Thursday, May 16, 2013
Akein Scott's brother and 4 others in custody for Mother's Day shootings
Posted by Alex Woodward on Thu, May 16, 2013 at 2:30 PM
- ALEX WOODWARD
- Mayor Mitch Landrieu announces the arrest of 6 people involved with the Mother's Day shooting.
Returning to the intersection of Frenchmen and North Villere streets, city officials and law enforcement announced the capture of second line shooting suspect Akein Scott as well as his brother, 24-year-old Shawn Scott, and four others.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Ronal Serpas confirmed Shawn Scott as the second shooting suspect. In 2007, Scott pleaded guilty in possession of cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to five years probation. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin and was to serve an eight year sentence. He was out on parole until December 2015. Like his brother Akein, Scott was charged this morning with 20 counts of second degree attempted murder. (A person was trampled by the crowd following the shooting and has been identified among the victims, hence the 20 counts of attempted second degree murder.)
"Shawn has a lengthy record and has demonstrated his contempt for New Orleans," Serpas said.
Serpas also announced Justin Alexander, 19, Brandy George, 28, Bionca Hickerson, 22, and Nekia Youngblood, 32, allegedly helped hide Akein Scott. They all have been charged with accessory after the fact to attempted second degree murder and obstruction of justice for harboring a fugitive.
Blood drive Wednesday for victims of Mother's Day shooting
Posted by Kevin Allman on Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:00 PM
- REYTAN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The blood drive will be held Wed., May 22 from 3 to 9 p.m. at 617 Frenchmen St. (the site of the Frenchmen Art Market). The Original Big 7 Social Aid & Pleasure Club, which held the second line near where the shootings took place, will be in attendance, and Erica Dudas of the Musicians' Clinic said there will be live music at the event.
The Spotted Cat, d.b.a. and Snug Harbor are assisting with the event, OffBeat is sponsoring and clubs along Frenchmen Street will be open to give donors a place to wait out of the sun.
Donors are particularly needed from 6-9 p.m., according to Dudas. If you want to donate blood, please email office@nomaf.org with the following information: 1) full name 2) full address 3) phone number and 4) preferred donation time.
"Our goal is 50 pints of blood," Dudas told Gambit this morning, "but now we're hoping for more."
Akein Scott in custody
Posted by Alex Woodward on Thu, May 16, 2013 at 10:15 AM
- ORLEANS PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE
- Akein Scott
Akein Scott, the 19-year-old suspect in the Mother's Day second line shootings, was arrested from a home in the Little Woods neighborhood in eastern New Orleans late last night. He appeared in Orleans Parish Magistrate Court this morning with bail set at $500,000 for each charge — Scott was booked with 20 counts of attempted second degree murder. His bail is set at $10 million.
Scott was scheduled to appear in court today on unrelated charges from an arrest in March, when he was allegedly found with a stolen gun and heroin. He was charged with possession of stolen firearms, possession of heroin and resisting an officer. He was released on bail last month, which Mayor Mitch Landrieu said "was a mistake." Landrieu has requested judges to set bail no lower than $30,000 on gun charges. "Unfortunately, some judges in this building have ignored that request," Landrieu said.
At around 3 a.m. Thursday, Scott was booked with 20 counts of attempted second degree murder.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Ronal Serpas said he believes Scott has ties to gang activity, and WWL-TV reports NOPD is searching for a possible second gunman.
A press conference with Landrieu, Serpas and other city officials is set for noon at the corner of N. Villere and Frenchmen streets, where the shooting occurred.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Original Big 7 will "re-do" Mother's Day second line
Posted by Alex Woodward on Wed, May 15, 2013 at 6:02 PM
Original Big 7 Social Aid & Pleasure Club organizers announced it will "re-do" its second line parade, interrupted by the shooting at its Mother's Day procession, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 1. It will follow the same route.
At Monday night's community rally on Frenchmen Street, Big 7 manager Dismas Johnson said the group had been in talks with Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the New Orleans Police Department to find an appropriate day to schedule the parade. "It's something that's got to go on," Johnson said.
The group announced it also is accepting donations at this fundraising website or by mail to 1823 Elysian Fields Ave., New Orleans, LA 70117.
The Original Big 7 Social Aid and Pleasure Club community is deeply saddened by the foolish violence that took place during our annual Mother’s Day’s Parade. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of the victims of this tragedy and their families. We are with them in the struggle for health, wellness, and justice.We are proud to announce that we will be doing a Re-Do Mother’s Day Parade On Saturday June 1, 2013 at 1pm on the same exact route. ... We are starting a donation fund for the Original Big 7 Social Aid and Pleasure Club to Re-Parade; the donations are to pay for the brass bands and for the victims affected by the violence that accorded on Mother’s Day.
Big Tymers will release a new album... without Mannie Fresh
Posted by Alex Woodward on Wed, May 15, 2013 at 5:45 PM
Lil Wayne announced a new Big Tymers project earlier this month — founding member and longtime Cash Money producer Mannie Fresh, however, won't be a part of it. Co-founder Birdman told MTV, "Not at all."
Big Tymers — the multi-platinum supergroup duo responsible for "Get Your Roll On," "#1 Stunna" and "Still Fly" — dissolved in 2005, following the 2003 album Big Money Heavyweight. In a Skype interview with MTV's Sway Calloway, Fresh said "the people have spoken."
"I think Drake is a great artist, I think Wayne is a great artist, but they not the Big Tymers. It's kind of like doing a Jackson 5 album with Boyz II Men," he said. "Two different eras, great artists, but Boyz II Men is not the Jackson 5. ... You can call it whatever you want to call it but you can't call it a Big Tymers album."
Calloway asked Fresh "what went wrong" with the group and the label, from which Fresh split in 2005.
"At the time, we was young," he said. "All I'm striving for is to get what I deserve. ... I'm too wise to be making shots at anybody. But the thing is, I'm a businessman. I don't have no problems with Cash Money, no problems with the Williams brothers, I just want what I deserve, plain and simple."
Encore screenings of Timecode:nola's Where Y'at (hello) presented at Chalmette Movies
Posted by Ken Korman on Wed, May 15, 2013 at 4:06 PM
Where Y'at (hello), a feature-length film made for last fall's FFOne film festival and consisting of 15 segments by local filmmakers, will get screenings tonight, May 15, and tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Chalmette Movies. Timecode:nola assigned individual New Orleans street corners to local filmmakers and asked them to create 5-minute slice-of-life films reflecting the character of each neighborhood. The best of these short films were complied into Where Y'at (hello). Filmmakers will be on hand for post-screening Q&As.
TBC Brass Band to perform first show since Mother's Day parade shooting tonight
Posted by Alejandro de los Rios on Wed, May 15, 2013 at 2:05 PM
In what is a testament to the resiliency of the New Orleans cultural community, the TBC Brass Band will be playing their first show since the Mother's Day second line shooting tonight at their regular Wednesday location, Celebration Hall at 1701 St. Bernard Ave.
Doors open at 9 p.m. with WWOZ's DJ Action Jackson. TBC will play from approximately 10 p.m. until 1 a.m., with a set break around midnight. There is a $5 cover and there will be a coming out party for the Divine Ladies Social Aid & Pleasure Club.
TBC, which can be seen in the surveillance footage of the May 12 shooting, will also be playing this Sunday's second line with the Divine Ladies. In a phone interview, trumpet player Eric Gordon described a chilling scene from last Sunday.
"We weren't more than eight to ten feet away when we saw him shooting," Gordon said. "He was running with the gun and it looked like he was shooting with his eyes closed."
Gordon said he and his band mates - like the entire cultural community - were angry and upset that someone would open fire on a second line. He also said that the shooting did remind him that violence can strike anywhere but, while it makes him a little nervous, the band will continue to play.
"We're playing in next weeks' parade, which makes it difficult," he said. "We have parades all this month and the next. We're gonna move forward."
(Video of TBC playing at Celebrations Hall filmed by Deborah "Big Red" Cotton, one of the Mother's Day shooting victims).
Blood drive for Mother's Day shooting victims
Posted by Alejandro de los Rios on Wed, May 15, 2013 at 12:40 PM
The New Orleans Musician's clinic is seeking donors to sign up to give blood Wednesday May 22 to benefit victims of the Mother's Day second line shooting, according to WWOZ.org. The full statement released by the New Orleans Musician's Clinic, as well as instructions on how to sign up to give blood, are below:
The New Orleans Musicians Clinic will be hosting a replacement blood drive on Wednesday, May 22 from 3-9 pm for the victims of Sunday's shootings. In order to confirm the bloodmobile, they need at least 25 signups by this Friday.
Sign up by emailing the following information to Erica Dudas of NOMC at office@nomaf.org by Friday at 10a:
1) full name 2) full address 3) phone number and 4) time preferred (somewhere between 3-9 pm May 22)
The earlier we can hit the 25 signups the better! NOMC hopes to collect a minimum of 50 pints of blood.
Because this is a replacement drive for those victims of the shooting on Sunday, donors are welcome to fill out the blood replacement claim form prior to the event and bring it with them, or there will be forms available there as well.
Here is some general information about giving blood.
Questions? Contact Erica at office@nomaf.org with questions.
Latin fusion restaurant headed to prominent Metairie Road site
Posted by Ian McNulty on Wed, May 15, 2013 at 8:59 AM
- Courtesy of Taste Buds Management
- A rendering of the new restaurant now under construction.
A new cross-cultural Latin restaurant concept from the founders of the Zea Rotisserie & Grill and Semolina restaurant chains is taking shape at a prominent address along Metairie Road just off Interstate 10. Construction is now underway for Cocina Mizado, which will occupy the same site that was for many years a Semolina location. The new restaurant is expected to open in late September.
“We’ll be doing Latin American, but definitely not Tex-Mex,” says Greg Reggio, one of the partners in Cocina Mizado. “Don’t expect combo platters and chips and salsa that hit the table as soon as you walk in. We have enough of those around town.”
Instead, Reggio says, the menu will draw broadly from Mexican, Caribbean and Central American traditions and give them modern twists, while working in contemporary Peruvian flavors, which already pack quite a lot of their own fusion factors between Asian, Andean and Spanish influences.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Mother's Day shootings: What constitutes an act of terror?
Posted by Kevin Allman on Tue, May 14, 2013 at 6:00 PM
On Sunday, hours after the Mother’s Day shooting in the Seventh Ward, FBI New Orleans spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig told the Associated Press the gunfire that injured 19 people was, as far as federal investigators knew, not an act of terrorism. “It’s strictly an act of street violence,” Romig said.
Today, on the WWL Eyewitness Morning News, Mayor Mitch Landrieu disagreed. Asked by Sally-Ann Roberts if he considered the shooting to be terrorism, Landrieu said, “I think so. I’ve talked about whether people are terrorized by activities. People use that term in a dramatic way, like it has to be somebody from outside threatening us on the inside. But the truth of the matter is, every day in neighborhoods across the city — this city and other cities — you have families that are afraid of going outside.”
So what defines an "act of terror" versus an act that causes a neighborhood or a city to live in terror?
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