The official story is that on the morning of September 4, 2005 the bad guys, called gunmen, shot at the
contractors and
then the police shot at fourteen bad guys killing five or six of them
ending the incident. Then there were the contractors who were supposed to be crossing the bridge on the
way to launch some barges involved in plugging the levee breaches. In the
original version the AP said the police shot the contractors.
This was hastily revised. Stuff was added later about the police
chasing some bad guys, called looters, into homes and killing them. That idea is missing in current versions.
Later the same day a civilian helicopter crashed near the same site.
There was confusion about the helicopter and this story was
also revised after release.
The conspiracy theorists love this story. They think there was
something untoward going on and a cover up was in progress. They think
it is evidence that someone dynamited the levees and didn't want anyone
around to see what was happening. By the way there were no levee breaches near the Danziger Bridge. There
was no reason to blow up a levee six days after the storm. Although
there is an unflooded area east of the bridge it is doubtful that the
water levels were high enough to flood it had the levee been erased.
In September 2006 this event resurfaced in a federal
lawsuit. The plaintiffs
claim the victims on the
bridge were innocent bystanders mistakenly targeted by the police.
According to one account, as people stranded by the storm gathered on
the Danziger bridge, six teenagers in white tee shirts opened fire in
the crowd. David Ryder, a contract security guard with a criminal
record of his own, thought he was being targeted and
called the police. In his call Ryder falsely identified himself as a
Sheriff's Deputy, told the police there were two officers down and
directed their attention to two groups of bystanders.
Police
commandeered a pickup truck and raced to the scene. Upon arrival
they opened fire, gunning down six, killing two. One of the two men
killed, Ronald Madison was severely retarded and unlikely to be firing
at anyone. He was accompanied by his brother Lance Madison who claimed
that he and his brother were running away from the shooters when police
opened fire. The police arrested Lance Madison after Ryder identified
him as one of the shooters. The other man killed was part of a family group walking to a nearby Winn Dixie for supplies.
Confusion ruled the day. Why was there shooting in the crowd? Who were
the guys in white tee shirts? What was Ryder up to? What did the
police see when they first arrived? Why did they start shooting? Did
anybody shoot at the police? Was there a cover up? Why was the police report amended? There are timing
problems, identification problems, and other problems all through this
story.
To be continued.