Buffalo News - Rumors of rescue copters under fire unfounded

This blaming of the government for being racist in its response to Hurricane Katrina is less important to me than the racism involved in the rumors spread at forest-fire speeds by the media... and which will be little explored by the media which spread them.

No evidence backs up reports of rescue helicopters being fired upon:
Among the rumors that spread as quickly as floodwaters after Hurricane Katrina, reports that gunmen were taking potshots at rescue helicopters stood out for their senselessness.

On Sept. 1, as patients sweltered in hospitals without power and thousands of people remained stranded on rooftops and in attics, crucial rescue efforts were delayed as word of such attacks spread.

But more than a month later, representatives from the Air Force, Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security and Louisiana Air National Guard say they have yet to confirm a single incident of gunfire at helicopters.

Likewise, members of several rescue crews who were told to halt operations say there is no evidence they were under fire.

Police say there is no epidemic of crime at any of the relief centers

The Deadly Bigotry of Low Expectations?

Frothy, Not Factual


Yet it is very easy to find stories still running in local newspapers which propagate the rumors:
"People began robbing the stores for food, water and televisions. They were shooting at the rescue helicopters to keep them from landing so the people who wanted to get out couldn't," Burris said. Her only way to safety was to get to the ferry bridge. She made contact with a couple who had hot-wired a minivan. Burris, her two children, the couple and their mother loaded up in the van and drove to the Algiers ferry where the Army was rescuing families.