Ex-officer pleads guilty in Katrina killing probe

[Ghost in the Machine]

Ex-officer pleads guilty in Katrina killing probe
Posted: Feb 24, 2010 5:09 PM EST
Updated: Feb 25, 2010 2:09 AM EST

By MARY FOSTER and MIKE KUNZELMAN
Associated Press Writers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In Hurricane Katrina's chaotic aftermath, police shot six people - killing two - as they crossed a bridge in search of food. For years the case was a shocking symbol of the confusion and violence that swept through the flooded city. On Wednesday it became a mark of shame for the police department.

As victims' relatives watched from the courtroom gallery, a retired lieutenant who supervised the department's probe of the shootings pleaded guilty to orchestrating a cover-up to conceal that police gunned down unarmed civilians.

Michael Lohman, a 21-year veteran of the force, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Prosecutors said Lohman and other unidentified officers conspired to fabricate witness statements, falsify reports of the incident and plant a gun in an attempt to make it appear the killings were justified.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the investigation is continuing and would not say whether higher-ranking officials of the police department might be involved.

Lohman's plea brought at least some closure to families of victims in the best-known of several violent incidents that raised questions about police conduct immediately after Katrina.The shootings happened on Sept. 4, 2005, six days after the storm smashed levees and flooded 80 percent of the city.

http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12038877

[Swamp Rat]

1. k&r

[bananas]

2. k&r nt

[aikoaiko]

3. !!!!!!! "There are no grace periods from the constitution. The rule of law does not get suspended."

Justice comes slowly sometimes.

[ThomCat]

4. Unless you are a torturer, or orchestrated and organized the torture

of thousands from the highest levels of the American Government. Then the rule of law gets suspended and everyone bends over backwards to justify it. :(