Thousands in New Orleans voice outrage over 9 killings

Carrying photos of murder victims and signs that called for peace, justice and the removal of certain city officials, an estimated 5,000 citizens converged Thursday on City Hall.

The emotionally charged rally was called in response to nine New Orleans killings since Jan. 1.

The racially mixed processions started in various neighborhoods in the city. The biggest group congregated at the foot of Canal Street, a main thoroughfare, and marched just over a mile to City Hall, escorted by mounted police and other officers riding motorcycles.

“We are here today to [say] that a city that could not be drowned in the waters of a storm will not be drowned in the blood of its citizens,” the Rev. John C. Raphael Jr., pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church in Central City, a New Orleans crime hotspot, told the crowd to cheers and applause.

“We are fed up [with] losing our loved ones to senseless acts of violence,” said Stella Baty Landis, one of the rally’s organizers, who teaches music at Tulane University and owns a music cafe and bookshop. Landis knew two of the nine most recent murder victims.

Landis outlined several proposals from residents, including tracing guns used in violent crimes, publishing weekly crime statistics and identifying all murder victims so that no one remains just “a number.”

Mayor C. Ray Nagin and other city officials were not permitted to address the rally. Helen Gillet, a rally organizer, said, “This is an opportunity for the people to speak.”

New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas acknowledged that the event was a chance for citizens to send a message.

“They want to know that their leaders give a damn,” said Thomas, who stood behind a podium set up near the main entrance of City Hall and listened alongside Nagin and other city officials including Police Supt. Warren Riley.

Many in the crowd jeered at Nagin and hoisted homemade placards demanding “Recall Nagin.” Others called for Riley to resign.

“Today’s the day that we realize that it’s our job to make them do their job, and that it’s not our job to do their job, “ said Alan Gutierrez, a computer programmer. He distributed fliers that read “Silence is Violence,” in reference to the refusal of some witnesses to crimes to come forward.

In a brief statement to reporters after the rally, a somber-looking Nagin said the event was “very moving to me personally.”

“What I heard and felt was pain -- pain and anger and frustration,” Nagin said. He pledged that city leaders would “get better, and we’re going to start today.”

On Tuesday, city officials outlined new anti-crime measures, including increased police foot patrols, more surveillance cameras in high-crime areas, and random citizen stops for drug- and alcohol violations between 2 and 6 a.m.

Police said they made 12 arrests on Wednesday, the first night of the new checkpoints, including six for drug violations.

But while some rally-goers criticized the new initiatives as a publicity stunt, others appealed to citizens to remain committed to the fight against crime for the sake of those killed.

“Me and my family, we are taking a stand right now,” said Nakita Shavers, whose brother, Dinerral )Shavers, a teacher and drummer with the popular Hot 8 Brass Brand, was shot and killed on Dec. 28. “I ask that you not let the death of my brother ... and all the rest of my New Orleans citizens go in vain.”