on Katrina Victims: Lost your house? No Problem, DHS will threaten and fine you anyways. (March 9, 2006 12:33 PM)
Posted by: Good Will
Posted by: Good Will
Hot off the presses!!
Remember when The Department of Homeland Security was founded? Was not it supposed to protect us from nasty terrorirst and such? But hey if that task is too hard for them, how about just harrassing Katrina Victims.
--snip--
Ridiculing the
Federal Emergency Management Agency is high art in the Gulf Coast areas where Hurricane Katrina hit last year.
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Many parade floats in New Orleans' Mardi Gras were decorated in themes that skewered the relief agency.
George Barisich, president of the United Commercial Fisherman's Association, has been selling anti-FEMA T-shirts since last fall, a reflection of his frustration with the federal government's response to the storm that left him homeless and unemployed.
But on Feb. 1, when he handed a shirt to a fellow Katrina victim as he was picking up canned goods at a charity's relief tent, Barisich found himself in trouble with the government.
He was cited by a group of
Homeland Security officials for selling a T-shirt on federal property - in this case, near a FEMA center in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Chalmette, La.
Barisich, 49, says he didn't sell the shirt, which said: "Flooded by Katrina! Forgotten by FEMA! What's Next, Mr. Bush?" He says he gave it away.
The government is sticking to its guns. "If we ignored this violation, you could have potentially 20 to 30 people standing out in front of the (FEMA) center, obstructing things," says Dean Boyd, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman. "We've got a duty and a job under the law."
Boyd says the message on Barisich's shirt isn't the issue. Barisich says he intends to fight the $75 ticket in court.
Word of Barisich's plight is circulating around battered St. Bernard Parish, where 22,000 of the 26,000 homes were destroyed by flooding. Larry Ingargiola, the local emergency operations chief, calls it "totally ridiculous."
.....
Barisich says he was ticketed after six DHS officers gathered at his truck. Boyd says he can't confirm the number. Barisich says he was told he would be arrested if he did not take the ticket. "I said, 'Do you really want to arrest me? Am I the only one here who thinks this is asinine? You're harassing a person who just lost everything.' "
--snip--
And please do not point out technicalities of him giving away TShirts on federal properties. The whole city is a wasteland, THERE SHOULD NOT BE 6 DHS agents worrying about tshirts. THEY SHOULD BE REBUILDING THE CITY.
Rest of the story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/femacriticsshirtgetshimtangledupinticket
Remember when The Department of Homeland Security was founded? Was not it supposed to protect us from nasty terrorirst and such? But hey if that task is too hard for them, how about just harrassing Katrina Victims.
--snip--
Ridiculing the
Federal Emergency Management Agency is high art in the Gulf Coast areas where Hurricane Katrina hit last year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Many parade floats in New Orleans' Mardi Gras were decorated in themes that skewered the relief agency.
George Barisich, president of the United Commercial Fisherman's Association, has been selling anti-FEMA T-shirts since last fall, a reflection of his frustration with the federal government's response to the storm that left him homeless and unemployed.
But on Feb. 1, when he handed a shirt to a fellow Katrina victim as he was picking up canned goods at a charity's relief tent, Barisich found himself in trouble with the government.
He was cited by a group of
Homeland Security officials for selling a T-shirt on federal property - in this case, near a FEMA center in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Chalmette, La.
Barisich, 49, says he didn't sell the shirt, which said: "Flooded by Katrina! Forgotten by FEMA! What's Next, Mr. Bush?" He says he gave it away.
The government is sticking to its guns. "If we ignored this violation, you could have potentially 20 to 30 people standing out in front of the (FEMA) center, obstructing things," says Dean Boyd, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman. "We've got a duty and a job under the law."
Boyd says the message on Barisich's shirt isn't the issue. Barisich says he intends to fight the $75 ticket in court.
Word of Barisich's plight is circulating around battered St. Bernard Parish, where 22,000 of the 26,000 homes were destroyed by flooding. Larry Ingargiola, the local emergency operations chief, calls it "totally ridiculous."
.....
Barisich says he was ticketed after six DHS officers gathered at his truck. Boyd says he can't confirm the number. Barisich says he was told he would be arrested if he did not take the ticket. "I said, 'Do you really want to arrest me? Am I the only one here who thinks this is asinine? You're harassing a person who just lost everything.' "
--snip--
And please do not point out technicalities of him giving away TShirts on federal properties. The whole city is a wasteland, THERE SHOULD NOT BE 6 DHS agents worrying about tshirts. THEY SHOULD BE REBUILDING THE CITY.
Rest of the story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/femacriticsshirtgetshimtangledupinticket