September 2005

Five days after Katrina, New Orleans police shot six unarmed Black civilians on the Danziger Bridge. James Brissette, 17, and Ronald Madison, 40, a man with developmental disabilities, were killed. Officers fabricated a cover story claiming they were fired upon. In 2011, five officers were convicted of civil rights violations and obstruction; sentences were later reduced on appeal.

In Algiers Point, armed vigilantes shot at Black evacuees trying to cross the neighborhood or reach a ferry. ProPublica's A.C. Thompson documented multiple shootings and at least one killing (reported 2008-2009). Victims described being turned back at gunpoint from evacuation routes. No one was charged.

In Algiers Point, a predominantly white neighborhood in New Orleans, armed vigilante groups formed under cover of shoot-to-loot orders and shot at Black evacuees trying to cross into the area or reach the nearby ferry. Investigative reporting by A.C. Thompson for ProPublica (published 2008–2009) documented multiple shootings, at least one killing. No one was charged. Victims described being turned back at gunpoint from evacuation routes.

During NBC's Katrina telethon, Kanye West went off-script declaring 'George Bush doesn't care about Black people.' NBC cut it from the West Coast broadcast. The statement became one of the decade's most discussed cultural interventions, forcing mainstream coverage of Katrina's racial dimensions.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco stated that National Guard troops arriving from Iraq were 'locked and loaded' with shoot-to-kill orders for looters. Media coverage framing Black survivors seeking food and water as 'looters' while white survivors doing the same were called 'finding' supplies inflamed the atmosphere. Historians documented the orders contributing to extrajudicial violence against Black residents by vigilante groups in Algiers Point.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco stated that National Guard troops arriving in New Orleans were locked and loaded and authorized to 'shoot and kill' looters. The order framed Black survivors — many desperately seeking food, water, and medicine — as a criminal threat. Media coverage widely depicted Black survivors as 'looters' while describing white survivors in identical situations as 'finding' supplies.

During NBC's live Hurricane Katrina telethon, rapper Kanye West deviated from the script to declare: 'George Bush doesn't care about Black people.' The moment was immediately cut by NBC on the West Coast broadcast. It became one of the most widely discussed cultural interventions of the decade, forcing mainstream coverage of the racial dimensions of Katrina's aftermath. West later elaborated on his remarks in interviews and in his music.

State Farm, Allstate, and other insurers denied tens of thousands of Katrina claims in Black neighborhoods by reclassifying wind damage as flood damage not covered under standard policies. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood sued State Farm; documents revealed internal guidance to adjusters to reclassify damage. Black policyholders in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish had denial rates significantly higher than white policyholders in comparable flood zones.

Hurricane Rita struck the Louisiana-Texas border on September 24, 2005, less than four weeks after Katrina. Predominantly Black communities in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas were devastated. Many Black evacuees who had fled Katrina were still in shelters when Rita hit. FEMA's response was again slower to majority-Black areas; housing aid applications from Black households in Rita-affected zones were denied at higher rates than comparable white applicants.