Two New Orleans Police Officers Sentenced in Post-Katrina Shooting and Burning of Henry Glover

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Thursday, March 31, 2011

 

Two New Orleans Police Officers Sentenced in Post-Katrina Shooting and Burning of Henry Glover

WASHINGTON – Former New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Officer David Warren was sentenced today in connection with the post-Katrina shooting death of Henry Glover, and current NOPD Officer Greg McRae was sentenced for the subsequent burning of Glover’s remains and obstruction of justice.

 

Former NOPD Officer Warren was sentenced to 25 years and nine months in prison for his involvement in the Sept. 2, 2005, shooting death of civilian Henry Glover.   As part of the restitution order, Warren will also pay $7,642.32 to Glover’s family for funeral expenses. Warren was found guilty by a federal jury of a civil rights violation, resulting in death, for shooting Glover, and for using a firearm to commit manslaughter.  

           

Current NOPD Officer McRae was sentenced to 17 years and three months in prison, three years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $6,000 for his involvement in the burning of Mr. Glover’s body.   McRae was convicted of two civil rights violations, one count of obstructing justice and one count of using fire during the commission of a felony.   One of the civil rights counts charged that McRae willfully used fire to destroy a civilian’s property by burning and destroying a car, and the other civil rights count charged that he willfully deprived Glover’s family members of their right to seek redress in the courts for his death.

 

Evidence presented at trial established that Warren, while stationed on a second floor lookout, shot Glover, who was a floor below him and running away. Glover’s brother and a friend flagged down a passing motorist, “Good Samaritan” William Tanner, who put the wounded Glover in his car to try to get medical attention for him. However, when the group of men drove up to a makeshift police station seeking help for Glover, police officers surrounded the men at gunpoint, handcuffed them and let Glover die in the back seat of the car.   McRae then drove off with Tanner’s car, with Glover’s body inside, and burned both the body and the car with a traffic flare.

 

“Instead of upholding their oath to protect and serve the people of New Orleans in the days after Hurricane Katrina, these officers abused their power, and violated the law and the public trust,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Today's sentence brings a measure of justice to the Glover family and to the entire city.”

 

“Today’s sentences send a powerful message that no one is above the law, and that those who are sworn to protect our citizens are never, under any circumstances, relieved of their sacred responsibilities under our Constitution. We will continue to do everything in our power—and use every law and weapon in our arsenal of justice to make certain that our police never abuse power they wield. Today is an important step forward for the courageous Glover family and the people of New Orleans, and an important move toward the city’s healing and rebuilding,” said Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

 

David Welker, FBI Special Agent in Charge for Louisiana, said, “Today’s sentences are a result of the continued diligence and commitment of the FBI to aggressively and fairly pursue civil rights violations, with the goal of bringing to justice those who abuse the very citizens they are entrusted to protect and serve.”

 

This case was investigated by the New Orleans Field Office of the FBI, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jared Fishman of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracey Knight and Michael Magner for the Eastern District of Louisiana.