The disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina went beyond the ravished homes, lack of government response and lives lost due to starvation and drowning in the flood.
There were also incidents of innocent black people being shot and murdered by police after the storm.
Several days after the hurricane hit, Henry Glover, 31 and a father of four, was walking near a strip mall with his friend Bernard Calloway when the two heard someone shout, “Get out of here!” Moments later, an unarmed Glover was shot in the chest.
Calloway ran to get Glover’s brother and the two flagged down a motorist, William Tanner, who put Glover’s wounded body into the backseat of his car. Because most of the hospitals in New Orleans were overcrowded or closed during that time, they rushed Glover to a nearby makeshift police station seeking help.
Instead, New Orleans police officers David Warren, Greg McRae and Travis McCabe handcuffed the men and began beating them senselessly without cause. Officer Warren confiscated Tanner’s car with Glover’s body still in the backseat and drove it near the levees. He eventually set the car on fire and Glover’s body burned.
On Dec. 9, 2010, a jury convicted McRae, who shot Glover, Warren, and McCabe. Warren faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, while McCabe could get 30 years and McRae could receive 50 years.
Although justice was partially served with the jury’s conviction, the three officers who committed this hideous act of terrorism on a black man deserve nothing less than the death penalty. –amir shaw
