In the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Henry Glover, a 31-year-old Black man, survived the storm only to meet a tragic and brutal end. On September 2, 2005, just days after the hurricane ravaged New Orleans, Glover was shot and killed. His charred remains were later discovered inside a burned-out car on a Mississippi River levee.
The events leading to Glover's death began when he and a friend went out in the Algiers neighborhood to find supplies.
It was then that New Orleans Police Department officer David Warren, a rookie at the time, shot Glover. Warren, who was guarding a police substation from a second-story balcony, claimed he fired at two men he suspected of looting. Glover was struck by a single bullet.
In a desperate attempt to save him, Glover's brother and a neighbor, William Tanner, drove the wounded Glover to a makeshift police station at an elementary school, seeking medical help. Instead of aid, they were met with hostility. Police officers reportedly handcuffed and beat the men while Glover lay dying in the back of the car without receiving any medical attention.
What followed was a grim effort to conceal the truth. NOPD officer Gregory McRae took Tanner's car with Glover's body still inside, drove it to a levee, and set it on fire with a flare. For years, the case went unresolved until an FBI investigation uncovered the horrific details of the shooting and the subsequent cover-up.
The investigation led to the indictment of five NOPD officers on federal charges. In December 2010, a jury convicted three of the officers. David Warren was found guilty of manslaughter for the shooting of Glover. Gregory McRae was convicted of burning Glover's body and obstruction of justice. Lieutenant Travis McCabe was found guilty of writing a false police report to cover up the shooting.
In 2011, Warren was sentenced to over 25 years in prison, and McRae received a sentence of more than 17 years. However, an appeals court later overturned the convictions of Warren and McRae, ruling that they should have been tried separately. In a subsequent retrial in 2013, a jury acquitted Warren of all charges. McRae's retrial has not yet taken place. The city of New Orleans has since settled several civil rights lawsuits filed by the Glover family for undisclosed amounts.
