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New Orleans police officers face death penalty over Katrina shootings

15 July 2010 03:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. US justice department charges four with killing a teenager and a man, both of whom were allegedly unarmed, APA reports quoting â€œGuardianâ€
Four New Orleans police officers could face the death penalty as a result of an FBI investigation into the notorious Danziger bridge shooting spree that left two dead and four wounded in the chaotic aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
The US justice department charged the four with killing a teenager and a man with severe mental disabilities, both of whom are alleged to have been unarmed.
The indictment, unsealed by the justice department yesterday, provides a harrowing account of incidents in which the police are alleged to have fired on a family walking across the bridge to get food and other supplies from a supermarket, and on two men, also on the bridge, on their way to check on damage to a dentist’s office owned by their brother.
The charges come on top of a long list of dark events involving the New Orleans police over the last two decades, much of them related to corruption.
The US attorney-general, Eric Holder said: "As our investigation of the Danziger bridge incident shows, the justice department will vigorously pursue anyone who allegedly violated the law. Put simply, we will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who have sworn to protect the public."
The city descended into anarchy after the hurricane and the police were overrun. The four officers accused of the shooting on 4 September 2005 are Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso. They are also accused of obstructing justice, along with two other officers, Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue.
The police say the officers accused of the shooting and cover-up had acted appropriately and were responding to calls about gunfire. According to the indictment, the four officers fired on an unarmed family on the bridge, killing James Brissette, aged 17, and wounding four others.
The second shooting occurred minutes later on other side of the bridge, firing on two brothers, killing one of them, Roland Madison, aged 40, who had severe mental disabilities.
Faulcon is accused of shooting the latter in the back and Bowen is charged with stamping and kicking him while he was dying. The indictment accuses Kaufman and Dugue of joining the other four in attempting to cover up the shootings. The justice department said Kaufman is charged with getting a gun from his home and claiming to have found the gun at the bridge and creating statements from fictional witnesses.
Kaufman and Dugue are also accused of holding a meeting, at which sergeants instructed officers involved in the shooting to get their stories straight before giving formal taped statements, a justice department statement said.
Kaufman faces a maximum of 120 years in prison, and Dugue faces a maximum 70 years. Five other police officers have admitted attempting to obstruct justice and are awaiting sentencing.
Seven police officers were charged with the bridge killings in December 2006 but a state judge threw out the case in August 2008. The US justice department then launched its own investigation.
The bridge case is one of several investigations into New Orleans police behaviour after Katrina. Five officers were last month charged with killing a 31-year-old man.