Shoot to kill?

I have not heard it said in plain English. - Waiting to learn . . .

BM

Yahoo! News

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La. governor warns troops will "shoot and kill" Thu Sep 1,11:06 PM ET



BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco warned rioters and looters in New Orleans on Thursday that National Guard troops are under her orders to "shoot and kill" to end the rampant violence in the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina



Announcing the arrival of 300 Arkansas National Guard troops in New Orleans fresh from service in Iraq, Blanco said, "these troops are battle-tested. They have M-16s and are locked and loaded."

"These troops know how to shoot and kill and I expect they will," she said.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, a Democrat, said as many as 100 people in his district southeast of New Orleans have died as a by-product of the violence that has gripped the city after Katrina slammed into the region on Monday, causing massive flooding.

Those who died, Melancon said, had been waiting at a warehouse pier along the Mississippi River in Chalmette, Louisiana, to be picked up for evacuation. They had received little food and no water since Monday or Tuesday.

"They were afraid they would have to go through New Orleans (to deliver the supplies)," Melancon said.

Melancon said some of those waiting for pickup died of dehydration in the 90-degree heat that has afflicted the region since Tuesday.

Despair is also affecting those in New Orleans charged with protecting the city, said State Police Superintendent Col. H.L. Whitehorn.

Some New Orleans police officers have resigned rather than face the violence in the city.

"It's my understanding those who have resigned said they have lost everything and it's not worth being shot at and losing their lives," Whitehorn said.

Whitehorn said he did not know the specific number of police officers who have quit their jobs.

I have heard this as well.
I believe it came from some military ' leader' bush put on scene to get things moving.
- off to google my assumption-

I dont know how accurate this article is but here it is in FULL

No one has any legal authority to issue a flat out "shoot to kill" order. The Nat. Guard can be given permission to use lethal force to DEFEND themselves but they are still required to follow the rule of law. Blanco, as the State Gov. sets the rules of engagement but an automatic shoot to kill order is, IMO, beyond her authority.

(To my knowledge a shoot to kill order has only ever been issued once in the U.S.. That was in San Francisco after the Great 1906 earthquake.)

thank you fishin', that was my understanding as well, I wonder why no one seems to be questioning this "policy"

I don't know. Some of it be due to some sensationalizing by the press. All of the stories that mention Blanco and the shoot to kill order follow up later on in the articles with ""These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will,'' said Blanco."

That "if necessary" can mean a lot of things... If there were an actual shoot-on-sight sort of policy no one would concern themselves with "if necessary".

Perhaps we're trying to impress the looters?

Not being an American and knowing all the ins and outs, I did hear at one point that "marshall law" had been imposed. Sorry, I don't have a link, as I heard this on the radio.

Can military troops, in your country, "shoot to kill" under "marshall law" conditions?

I don't know. Who knows the answer to this one?

In Canada, we have the War Measures Act, which to my knowledge was last imposed in October 1970, during the FLQ crisis.

I believe (not 100% certain) that the miltary could have shot someone under those conditions if orders were not obeyed, like curfews, etc. I could be wrong on this.

No. Martial law is basically turning over all law enforcement responsibilities to the military and even under that scenario, military members are required to follow the Uniform Code Of military Justice.

Again, lethal force could be used to defend one's self from a mortal threat but absent that they would be expected to maintain the "reasonable force" standard. (i.e. You could use the amount of force reasonably necessary to stop an illegal act but no more than that.)

The National Guardsmen that were involved in the shooting at Kent State Univ back in 1970 were charged in Federal court but through a series of cover-ups and legal bungles the case was dismissed and sent to the State for them to try. The State continued to screw up and I don't think they were ever found criminally liable but the State paid out to the families of the victims in a civil settlement.

Perhaps too many shooters ARE looters..

Thanks for your reply on the marshall law question.


Yeah, I remember this incident. I had just graduated from high school earlier that year.

Everybody was stunned after that event. Interesting follow-up info.

I found a little extra info here[/color].


Remember The Buffalo Springfield song?

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down.

or this one

Ohio
Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young)

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are gunning us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.

Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are cutting us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.

I do think I saw shoot to kill as a descriptive in my stunned reading.

Take your beef somewhere else. I don't want anyone shot to kilt, never, much less right now

Here's one incident, but seems fairly standard (they were being shot at):



(From an AP news story on Yahoo with this url, which likely will not work or else will contain a different story later:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/hurricane_katrina

I find it hard to believe that a shoot to kill order would or could be made. It is more believable that the press embelished the story, which happens all the time in every kind of news story. If they didn't, would it be news?