Katrina: Looting

[gemini 0]

From this mornings on-line Houston Chronicle:

Looters Take Advantage Of Katrina's Devastation

Mississippi Governor: As Many As 80 Dead In One County

UPDATED: 1:04 pm CDT August 30, 2005

NEW ORLEANS -- In some of the cities hardest-hit by Hurricane Katrina, looters are running rampant.

An Associated Press reporter along the beach in Biloxi, Miss., said it "looks like a free-for-all," as looters come running out of souvenir shops, loaded down with merchandise. He saw two men riding go-carts taken from an amusement park near the beach. Two other men were pushing a large plastic garbage can with wheels -- so full that it took both of them to drag it down the street.

There's a similar scene in downtown New Orleans, where looters are taking advantage of the destruction.

At a Walgreen's drug store in the French Quarter Tuesday morning, people were running out with grocery baskets and coolers full of soft drinks, chips and diapers. When police finally showed up, a young boy stood at the door and shouted a warning -- and the crowd scattered.

A tourist from Philadelphia compared the scene to "downtown Baghdad."

She said the scene was insane. She stood there and snapped pictures in amazement.

"I've wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not," Denise Bollinger said.

Another witness described it as a chance for "oppressed" people to "get back at society."

One man walked down Canal Street with a pallet of food on his head. His wife insisted they weren't stealing from the nearby supermarket -- and said, "It's about survival right now." She said she had eight grandchildren to feed.

Nearby, looters ripped open the steel gates on the fronts of stores on Canal Street. They filled industrial-sized garbage cans with clothing and jewelry and floated them down the street on bits of plywood and insulation.

Some of the looting has been taking place in full view of police and National Guard troops. One man with an armload of clothes even asked a police officer if he could borrow his car."

Blue skies,

Jim

[Gravitymaster 0]

FEMA will pay for all their loses.

[slug 1]

Hi Gemini

No refrigeration, no water, no food

I can understand the folks stuck in the flooded, damaged, inacessiable areas "saving the perishables" befor they spoil and folks need to survive

But looting stores for profit just because you can is wrong. Not sure what their going to do with all that crap when they get thirsty and hungry. If they have to be relocated they won't be able to take that stuff with them

R.I.P.

[GTAVercetti 0]

Quote

FEMA will pay for all their loses.

You mean WE will pay for their losses doncha?

bleh.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[gemini 0]

Insurance pays your loss if I steal your car too. Does that make stealing it ok?

There were restuarants in the French Quarter that were giving away their perishables, but it was their decision to "give" them.

Most of us can understand stealing food when we are starving, but come on the storm was still raging and they had looted a grocery store of food, drugs and cash from the ATM. I don't think they were hungry at that time anyway.

Are we a society that is controlled only by the force of law?

Blue skies,

Jim

[EricTheRed 0]

Quote

Are we a society that is controlled only by the force of law?

Yes. but it is not just us. Humans are animals. Smart animals, some moral, some not.

Without law to keep the immoral in check, societies very quickly break down into warring gangs.

illegible usually

[jlmiracle 7]

I am very much against looting, and personally think firing into a crowd of looters might make them stop, or slow down, but what would they do with the people they arrest? Can they even get to a jail?

Judy

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

[jdhill 0]

My personal thought is some of those helos flying around ought to have sharpshooters in them, and be popping the looters caught in the act... but that probably doesn't qualify as "due process"...

J

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[shropshire 0]

Shooting thieves.... now that's proportionate justice

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[BillyVance 35]

I personally prefer to shoot nets over them so they get tangled up and cant escape. Then hang them up in the town square and let the other locals throw tomatoes at them, still in the nets...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Trent 0]

Well since so many people think that cops could should only shoot to wound... maybe the sharpshooters could shoot their hands off? That should be fine.

I'd be in favor of them dropping tear gas, dye bombs, and good stuff like that.

Oh, hello again!

[jlmiracle 7]

Quote

I personally prefer to shoot nets over them so they get tangled up and cant escape. Then hang them up in the town square and let the other locals throw tomatoes at them, still in the nets...

That would take care of where to put them.

Ahh hell, just shoot em all, its only been a day, its not like they are starving or cold.

j

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

[jdhill 0]

How 'bout the ones burning their houses because they don't have flood insurance? homowner's policy will pay for a fire, not for a flood...

J

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[shropshire 0]

See now that's better ..... or better still public spanking.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[markd_nscr986 0]

Give the looters some "bird-shot" souvenirs to remember the occasion

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[fallingchip 0]

CNN is reporting that in New Orleans there have been "several" incidents of people being shot over cars. They're stealing them off the overpasses trying to and get out of town.

Police spokesperson has stated the looting and crime is to a point of being uncontrollable and have the utmost concern come nightfall.

______________________________________________
"A radical man is a man with both feet firmly planted in the air."
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt

[lawrocket 3]

I've heard some "reports" that martial law has been declared.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[billvon 3,120]

An interesting series of photographs are below, made all the more interesting by their captions.

Caption for picture 1:

A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Caption for picture 2:

Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)

[Andrewwhyte 1]

What are you saying Bill? Black people loot and white people "find" things?

[Keith 0]

You know Bill I was thinking the same thing while looking through the pics earlier today

Keith

Don't Fuck with me Keith - J. Mandeville

[Newbie 0]

Bill where did those captions come from? I looked on CNN images and found only this caption for pic 1

"A young man drags groceries through chest-deep water in New Orleans on Tuesday. "

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[Hambone 0]

Yes I have heard that the Officials have made statements saying that they can and will suspend civil rights if they have too.
About looters...I think that it is one thing to steal that makes you a theif. But to loot after a storm when everyone is reeling that is disgusting. I heard on the news that people were looting Wal Mart. They are said to be taking TVs and COmputers....What the hell are they going to do with TV's and Computers in a city that is flooded and growing more so by the moment, has no power and no hope of it for weeks. Do you neet that to survive? I also saw a news report that showed a Cop with a riot shotgun telling the looters to put stuff down. The looters obliged and walked off. I just think that it is disgusting. I understand taking food to eat...but TV's and ComputerS????? Maybe they want to log on to DZ.COM?

Yeah...You need to grow up. -Skymama

[Andrewwhyte 1]

This is what makes looting such a serious crime; the authorities do not have time to prosecute the criminal code. Criminal activity such as looting occupies the time and energy of the police and other citizens die for want of their attention. President bush should declare martial law and looters should be shot on sight.

[Rookie120 0]

Quote

President bush should declare martial law and looters should be shot on sight.

I think shot on sight is a touch much, but a good 2-3 minute beat down would be in order I think.

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

[Hambone 0]

I think that shooting them on sight is definitely not out of the question. Though it is a sor t of moral delima. DO you only shoot the people that are taking to ridiculous stuff, like TV's and computers, and dvd players; or do you deal with everyone...

Yeah...You need to grow up. -Skymama