New Orleans Paper: Rogue Photographer Betrayed Us

Alex Brandon never told them about cop killings he saw
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2011 11:09 AM CDT
New Orleans Paper: Rogue Photographer Betrayed Us
Robert Barrios, center, shakes hands with fellow New Orleans policemen as he and six other officers turn themselves in for the Danziger Bridge shooting, in this Jan. 2007 photo taken by Alex Brandon.   (AP Photo)

Journalists at the New Orleans Times-Picayune are still reeling from the revelation that one of their own, photographer Alex Brandon, never told them about the police misconduct he witnessed following Hurricane Katrina, the LA Times reports. Brandon embedded with police following the hurricane, and witnessed the shooting of Henry Glover, and the cover-up that followed. But he didn’t take pictures of any of it, and didn’t tell his colleagues.

The truth only came out when he testified in the case in November. “It was like he was a double agent,” says a former reporter. “People are just heartbroken about it at the paper.” But the paper’s editor says he’s not eager to condemn Brandon. “Do I wish he had made some other choices? Yes,” he said. But given the duress he was under, “we shouldn’t so easily mount our high horse and pronounce judgment.” (More New Orleans stories.)

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