New Orleans officers jailed after post-Katrina murder


The two cops on the Left above

TWO New Orleans police officers convicted of shooting and burning a man in the 2005 post-Hurricane Katrina chaos have been sentenced to 25 and 17 years in jail. They were two of three police officers convicted in December in the September 2, 2005 slaying which was not investigated until early 2009 - shortly after a high-profile media report.

Former NOPD Officer David Warren was sentenced to 25 years for shooting a fleeing Henry Glover, 31, from the balcony of a police station.

Glover's brother and a friend flagged down a passing motorist, who put the mortally wounded man in his car to try to get medical attention for him.

When the men drove up to a makeshift police station seeing help, the police officers surrounded them at gunpoint, handcuffed them and let Glover die in the back seat of the car.

Greg McRae, who maintains his position with the department, was sentenced to 17 years in jail for driving off with the car, with Glover's body inside, and burning both the body and the car with a traffic flare.

"Today's sentences send a powerful message that no one is above the law, and that those who are sworn to protect our citizens are never, under any circumstances, relieved of their sacred responsibilities," Jim Letten, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, said in a statement.

"Today is an important step forward for the courageous Glover family and the people of New Orleans, and an important move toward the city's healing and rebuilding."

Nearly 80 per cent of New Orleans was flooded after the low-lying coastal city's levees burst under the massive storm surge caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The city descended quickly into chaos as tens of thousands were left stranded for days with no food on water on their rooftops and ill-prepared emergency shelters. About 1500 people lost their lives to the storm and its aftermath.

Original report here




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