Five former New Orleans police officers have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in the slaying of two unarmed Black men following Hurricane Katrina.
The victims, 40-year-old Ronald Madison and 17-year-old James Brissette, were attempting to cross the Danziger Bridge with at least five other people when police began firing on them. Madison and Brissette were killed, while four other people were seriously wounded. Following the killings, police planted a weapon on the victims and attempted to cover up their crimes.
The four policemen directly involved in the shooting were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 65 to 38 years for their crimes. New Orleans police detective Arthur Kaufman received a smaller sentence for his role in the attempted coverup.
Present at the sentencing were the families of Madison and Brissette and the surviving victims of the police shooting. Without their struggle for justice, there would be no guarantee that the crimes of the police would have been punished.
