Katrina Cop Gets 8 Years for Fatal Shooting

Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights

Five years ago, members of the New Orleans Police Department shot and killed two men and wounded four others on the Danziger Bridge (pictured) in an unprovoked attack that gained some media attention but, for some reason, didn't shock the nation as it should have.

Yes, the officers were under stress from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, deaths, reports of armed gangs firing on police and unarmed citizens, but what the officers did was unthinkable: They shot and killed unarmed people for no apparent reason.

But now, just a little justice is finally coming to the Danzinger Bridge victims.

Former New Orleans police officer Michael Hunter was sentenced to eight years, the maximum allowed, for his role in the cover-up and deadly shooting.

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Ronald Madison, 40, a mentally disabled man, and James Brissette, 19, were killed and four other men were wounded as they looked for food five days after the storm hit New Orleans.

Hunter and four other former cops pleaded guilty in the attack.

Hunter, it seems, was the best of a bad lot of New Orleans officers on patrol that night.

He stopped a police sergeant from kicking Ronald Madison's body, and Hunter cooperated with prosecutors and provided key information against the other officers.

A reduction in Hunter's prison sentence could be in the offing if he continues to work with prosecutors.

Watching this sad case go forward is a little like watching sausage being made - while the end result will be palatable, its production is less than appetizing.

In this case, justice will ultimately be served as the officers get their long stints in prison, the families of the victims get some financial compensation from the state and city and the New Orleans police is forced to undergo new training in an attempt to prevent this from happening again.

But listening to the anguish of the victims' families and watching dirty police officers turn on even dirtier officers in search for lighter prison sentences is enough to make you sick.

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