New Orleans Police, Protesters Clash - Stun Guns & Pepper Spray

New Orleans Police, Protesters Clash - Stun Guns & Pepper Spray

www.msnbc.msn.com

Police used chemical spray and stun devices as dozens of protesters seeking to halt the demolition of public housing in New Orleans tried to force their way through an iron gate at City Hall.

Some people were arrested as officers tried to establish order and an ambulance arrived on the scene. It was unclear whether there were injuries or the ambulance was a precautionary measure.

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I find it very hard to understand why the people in the areas destroyed by Hurricane katrina awhile back are still having to live in such conditions let alone having to fight to keep the housing that they have.

FEMA supplied trailers which made them sick, (Just this past week the CDC announced they were going to test 500 trailiers for the contamination)

I have always thought that the disaster would make this a prime area for BIG money to move in, and to move the unwanted out.

There would be so much money made should they let New Orleans become the next mecca of legalized gambling, I haven't seen if this is in the works yet, and it is just a theory but what better place to make the Las Vegas of the south?

I don't know what to say, or what to do for that matter, it is a shame that these victims are STILL being victimized.


Are there any residents of the area who can give their point of view on this planned demolition?



www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I live in N.O. Katrina was a nightmare. It ripped the entire coastal community in half. The people of the coast absolutely loathe FEMA and what they have done to our state. I live on the border of N.O so my house had no flood, but a bit of wind damage. No power for about a week and a half though. The aftermath was like hell on earth.

Anyways the trailer camps were a half a'ed plan FEMA pulled from the sky. Almost everyone could tell you it would not work. If I had a dollar for every FEMA trailer I saw during those days, I'd be a billionaire. I live next to a park that has 120 trailers sitting there. Nobody uses them and they are guarded by 24 hr police survalience. Back in the Katrina days I saw trailers brought in by the thousands.

Now what many people of the other states don't understand about N.O is that a chunk of the population live on welfare. I don't mean to stereotype or be rude about it but, it's true. A chunck don't work and live on their checks from the goverment. Mostly consisting of the 9th Ward and other dangerous areas.

So the big question with the FEMA trailer program was "Are these people going to use this trailer as step ladder to get back on their feet, or as their new home?". It's sometimes still debated what to do with all the houses.

Well a good bit of these houses are damaged and damaged in way that not even the owners have the money for the repairs. See so many locals are not returning because they don't want to live through it again (My uncle and his family lived right next to one of the levis, they have since moved from N.O. My uncle described it as "Leaving hell behind us."".

Well see, there are entire neighborhoods in areas of the coast that nobody knows what to do with them because, they are damaged beyond repair. Even though Katrina is well behind us, there are still ghost town areas. They still have people sitting in these trailer camps and they have no idea what to do with these people.

This riot was more of a race battle (as is most thing here in south Louisiana). The black community feels that the white people only want to destory the houses for their benefit and they care nothing for the black people of N.O. This riot was an attempt to stop the passing of the bill from the house demolitions.

I haven't kept up with this event to keenly but, I can tell you that Katrina was a mess, and it continues to put blocks on our political matters as a state.

As for the FEMA trailers making people sick, yeah FEMA just shot theirselves in the foot once again. When I tell you that nobody here trust FEMA and much less the U.S goverment, it's true. In fact in one of our past Mardi Gras parades, the theme of the parade was FEMA and the Goverment. Every float was painted with jokes and insults to the goverment and FEMA. It was quite a show.

Well thats all the insight I can provide my friend.





[edit on 20-12-2007 by filmmaker45]

I was watching CNN and saw the live video feed when it FIRST happened. To say the least, it was horrible. Those people had the right to voice their opinions and distaste at what was going to happen. Too bad it ended badly. I wont say anything else because i know too little about the intricacies of Katrina, so thats all i got.

reply to post by jarheadjock


It was a horrible event and the way it unfolded should have never came. However, the people were voicing their opinions. But some wanted more. Some DID try to storm the House and erupt chaos.

Like I pointed in my earlier post, it's a race battle. Sort of like the Jena 6 case (another intricate race battle).

reply to post by filmmaker45


Race battle? ... Do you even know what your talking about? For one, if you bothered to watch the video you will notice the majority where white or other races not majority black.

Its a battle between the people and an arrogant government that is doing anything but help its people.

reply to post by Rockpuck


well if he lives there then im more then sure that he is qualified enough to tell us what the situation is like

reply to post by Rockpuck


Um, yes I do know what I'm talking about. Yes I saw the video, I've seen tons of footage. But the core of every Katrina event like such is a race battle. The govener and such will tell you race has no factor.

Raceism is still strong here. For instance, in the last goverment race it was between our current Blanco or a foriegn man Bobby Jindal. Well nobody voted for Jinal because of his Indian race. They regretted that after Katrina but, he's our governer now.

I can assure you Obama is getting little votes from here. Nobodies voting for him because he's Muslim. Nobody likes Hillary either.

I don't share these opinions of race but, many here still do. It's not at where we are shooting each other in the streets but if conflicts clash between races, you bet your dollar things heat up QUICK.

reply to post by filmmaker45


Thanks for your perspective on the situation down there, it seems pretty bleak, now in light of what you posted earlier have you seen anything that you would consider a positive since the disaster?

I also noticed that the demolition order was passed, and if my memory is correct wasn't it unanimous?

Do you think there will be more protests due to this decision?

New Orleans Police don't have the best reputation in the world as far as police go, but I would like to say a few things on this topic about these protestors.

Love them or hate them, when it comes to crowd control in the US, NOPD is pretty darn good at the job they do. Remember, we have Mardi Gras every year, and we don't see the police going nuts pepper spraying people. I was at a protest at the beginning of this year on inaction by the city government in regards to crime. We were extremely angry people, but there was no pepper spray/stun guns. Why? Because we didn't act like fools trying to tear down gates.

Its hard to find pity in the likes of Sharon Jasper who wants to be as vocal as humanly possible, while calling her home that she lives in now a "slum" because the water pressure is low? I didn't take her seriously anymore after that picture went around locally with that "poor old lady's" 40-something inch plasma hi-def tv. So in a nutshell, this woman lives in one of the nicest areas in the city now, gets a rental voucher, and she wants to scream because she has to pay a security deposit like everyone else?

Then you have professor Quigley from Loyola doing his typical stint whenever he can get a chance, rallying a bunch of non-local college students to go around giving everyone that lives here grief. I couldn't walk more than a block without some kid coming up with fliers demanding to talk about this to me, and then telling me I wasn't a true New Orleanian if I thought the projects should come down.

Personally, the protesters were breaking the law once they started destroying property that wasn't theirs. If they had to break out pepper spray/mace, then they must have needed it, because that is not typical of NOPD in crowds at all. It is also beginning to surface now that some of those "protesters" were what could be called "outside agitators," ie paid protesters.

As far as race goes, sure there is a good amount of racism in New Orleans still, but that doesn't have much to do with the projects. I could probably post 10 pages and then some about what those projects caused for the rest of the people that live in this city, and at this point I refuse to be blinded when someone says "they only want a place to live." Right.