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September 01, 2005

Comments

BlogCruiser

Excellent link and I appreciated that article that I may not have come across if it wasn't for your suggestion. thanks...

Derek

Agreed..I also said on my blog that those people should be shot as well. Just ridiculous. People are looting stored and stealing TELEVISIONS! What the heck? Where are they going with them?? It's not like they can take them back to their ghetto apartment because it probably doesn't exist anymore. Disgraceful.

Robb Manning

Hey, Erin, How are you?

I just wanted to respond to this topic. I was lucky enough to have visited New Orleans 3 weeks ago. The friends we were with gave us a tour of the city, and we discussed the high murder rate. It seems in NO, you rarely ever get robbed, they just kill you and leave your stuff. NO is a very poor city, and their are a lot of people there that live minute by minute and are so hopelessly lost that they just don't care about anyone's life.

I've been watching a lot of coverage on Katrina, and what I have observed is that every time they show looters, they are stealing necessities: food, drink, cloths, etc. I believe that if someone is looting just for the sake of exploiting the crisis, then they should be shot on site. However, it isn't a crime to survive, and I can't fault someone for taking necessities. And yes, clothing is a necessity.

Frankly, the looting isn't what bothers me, though. That stuff can be replaced. What bothers me is the shooting and raping. Their going to mess around too much and end up having the Marines sent in. I remember being stationed out in California during the LA riots. My unit was minutes from being deployed. I remember sitting in the turret of my HumVee behind a .50 cal machine gun waiting for the word that never came for us. Don't think that something like that couldn't happen in a lawless place like NO.

Jennie

Thanks for linking to this article Erin. If not for your post I probably would have never seen it. I have also been watching a lot of what has been going on in NO and I think it is absolutely heartbreaking. First reports made it sound as though people were just shooting to shoot at these rescue workers, but now I hear that they are doing it because they are so desperate to get out themselves. Not that I agree with it, but it was reported this morning that an ambulance sent in to take patients from a local hospital to a safe location was almost hijacked. After apprehending the man leading the effort it was realized that he was doing it not to hurt anyone, but to take the car and get out himself.

The desperation is absolutely heartbreaking.

Erin

It is heartbreaking. I can't believe this is happening in our country.

I truly hope that every single person donates at least a little something to the Red Cross via their website or the hotlines on the local TV stations. If every person donated something, hopefully there'd be more than enough money to eventually help these poor people get back on their feet.

And Robb, I appreciate your thoughtful comment. I commented on someone else's blog yesterday and said that the zero tolerance policy on looting is ridiculous - people need to survive, and if they're taking food and water and diapers, etc. police should let them be.

However, the people who are breaking windows of jewelry and electronics stores and leaving with big screen TVs and diamond necklaces should be SHOT, no questions asked. Lawlessness like that is the last thing we need in a tragedy like this and it shouldn't be tolerated.

peer

So stealing goods from a destroyed town is horrible, but shooting people is ok? SICK.

People are screwed up right now. They have no idea what to do. Go down there and wade in filthy water, go hungry and see if you don't go a bit loco and steal a TV or some beer.

Then make sure you shoot someone. Since that is exceptable to you.

rgp

That's just about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You can't shoot people willy nilly for looting. If the authorities implemented the policy you are advocating what would they do? Go up and ask the looters what they are taking and if they said, "a TV," then you would shoot them. What if they said "formula for my baby who hasn't had anything to eat for days." Would you shoot them too? What if they had a TV and formula?

You should really think about these things before they go broadcasting it out on the internet. I know alot of white america (esp MKE) are afraid of black people and the sight of black people stealing stuff and being lawless scrambles their brain to where their only response is "SHOOT EM."

Erin

Alright, so the shoot them comment was made out of anger. And things are finally getting a little better down there now.

I don't think I'd be able to shoot someone if I were down there, and I wouldn't really want anyone else to shoot people, either.

However, if it were the only way to stop the crime and keep innocent civilians safe, then I'd still say shoot 'em. There's no excuse to exploit a tragedy for one's own benefit. Now THAT's sick.

And I don't think you'd have to ASK people what they're looting. You can obviously tell the difference between someone taking a TV and someone taking baby formula.

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