UPDATE from a friend at LSU: Pleasant Hall has been locked down and employees are not being allowed to leave.
I am getting very angry about this situation because these folks causing the problems are seriously hindering the relief efforts. I understand that they are desperate, but we’ve got to take drastic action to make sure the volunteers and other evacuees are safe.
UPDATE: Dave Frey e-mails this:
i think there’s something major happening downtown br. my wife just got an email from a friend at a law firm down there and they’re being escorted out of their building by swat teams.
This is why we have the Second Amendment. I’m sorry…I’m not trying to politicize this, but I’m angry and I’m frustrated, and private citizens have to be able to protect themselves when the government cannot.
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This is going to be a lesson well remembered by Americans once the immediacy of the disaster in Louisiana is over.
We will have a plate full of lessons I think.
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additional opinion:
Instapundit.com
TED FRANK on shooting looters:
…. one doesn’t shoot looters to protect property, one does so to protect order. Somebody is going to suffer unjustly when society breaks down…..
Glenn Reynolds: …people told me that looting became a problem after Hurricane Ivan, but quickly stopped when the police shot several looters. That’s because looters usually value life over property too.
As I’ve said before, I don’t think that people helping themselves to emergency supplies are to be blamed, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Those who don’t get this are either sadly uninformed or deliberately obtuse.
–posted @ Instapundit today