Sunday, September 04, 2005
“HARDLY BETTER THAN ANIMALS”
Heartbreaking work for New Orleans police:
“People don’t want to come out,” said Capt. Tim Bayard, commander of the narcotics division of the New Orleans Police Department, who is supervising the water rescue effort. “They say they have enough water and food to sustain themselves. They don’t understand. It’s going to take six to eight weeks before the electricity comes on.”
The water has receded only about a foot in many places, he said, adding that it was still 20 feet deep in spots. “They need to come out,” Captain Bayard said. But some residents fear that if they leave, their houses will be ransacked by looters, he said.
“They’ve already lost their cars,” he said. “All they have left is their house. They don’t want those animals stealing from them. Write that, animals. Anybody that would take advantage of this is hardly better than animals. Not the people who are taking food and water and clothing. Those stealing TV’s and shooting at police. What can you do with a TV? There’s no electricity.”
Meanwhile, CBS commentator Nancy Giles just knows whites would’ve been rescued earlier:
If the majority of the hardest hit victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were white people, they would not have gone for days without food and water, forcing many to steal for mere survival.
Their bodies would not have been left to float in putrid water.
They would have been rescued and relocated a hell of a lot faster than this. Period.
Not if Sean Penn had anything to do with it.
UPDATE: “Some people became animals. We became more civilized.”