Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Mississippi Sheriff Shows Initiative...

during Hurricane Katrina, and brain-dead feds prosecute him:
About 150 people gathered in support of Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee on Sunday, outraged at federal charges against him stemming from a dispute over ice trucks in the days following Hurricane Katrina.

..."We had diabetic people who hadn't been able to put their insulin on ice for three days," said Lee Behrens, 53, chief of the McLaurin Volunteer Fire Department. "If it was up to FEMA, those trucks would still be at Camp Shelby."

McGee, 53, was scheduled to plead guilty Friday to a misdemeanor charge of interfering with, intimidating and impeding a federal officer, but the hearing was delayed indefinitely late Thursday. A new court date has not been scheduled.

McGee acknowledged to the Hattiesburg American on Thursday that he acted outside federal guidelines when he asked two ice truck drivers to follow him to distribution centers in the Brooklyn and Sheeplo communities.

... About 1,000 people relied on the McLaurin VFD for ice and water during those sweltering days, said volunteer firefighter Rhonda Hobson.

"I can hardly even describe the looks on people's faces when we had to tell them we couldn't give them anything," said Hobson, 37. "(McGee) did it for us, for the reasons we voted him in there - to protect us and take care of us."

...Charlie Sims, 47, of McLaurin asked sheriff's deputies to relay a request from the people of South Forrest County. "Would you please ask him to write a handbook for FEMA on how to make a decision?"

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