Henry Glover: Victim of the N.O.P.D.?

Edna Glover, Mother of Henry Glover, 31. His charred remains were found in September 2009, about a week after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

"The things that happened with the police department during Katrina were shocking. They were disturbing. I wish I could say they were aberrant. But they were not. They are what happens when you have a department that is deeply troubled."- Mary Howell, civil rights attorney in New Orleans, The Nation

This video shows the charred remains of Henry Glover, including his skull complete with a gaping hole, in a burnt out car. The scenes in the video were taken by two Pittsburgh private detectives who came to New Orleans following Katrina to help out with security. It includes Nagin's first public comments about the case, in which a reporter asks Nagin if it concerns him that it took the N.O.P.D. over three years to investigate the death of Henry Glover after his remains were first discovered. Nagin was unsympathetic, saying "Well, we had a little event called Hurricane Katrina, so it took us a little time to get through all the issues. We've had many claims, but this one seems like it has a little more legs and, therefore, the FBI is involved." - The Pittsburgh Channel

Remains of Henry Glover were found in this car on the levee near the New Orleans 4th District Police Station, Times-Picayune

Yes, the F.B.I. is definitely involved. In fact, the case is the subject of a federal probe into the N.O.P.D., which has included questioning witnesses and officers involved and seizing files from the N.O.P.D.'s homicide division. Multiple New Orleans police officers are being questioned in connection to the case.

On September 2, 2005, Henry Glover was shot in Algiers by an unknown assailant (possibly even an N.O.P.D. officer, as questioned by the Times- Picayune). William Tanner was driving nearby in his 2002 white Chevy Malibu, when he came across a bleeding Glover, along with Glover's friend Bernard Calloway and Glover's brother Edward King, who explained to Tanner what happened and begged for help. Tanner, a complete stranger, agreed and decided that Glover was too wounded to make it to the nearest hospital. Instead, he drove Glover and the other men to Paul B. Habans Elementary School. The N.O.P.D. had set up a temporary base for their SWAT team at the school, and Tanner thought they would be able to provide Glover with a faster route to medical help. But this is where their devastating situation became even worse. (story first reported by The Nation)

"You wear a badge that says protect and serve. Who were you serving at this time?"- William Tanner, WDSU

(Photo: Nola.com)

The N.O.P.D. officers were not protecting or serving these citizens of New Orleans. They assumed Glover had been shot because he had been looting, and treated the men like criminals. The men pleaded with the officers to help Glover, who remained wounded in the backseat of Tanner's car, but instead the three other men were handcuffed by the officers. The men say five white officers were present, and they ignored the bleeding Glover and spent the next twenty minutes beating and berating the three men. "Tanner and King say that they, along with Calloway, were seated on a bench and cuffed while a swarm of officers punched, slapped and berated them" (The Nation). According to Tanner's account, he was even beat in the face with an assault rifle.

Once the officers were done beating the men, they let them go but kept Tanner's car, saying it was now under police custody. The last time Tanner saw his car intact, with the body of Henry Glover still in the backseat, was as one of the officers with two emergency flares in his pocket, drove away from the station. The car, or the burned remains of what once was the car, was found six days later less than one mile from the elementary school where the incident took place, complete with charred human remains and a partial burnt skull in the back seat. When the remains were turned over to the coroner, no skull accompanied the bone fragments, and it is still missing today. This video and all other evidence are now in custody of the F.B.I. The evidence is expected to be presented to a grand jury soon.

Accountability for these officers is extremely imperative. This crime has witness accounts, physical evidence, and motive. The evidence illustrates that the officers involved burned the car in an attempt to destroy the evidence, the body. If these Pittsburgh detectives had not stumbled upon the body with their video camera, it is unlikely that this case would have ever gained enough momentum to be investigated by the F.B.I. Even though it is four years later and this makes the case more difficult to prove, it should be considered before its statute of limitations comes about, and while witness testimonies can still be considered credible. If these officers are indicted on murder charges for this case, it could help the Danziger Bridge case be brought to justice as well.