[Marin-d] From McKinney campaign: On Katrina

[Marnie Glickman]

>
>
> John Judge, press secretary for the McKinney/Clemente campaign, sent  
> the information below to help us with responses to the media on her  
> remarks about an alleged mass-murder cover-up in Louisiana after  
> Katrina (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbEEyTIVKMI).  The story is  
> circulating in the rightwing media, e.g. FoxNews (http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/02/mckinney-accuses-government-slaughtering-prisoners-dumping-bodies-katrina/ 
> ), but it might suddenly get wider exposure.  We've gotten some  
> calls on it already. -- Scott
>
>
> This is not for press release or full distribution but for  
> inquiries. Hope it helps to clarify - John Judge
>
> *The Unaccounted Deaths of Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath*
>
> While serving in her sixth term in the House of Representatives,  
> Cynthia McKinney was one of only a handful of the Democrats who  
> participated in the proceedings of the U.S. House Select Bipartisan  
> Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to  
> Hurricane Katrina, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia. Democratic  
> Party leadership claimed that the investigation would be partisan  
> and biased, and therefore instructed Members not to join the  
> Committee. Rep. McKinney chose to defy Speaker Pelosi's decision  
> because she felt that the issues that would arise out of any  
> investigation were too serious to ignore. During the period of her  
> participation, she attempted to bring forward a wide range of  
> issues, facts and testimony regarding the flawed preparations and  
> response to Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it caused.
>
> She and her staff worked tirelessly with other legislators to craft  
> an environmental bill that would address the damage, toxicity,  
> homelessness, and safety for first responders and those involved in  
> clean up and Katrina survivors trying to put their lives back  
> together at home. McKinney and her staff worked long hours helping  
> to write and promote the Congressional Black Caucus omnibus bill, a  
> broad package designed to address the plight of the survivors,  
> address the issues of housing and homelessness, provide funds for  
> reconstruction, improve future federal responses to natural  
> disasters, and that also included McKinney's initiative for a  
> comprehensive clean-up program of the toxic materials left over from  
> the storm surges of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. McKinney pushed for  
> a Congressional delegation to New Orleans to witness the situation  
> first hand.
>
> McKinney also invited survivors and experts to testify before the  
> committee at a hearing titled "Hurricane Katrina: Voices from Inside  
> the Storm." This two-part hearing took place on Tuesday, December 6,  
> 2005, at the Rayburn House Office Building, To see some of the  
> written statements which outline the abuses of the National Guard  
> and police, see: http://katrina.house.gov/hearings/12_06_05/witness_list_120605.htm 
>  . Following the flood, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco issued a  
> state of emergency and issued "shoot to kill" orders to curb unrest  
> and reported looting. Subsequently, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin,  
> backed by Blanco, declared martial law, even though there is no  
> provision for that in Louisiana Law. The report also cited numerous  
> national news media stories of civilians being shot by police.  
> During the second panel of this hearing, Attorney Ishmael Mohammed  
> questioned whether the "shoot to kill" order and the declaration of  
> martial law were in
> accord with common sense in a situation where some of the law  
> enforcement officers were "raring to go" and in a situation where  
> everyone was a potential looter.
>
> "Then you have statements being made by law enforcement officials  
> and government officials . . . that all deaths are going to be  
> identified as happening August 29th as the date and no  
> identification is going to be made of what actually killed anyone."  
> In fact, Frank Minyard, the Orleans Parish Coroner, told the Chicago  
> Tribune that "If you murdered somebody in those days, you are  
> probably going to get away with it." (Chicago Tribune, 11/8/05).  
> Muhammed stated before the committee: "then you have reports that  
> over 10,000 people may be dead, and all of a sudden we have a body  
> count of a little over 1,000."
>
> These quotes were repeated in McKinney's 70-page report which her  
> staff prepared, and which was included in its final report, titled  
> "A Failure of Initiative." This report covers many of her findings  
> and issues that remain unaddressed to this day. See: http://archives.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/mckinney.house.gov/katrina.supplemental.pdf
>
> McKinney's Congressional office became a focal point nationally for  
> complaints, reports, and local and national efforts to restore the  
> community and homes that were lost to the storm. She was outspoken  
> on behalf of the victims and their right of return. Upon hearing of  
> the survivors who were shot at and dispersed by Gretna Police on the  
> Crescent City Connection Bridge to Gretna, after being refused  
> passage out of New Orleans, McKinney introduced legislation to deny  
> funding to the Gretna Police for one year. She then led a march  
> across the bridge with survivors and civil rights activists that  
> highlighted the incident. She continues to work closely with  
> community organizers who have been demanding restoration of homes  
> for victims and their families through formation of the  
> Reconstruction Party.
>
> During the course of Congresswoman McKinney's focus on the victims  
> and their mistreatment, she and her staff received reports of  
> illegal use of force and shootings against innocent citizens from  
> multiple, unrelated sources, including reports of attempts to by law  
> enforcement authorities to conceal the evidence of their crimes.  
> Although a few of these informants were willing to testify in public  
> or go to the press, most refused to go on record for fear of  
> retaliation. Transcripts of the testimony of the survivors at the  
> December 6, 2005 hearing reveal a common theme about military and  
> police abuses of ordinary citizens in a crisis, including threats to  
> kill. After that hearing, more reports were received that warrant  
> further Congressional investigation.
>
> Because these stories came from multiple, unrelated sources  
> Congresswoman McKinney did not dismiss them out of hand. She  
> attempted to verify them with limited resources, to speak out about  
> them, and to get Congressional attention through the Katrina  
> Committee hearings. Many aspects of the aftermath of Hurricane  
> Katrina, despite numerous House and Senate committee hearings,  
> remain unanswered and unresolved, including any final or reliable  
> body counts.
>
> The largest single wrongful death toll was reported by a woman who  
> claimed that her son had been employed as a computer specialist to  
> enter information about corpses into a database system for DMORT in  
> Louisiana following the hurricane. The purpose was to collect as  
> much information as possible on discovered bodies and remains for  
> the purpose of later identification. This could include  
> identification papers, address or location of discovery, gender,  
> age, height and weight, clothing, identifying marks, hair and eye  
> color, and other distinguishable features, as well as the probable  
> or visible cause of death if these could be determined. Presumably,  
> such a database could be used later, by families or authorities, to  
> identify specific victims. She told the Congresswoman that her son  
> claimed that 4 or 5 thousand bodies entered into the database showed  
> bullet wounds in the head. Her son told her that the bodies were  
> disposed of in swampland outside New
> Orleans. Her staff attempted to verify the account, but the young  
> man would not speak to them or testify.
>
> DMORT is in fact an agency that was involved in the rescue and  
> identification of bodies in Louisiana and Mississippi following  
> Hurricane Katrina. DMORT: National Disaster Mortuary Operational  
> Response Team (www.dmort.org), is part of the Disaster Medical  
> System (NDMS).
>
> http://www.hhs.gov/aspr/opeo/ndms/teams/dmort.html - OFFICIAL PAGE
> http://www.hhs.gov/aspr/opeo/ndms/index.html - UNDER NDMS
> http://www.dmort.org/ - UNOFFICIAL SITE
>
> For some of DMORT's history see: http://www.dmort.org/DNPages/DMORTHistory.htm
>
> This site reads:
>
> "In the early 1980's, a committee was formed within the National  
> Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) to address disaster situations  
> and specifically, mass fatality incidents. This group found that no  
> standardization then existed and worked toward creating a national  
> protocol for the formation of a proper response. Initially, they  
> were concentrating on just the role of funeral directors, but it was  
> soon discovered that funeral directors and no /_one_/ profession  
> could handle all of the aspects of such an event. A multi-faceted  
> nonprofit organization, open to all forensic practitioners, was  
> formed by the committee to support…a national level response  
> protocol for all related professions. This group formed, and led by  
> Tom Shepardson (http://www.dmort.org/DNPages/Tom_Page.htm) purchased  
> the first portable morgue unit in the country and their equipment  
> has supported DMORT missions in Illinois, Indiana, Guam, Michigan  
> and Del Rio.
>
> "Soon after this nonprofit group of volunteers had formed,  
> government interest in this topic came to the forefront. Families  
> who had lost loved ones in airline incidents felt that the treatment  
> that they had received was inadequate and demanded a response from  
> congress. As a result, Congress passed The Family Assistance Act in  
> October of 1996 and required all American based airlines (and later  
> all those operating in the US) to have a plan to assist families in  
> the case of an accident. DMORT is one federal team, which can be  
> called in to help if needed.
>
> "DMORT has grown from its humble beginnings in the early 1990's to  
> the current group of over 1200 trained and capable volunteers who  
> respond at a moments notice to assist those in need."
>
> Additional related independent reports included:
>
> A report from the friend of a Louisiana National Guard officer who  
> was upset over the Guard's role in the shooting of between two and  
> three hundred persons in the wake of the flood. Allegedly the  
> victims' bodies were then taken to Mississippi and burned to dispose  
> of them. The officer would not be identified, come forward to  
> testify or send a statement to the staff or the Committee.
>
> Red Cross employees who declined to be identified reported that  
> survivors were being shot.
>
> A reporter from a top television network told McKinney's staff that  
> New Orleans Police Department officers claimed that Immigration and  
> Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Federal Marshals, among others, were  
> involved in shootings of civilians during the "shoot to kill"  
> period. The NOPD officers themselves bragged to this reporter about  
> shooting dead up to about 150 persons, but would not go on the record.
>
> A reporter at the New Orleans Times Picayune said he was baffled by  
> all the rumors about police and Guard shootings, since the total  
> number of shooting deaths reported by the coroner allegedly totaled  
> only a handful of persons.
>
> Some press reported that private security forces, like Blackwater,  
> Dyncorps and others who were also present in the city after the  
> flood, were using lethal force and indiscriminately shooting  
> civilians.
>
> As long as questions remain for the families and the survivors about  
> how their relatives and friends actually died, and whether unlawful  
> and unjustified use of firearms led to innocent people being  
> threatened, harmed or killed, then justice and public knowledge have  
> not been served. It is critical that the voices of the survivors be  
> heard and that their questions and complaints are fully investigated  
> and addressed. Rep. McKinney has persistently demanded further  
> investigation and action to help the survivors and as mentioned, has  
> consistently raised the issue of civilians being shot by law  
> enforcement officials. As a public official, it would have been  
> remiss for Congresswoman McKinney to have remained silent.
>
> It is increasingly clear that members of these same military, police  
> and private organizations have been involved in illegal and  
> indiscriminate killings of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, and  
> here at home, and these situations have, at least some of the time,  
> been investigated and charges brought. The people who died during  
> Katrina and its aftermath deserve no less. DMORT, the NOPD, the  
> National Guard and the private agencies like Blackwater should  
> release all their databases and field reports on civilian deaths and  
> the causes of death visible among the remains they discovered.  
> Military and police officers are required to account for any  
> expended ammunition as well. And immunity and whistleblower  
> protection should be afforded anyone willing to come forward at this  
> point with knowledge about any illegal deaths or destruction of  
> bodies to conceal the facts.
>
> See Cynthia's statement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbEEyTIVKMI
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Marnie Glickman
Executive director
Green Change

www.greenchange.org
503.313.7919 w
707.313.7919 f
skype: marnieglickman

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