5 Cops Convicted for Post-Katrina Shootings in New Orleans

Some small justice in one of the most shocking cases in recent memory...

Five New Orleans police officers have been convicted for their complicity in a series of murders and shootings of residents trying to escape the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

A jury found the five men guilty of covering up the killing of two people – including a mentally disabled man – and the wounding of four others in an elaborate plot that involved creating fake witnesses, falsifying police reports and statements, and planting a gun as evidence.

While the men escaped charges of murder, the jury in New Orleans also found Robert Faulcon, Robert Gisevius, Kenneth Bowen and Anthony Villavaso guilty of civil rights violations, while the fifth, Arthur Kaufman – a sergeant who investigated the shootings – was also guilty of taking part in the cover-up.

"This was a critical verdict. I cannot overstate the importance of this verdict. The power, the message it sends to the community, the healing power it has," Jim Letten, the prosecuting US Attorney, said after the verdict was announced.

The case is the most high profile of four major federal cases over the use of force by New Orleans police, and is likely to become a landmark civil rights decision.

Read the rest at The Guardian.