Case 4
Hurricane Katrina left Gretna, a city of 17,500, without food, water, electricity, sewer facilities, or communication. A ship had damaged its levee, the town was flooding, fuel from an impaired tanker was pouring into the streets, and many buildings were damaged. For three days following the hurricane, Gretna welcomed evacuees fleeing over the Mississippi River bridge that separated the two cities. Gretna city officials transported over 5,000 New Orleans residents to a FEMA evacuation site where food, water, and further assistance were available.
As supplies and transportation were depleted in New Orleans, and as sewage–laden water filled the streets, New Orleans police directed groups to cross the bridge into Gretna where they were promised food, water, shelter and buses to take them to safety. There had been no communications between the cities about how to handle the evacuation, either before or while it took place. Gretna was overwhelmed by the needs of thousands of evacuees fleeing New Orleans: its pleas to FEMA for assistance were ignored. Rumors, fueled by national media and New Orleans city officials' reports of rapes, murders, gang violence, and snipers in New Orleans, exacerbated tensions. Most of Gretna's residents had evacuated the town, but fears of looting and lawlessness increased after roving gangs held up people in their homes, demanding money and car keys. Snipers fired on Gretna police. Nine stores in the town's mall were looted and set on fire. With Gretna's resources depleted, and officials unable to transport more people to safety, a joint decision to close the bridge was made by the city of Gretna, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, and the Crescent City Connection Police (a division of the State Department of Transportation). Police backed up by sheriff's deputies blocked the bridge, closing access to Gretna.
As New Orleans evacuees attempted to escape the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, thousands ? some on crutches or in wheelchairs, some bearing guns or other weapons ? were turned back on the bridge between New Orleans and Gretna. Gretna police, backed up by dogs, fired over the heads of evacuees to prevent them from entering the town.
In the midst of the controversy surrounding these events, the Gretna City Council passed a resolution supporting the action. Mayor Ronnie Harris defended the police, saying that their primary responsibility was to protect the citizens of Gretna. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin saw the situation differently. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Nagin said, "We allowed people to cross... because they were dying in the Convention Center ... we made a decision to protect people. ? They made a decision to protect property." Police Chief Arthur Lawson, who proposed the blockade, defended the decision, saying: "I realized we couldn't continue manpower–wise, fuel wise."