains was found burnt inside of a car.
41:25People talk about Katrina,
41:34I kind of shy away and walk off.
41:36Katrina just a hurricane.
41:38But what they did during that time,
41:42that was evil.
41:44Pure evil.
41:46I don't want to remember that.
41:53I'm not a naive person to violence.
41:56But nothing prepared me
41:59for what happened after Katrina.
42:05And it's real hard to see when that violence
42:09is being inflicted upon you.
42:12And you can't defend yourself from it.
42:16That's where it happened after Katrina.
42:25At the parish line,
42:27the county line of Gretna,
42:29they were met with attack dogs
42:32and police officers with machine guns
42:35saying, you have to turn back.
42:39So we were up on the bridge
42:41and it became more of a situation
42:45where when are we going to get out?
42:47How are we going to get out?
42:49We lost everything.
42:50Look, we this high in water.
42:51We grabbed what we get.
42:52How long you been walking for?
42:53About at least three hours.
42:54They weren't going to go in those doggone neighborhoods.
42:56They weren't going to impact those neighborhoods.
42:58Those people were looking to escape
43:00and they cut off the last available exit route.
43:05Look at my people.
43:08I got two ranchers and a nephew,
43:10another nephew right there.
43:12We got trying to get the old folks out.
43:15If I stay up here, I'm going to die.
43:18If I go that fucking way,
43:20I'm going to die.
43:21If I go that fucking way,
43:23and they shoot me now, I'm going to die.
43:26So I'm going to die any fucking way.
43:28You're going to tax me anyway.
43:30But whatever it takes for me to get mine out here,
43:33I'm getting the fuck out here.
43:35You heard me?
43:36I wouldn't give a fuck.
43:38I got to go.
43:53I'm going to die.
43:54You were going to die right now.
43:56You was going sad.
44:09I'm going to die right now.
44:10I'm going to die in the pap version.
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