Ex-Police Lt. Admits to Cover-Up in Post-Katrina Killings

Ronald Madison was shot to death on the Danziger Bridge.

In New Orleans, a retired police lieutenant has pleaded guilty to directing a cover-up of the police killing of two people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The victims, forty-two-year-old Ronald Madison and nineteen-year-old James Brissette, were crossing the Danziger Bridge in search of food. Madison, who was mentally handicapped, was shot seven times, five in his back. On Wednesday, former New Orleans Police Department Lt. Michael Lohman pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Prosecutors say Lohman conspired with other unidentified officers in fabricating witness statements, falsifying incident reports, and planting a gun at the crime scene. After the plea, Ronald Madison’s brother, Romell Madison, spoke outside the courtroom.

Romell Madison: “Tremendous relief for us to see that we have some sort of closure that we’re working on. We’re very happy to see that the rest of the population, our family, other victims, and the citizens of New Orleans, should be relieved that there is still justice for everybody here.”
Lohman’s conviction is the first in the Danziger case. Charges were dismissed against seven police officers in 2008. Prosecutors say their investigation is continuing. Federal investigators are also probing several other police killings of New Orleans residents in the aftermath of Katrina.


Following String of Racist Incidents, UC San Diego Students Occupy Chancellor’s Office
Crowds of students stormed and occupied the office of a University of California, San Diego chancellor for six hours Friday after a noose was found hanging from a bookcase in the main library. The noose is only the latest in a string of incidents over the past few weeks. Protests were initially sparked by an off-campus party last month they called “Compton Cookout” that mocked Black History Month and denigrated African American women. UC San Diego has the smallest percentage of African American students in the nine-campus UC system. The Black Student Union at UC San Diego has declared the campus climate for racial minorities to be in a “state of emergency.”



Van Jones to Head Think Tank’s “Green Opportunity Initiative”
And the Center for American Progress has announced former White House green jobs czar Van Jones will head the think tank’s new “Green Opportunity Initiative.” Jones resigned from his White House job five months ago after becoming the target of what he described as a “vicious smear campaign." On Friday, Jones made one of his first public appearances since his resignation. He spoke at the NAACP Image Awards.
Van Jones: “And I know one thing. We have people in every community in America, right now, watching this program, who don’t have jobs, who are suffering, who are afraid, living in economic uncertainty. And I know there’s a future out there for them, where they get a chance to make the products of tomorrow. If we want the jobs of tomorrow, we must make the products of tomorrow. There’s somebody right now who’s in Detroit, and they know how to make cars. There are skilled machinists, but they’re idle. Let them make the wind turbines and the smart batteries and the solar panels to re-empower this country. Let them work. Give them hope. Give them the opportunity.” David Paterson Withdraws from New York Governor’s Race.


David Paterson Withdraws from New York Governor’s Race
Here in New York, Governor David Paterson withdrew from the state governor’s race on Friday after being battered by questions of impropriety for his role in a domestic abuse case involving one of his top aides.

David Paterson: “Today I’m announcing that I’m ending my campaign for governor of the state of New York. It has become increasingly clear to me in the last few days that I cannot run for office and try to manage the state’s business at the same time, and right now New York state needs a leader who can devote full time to this service.”

The New York Times revealed last week that Governor Paterson spoke with a woman who had accused the governor’s top aide of assault. After speaking with the governor, the woman failed to appear in court, and her case was dismissed.


Obama Signs Extension of PATRIOT Act
President Barack Obama has signed a one-year extension of several provisions in the PATRIOT Act after the Senate abandoned efforts to reform the controversial law. Privacy groups had urged the Senate to rewrite Section 215 of the bill, which allows the government to secretly access a wide range of private business records without warrants. But Senate Democrats failed to muster enough votes to rewrite the law. Another contested provision that remains in the law allows the government to secretly wiretap persons without any connection to terrorists or spies under the so-called “lone wolf” provision.


Documents Reveal Pentagon Spied on Planned Parenthood
Newly released Pentagon documents reveal the US military monitored Planned Parenthood and a white supremacist group as part of the government’s security preparations for the 2002 Olympics in Utah. The documents also reveal that military intelligence spied on the antiwar group Alaskans for Peace and Justice in 2005. Other documents disclose that the military illegally intercepted civilian cellphone conversations in April 2007 during an exercise at Fort Polk in Louisiana. The documents were obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.


Hundreds of Thousands Lose Unemployment Benefits Due to GOP Filibuster
Unemployment benefits ended on Sunday for hundreds of thousands of Americans after Senate Republicans prevented a vote last week to fund extended benefits for people who have exhausted the basic twenty-six weeks of coverage. The Senate vote was blocked by a filibuster from Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning. Meanwhile, in the House, the Democratic leadership is struggling to get enough votes to pass a $15 billion jobs bill. Many progressive Democrats have criticized the legislation for focusing too much on tax breaks that will do little to create jobs. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, the co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, said, “That’s not a jobs bill. For us to call it that and then think we’ve accomplished something is a mistake.”


Dodd Abandons Efforts to Create Consumer Financial Protection Agency
Senate Banking Committee Chair Christopher Dodd has abandoned efforts to create an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency. President Obama had proposed creating the agency to protect consumers against abuses in mortgages, credit cards and other forms of lending. In its place, Dodd is expected to propose the creation of a Bureau of Financial Protection inside the Treasury Department. Dodd’s proposed bureau will have far less power and would not be allowed to enforce rules on banks with less than $10 billion in holdings or enforce rules against non-bank financial operations, such as payday lenders. Dodd’s decision is seen as a victory for Republicans and many business groups who have campaigned against forming a new agency to protect consumers.


Admin to Seek Improved Wages, Benefits at Federal Contractors
The New York Times is reporting the Obama administration is planning to leverage the government’s huge buying power to improve wages and benefits for workers at companies that receive federal contracts. Administration officials say the plan would help boost wages and working conditions at companies vying for some $500 billion in annual government contracts. Business groups and Republicans are expected to launch a major lobbying campaign in opposition.


VA to Review Disability Claims of Gulf War Vets
Back in the United States, the Veterans Affairs Department has announced plans to review the disability claims of thousands of Gulf War veterans suffering from ailments as a result of their service in the 1991 attack on Iraq. The US government has long denied the existence of “Gulf War syndrome” despite growing evidence and claims by veterans. In 2008, a congressional-mandated report affirmed it’s a legitimate condition primarily caused by overexposure to pesticides and a drug given to troops to protect against nerve gas in the 1991 invasion. The Veterans Affairs review could open the door to disability payments to thousands of Gulf War veterans long denied medical claims.


FBI, US Attorney Investigating Penn. School District’s Computer Spying on Young Students
A suburban Philadelphia school district has been accused of monitoring students at home via school-issued laptops. The webcam monitoring came to light after a lawsuit was filed by the family of a fifteen-year-old student who had his webcam activated after the school mistook his eating of candy for the consumption of drugs. The FBI and the US Attorney’s Office for eastern Pennsylvania have launched investigations, and a judge has ordered the monitoring to stop.


US Firms Probed for Role in Greek Financial Crisis
Federal investigators have announced a probe into the role of major US firms in Greece’s financial crisis. One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped Greece obscure billions in debt from the budget overseers in Brussels. Goldman Sachs is said to be the most important of more than a dozen banks used by the Greek government to manage its national debt using derivatives.


UN Approves Goldstone Report Resolution on Gaza War Crimes
The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution Friday calling for Israel and the Palestinians to conduct impartial investigations into war crimes committed during Israel’s assault on Gaza last year as documented in the Goldstone report. The United States, along with Canada, Nauru, Panama, Macedonia and Micronesia, joined Israel in voting against the resolution. US Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff reiterated the US view that the Goldstone report is “deeply flawed.”

Alejandro Wolff: “We have previously noted shortcomings that include its unbalanced focus on Israel, the negative inferences it draws about Israel’s intentions and actions, its failure to deal adequately with the asymmetrical nature of the Gaza conflict, and its failure to assign appropriate responsibility to Hamas for deliberately targeting civilians, and basing itself and its operations in heavily civilian-populated urban areas.”
The Palestinian Authority’s permanent observer to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, criticized Israel and called for action.

Riyad Mansour: “Acting above the law, Israel has inflicted untold suffering and devastation on the Palestinian people it has oppressed for over four decades in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and has its course gravely undermined the applicability and credibility of international law. It is high time to end and reverse this destructive, obscene pattern of behavior by Israel, and that begins with ensuring accountability by punishing those responsible for the perpetration of war crimes against innocent civilians and ensuring justice for the many victims of those crimes.”

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