Post-Katrina militias?

There's a lot of talk on this forum, and others, about militia forming in the wake of a situation X.
We recently had one in America, in the form of hurricane Katrina.
What happened to the militias? Why did they not form? How come the Army came through and confiscated arms? Why no resistance? Was the flooding and subsequent displacement the main reason that groups didn't form? Did militias get out of the city and form ruraly? Was there no organised militia defense in New Orleans? Were there militias, but the sheer scale of the event overwhelmed them? Did the army overwhelm them? What happened? We have looting and government seizing arms from the people, yet no mention of any intervention or militia resistance.

[edit on 26-5-2008 by cruzion]

reply to post by cruzion


New Orleans was not called the Big Easy for nothing. Different cities have different people and there are cities full of stubborn, clever ,nasty people who will not be so easy to control or kill. Not only will they probably not die in the event of a catastrophe but they will personally sue any goon who blockades their cities from supplies.

I happen to live in the area. In the hours just after the storm, my friends and I checked on neighbors and relatives. The destruction was absolute, so we just wanted to check on everyone to make sure no one was trapped. I live in a suburb of new orleans so we didn't have any flooding, but the tree loss and electrical infrustructure damage was astounding. About 24 hours after the winds died down, was when the reports of looting, shooting, burgluries, murders, etc started to trickle in. Our only sources of comms were cell phone (texting only), until the batteries in the towers died, and a local am radion station that actually served as a message relay between officials, and citizens alike. Basically for about a week to 10 days, we stood guard over ours and our neighbors. It was definatly a neighborhood wide effort. 24 hours a day there were a couple of armed patrols roaming the streets stopping anyone who didn't belong. No one had to fire a shot, but more than one group of would be, "up to no gooders" was turned away and told not to return. I wouldn't neccessarily call this militia, but there are thousands of stories such as this one, some resulting in loss of life. My point is people banded together and provided safety, medical care, food, etc. There was a certain element in the city creating problems, but for the most part they were in isolated pockets.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


So you were in a rural community? How did news get to you? When did you see help? How many people in the group? How did you all get food? How many guns did you all have?
Was there anyone here that was closer in towards the city?

Well not really rural, bedroom community, suburb, whatever, north shore of lake ponchartrain. News was initially passed between friends via cell phone texting and when the tower backup batteries died, then the radio statiions(am) that had generators worked for about 5 days until the diesel ran out. Then news was word of mouth.Food was scarce, we had to ration. Living here all my life, when a storm comes you prepare, food, water, batteries, and the like. I rode the storm out with about 15 people, afterwords in my neighborhood people formed small groups of 10 to 50 people, to share in the task at hand, whatever it may have been. No shortage of firearms. I personally wore a pistol 24/7 for two weeks, as did my wife. While out wandering the street at night I personally carried an ar 15, all in all the variety of firearms was wide, anything from assault rifles to dads old deer rifle. the military showed up in our area after about 8 days, they had ice, water, mre's. sometimes they would drive around and hand it out , but mostly you had to get to them which sometimes was difficult, because most roads were impassible for up to 2-3 weeks. they set up their command center in a target shopping center parking lot right off the interstate. I didn't get power back for 7 weeks, and i know people who went over 3 months without it.

This just goes to show that the media was all about the doom and gloom. I never saw any coverage of this type. I believe that the government wants us to think that people cannot get along without them, but apparently many groups were doing fine with little or no assistance. This is how it should be. The people can take care of themselves if allowed.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

Originally posted by bluwaterman
Well not really rural, bedroom community, suburb, whatever, north shore of lake ponchartrain. News was initially passed between friends via cell phone texting and when the tower backup batteries died, then the radio statiions(am) that had generators worked for about 5 days until the diesel ran out. Then news was word of mouth.Food was scarce, we had to ration. Living here all my life, when a storm comes you prepare, food, water, batteries, and the like. I rode the storm out with about 15 people, afterwords in my neighborhood people formed small groups of 10 to 50 people, to share in the task at hand, whatever it may have been. No shortage of firearms. I personally wore a pistol 24/7 for two weeks, as did my wife. While out wandering the street at night I personally carried an ar 15, all in all the variety of firearms was wide, anything from assault rifles to dads old deer rifle. the military showed up in our area after about 8 days, they had ice, water, mre's. sometimes they would drive around and hand it out , but mostly you had to get to them which sometimes was difficult, because most roads were impassible for up to 2-3 weeks. they set up their command center in a target shopping center parking lot right off the interstate. I didn't get power back for 7 weeks, and i know people who went over 3 months without it.

Good drills waterman!
Did the military take umbrage/offense to you folks carrying firearms and want you to disarm?? Or was it a case of 'let the folks do their militia guardian thing' and carry on?

When I went to them to get water or mre's, I would take my pistol out of my holster and stow it. I probably only saw them in our neighborhood 6-10 times, and when they came by it was in my holster. I was never harrassed, it was in plain sight and secured. the only reason I stowed it when I went to them was beccause I was usually in a large crowd of people and wanted to remain low-key. i didn't remove my holster however, (injection molded drop-leg) and while at the distrubution point I was eyeballed by the military and civilians alike, nothing was ever said though. It was common knowledge that a large percentage of the populous was armed and would not tolerate any b.s. from trouble makers. It was not a wild west mentality, more of a prepared attitude. Everyone was fully aware of what was going on 25 miles south(in N.O.), and nobody at least where I was, were going to tolerate such things. We were all more than happy to help someone in need, but trying to steal or forcibly take something from us was not advisable. The stories of people being disarmed are true, most I'm sure needed to be disarmed, but the ones that bother me are the one's that happened inside of a private residence, upon entry by rescuers from law abiding citizens. From what I understand certain areas of N.O. were a free for all for the better part of 2 weeks, I can remember police officers calling into the radio station pleading for the military, they were beginning to run out of ammo and things started to look bleak, but the hummers began to roll, and for the most part the cowboys who were causing all the trouble began to lay down when confronted with superior firepower, which they had no problem using.

reply to post by bluwaterman


I have heard that blockades prevented church groups from distributing aid. If that is true someone should be made to answer for that decision. In an earlier post I may have come across as harsh. I want those who suffered as a result of Katrina to know I do not think you had it coming.If anything I think the organizers of the balockaid and the gun snatches have it coming.

So who was losing their weapons? Civilians or looters? When people were rescued, were their weapons confiscated? Any ideas how many people were shot by police and army during the time? Did you hear anything of militias having to defend against looters?

The police began confiscating arms, then the courts ruled it unconstitutional and they stopped. Regardless, theres no way i would give up my weapon in a time where that is the only thing gauranteeing safety. its not like the police would be there when robbers came calling. Im thinkin a gettin a bullet proof vest too now.

Don't do it, it'll slow you down man.
Unless you've got the trauma padding and ceramic plates etc it'll not stop most bullets.
Good for a home base approach but not for being on the move.