On Sept. 17, Judge Kurt D. Englehardt of the Federal District Court overturned the 2011 convictions of four New Orleans police officers. The officers were involved in the massacre that left two people dead and severely injured four other survivors of Hurricane Katrina who were seeking supplies and water around the Danziger Bridge, which connects the Fifth and Ninth Wards of New Orleans. All the victims were Black. A fifth officer, who was let off, was involved in the extensive coverup of the shootings in the aftermath.
Representing the new Jim Crow, Englehardt asserted that federal prosecutors created a “prejudicial, poisonous atmosphere” by allegedly posting anonymous comments online to the New Orleans newspaper website nola.com. Englehardt said that this “grotesque prosecutorial misconduct” led to the need to overturn the convictions of the five officers.
For Englehardt, anonymous online posts about a terrorist police force are a bigger crime than opening fire on survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Despite the fact that the officers had been tried and sentenced, Englehardt called for a new trial for the five officers, who used at least 30 rounds of ammunition on the unarmed Katrina survivors.
Mentally disabled, 40-year-old Ronald Madison died after being shot repeatedly in the back. Seventeen-year-old James Brissette also died at the scene. The two murder victims were attempting to cross the Danziger Bridge with at least five other people when police began firing on them. Four of the others were seriously wounded, one losing her arm from injuries. Following the killings, police planted weapons on the victims in an attempt to cover up their crimes. There is no debate about these facts.
The two prosecutors at the United States attorney’s office accused of posting comments were not part of the prosecutorial team. Both were forced out of their positions. The decision on Sept. 17 identified a third lawyer at the Department of Justice who allegedly posted comments and had assisted in the preparation of the case against the five officers prior to their trial.
Dr. Romell Madison, brother of Ronald Madison, who was killed on the bridge, and Lance Madison, who was arrested, urged the Justice Department to appeal. “Our fight for justice continues,” Madison concluded in a written statement on the decision.
As in the cases of Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander, “the people” have been clear that the whole racist court system needs to be shut down. Struggling for a legal system based on workers’ justice is the only option to fight racist terror, murder and oppression and unite working people of all nationalities.
