# Sheriff McGee Hurricane Katrina hero or federal lawbreaker?



## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Sheriff McGee vs. FEMA bureaucrats

A Mississippi sheriff who battled FEMA and the National Guard to help his hurricane-struck citizens has become such a folk hero that even a congressman is now demanding all charges be dropped.

After Katrina smashed up Forrest County, Sheriff Billy McGee presided over a wrecked, sweltering landscape with no electricity.

McGee found out semi-trucks filled with precious ice were just sitting at a nearby FEMA "staging area," with drivers awaiting orders from the world's most incompetent federal agency.

So the sheriff sent his deputies to commandeer the ice trucks and distribute the cold stuff to local residents -- including diabetics who would've died had their insulin supply not been kept chilled.

When the lawmen reached the FEMA outpost and directed the drivers to Forrest County's folks in need, a National Guardsman hopped up on the truck's running boards and tried to stop the driver.

That's when Sheriff McGee's boys slapped the cuffs on the good-for-nothing guardsman and threw him in jail for obstructing the law.

It all happened on September 4, five days after Katrina trampled the Gulf Coast. Like much of the region, Forrest County would be without power for weeks. With the transportation system in tatters and grocery stores empty, even healthy people would soon be starving if they couldn't keep their fresh food on ice.

McGee, 53, didn't take the drastic measures until trying every possible official channel. When his men asked the FEMA bureaucrats at nearby Camp Shelby to release a few of the idling trucks full of ice, they were told no.

Worse, they were sent back to the sheriff with a phone number. Just get authorization and you can have the ice, the FEMA men said.

"I told him I had tried for four or five hours to get somebody at that number," McGee told the Hattiesburg American. "He kind of smirked and said, 'To be truthful, sheriff, there's nobody at that number who could release it.'"

The whole state of Mississippi was outraged when the U.S. Department of Justice decided to prosecute McGee and his loyal deputies for doing their duty.

The Mississippi office of the Attorney General didn't want anything to do with it. They kicked the case over to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Somewhere along the way, McGee agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor if his deputies were cleared -- the U.S. "Justice" Department actually wanted to charge the sheriff and his deputies with felonies.

Today, Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told the Attorney General's dogs to back off and go away.

Rep. Thompson says he's "convinced that there's not a jury in the state of Mississippi that would convict the sheriff for doing what he did under the circumstances."

McGee has gotten support from real Americans across the country. Local musicians even put together a tribute song that has been getting constant airplay.

It's called "Hauling Ice: The Ballad of Billy McGee."

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Isn't this an outrage?? What the he!! is wrong with this beaurcratic FEMA crap? He actually DID something good and FEMA is worried about it's appearance.

:eyeroll:

Ryan

.


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Rally Supports Sheriff McGee

February 26, 2006

Many Forrest County residents are continuing to show their support for embattled sheriff Billy McGee.

Today, dozens of people attended a rally for the sheriff at the McLaurin Community Center.

Mcgee faces misdemeanor charges of interfering with and intimidating a federal officer after he seized two F.E.M.A. ice trucks at Camp Shelby and took them to locations where Hurricane Katrina victims needed ice.

A Friday court appearance for McGee was postponed and the residents who attended the rally say they want the charges against the sheriff dropped.

"We're very passionate, the whole community is," said Lee Behrens, a supporter of Sherriff McGee.

"Billy brought us ice and water when the only thing we had was heat...we worked together as a community and he came in and gave us hope," Behrens said.

"I want the charges dropped, the whole community wants the charges dropped," said Rhonda Hobson, another supporter.

"He doesn't deserve this. If F.E.M.A. had stepped in the day of the storm and helped up out, he wouldn't have had to do what he had to do," Hobson said.

So far, more than 200 people have signed petitions supporting McGee.


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Mississippi Sheriff Charged With Helping People After Hurricane Katrina

A Mississippi sheriff is being prosecuted for helping those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee, in the days following the natural disaster, seized two ice trucks from a FEMA staging area at Camp Shelby and had them driven to locations where hurricane victims needed ice, the local NBC affiliate reported.

The sheriff is charged with a misdemeanor of interfering with, intimidating and impeding a federal officer. McGee's orders were against federal protocol, and a National Guardsman was arrested when he tried to stop McGee's deputies from taking the trucks.

McGee acknowledged to the Hattiesburg American that he did act outside federal regulations when he asked two ice truck drivers to follow him to distribution centers in the Brooklyn and Sheeplo communities in Mississippi. McGee said, "I didn't see anything wrong with what I was doing other than it was outside the protocol."

Area residents agreed with Sheriff McGee and held a rally on his behalf where a petition was circulated. Forrest County School District Superintendent Kay Clay received applause when he told the crowd, "I believe he deserves a medal for helping the people of South Mississippi."

Rally participants want U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton, who is in charge of the case, to drop all the charges. Some have even called for a letter-writing campaign to put pressure on the federal prosecutor.

Rhonda Hobson, a McGee supporter, stated that the sheriff "doesn't deserve this. If FEMA had stepped in the day of the storm and helped out, he wouldn't have had to do what he had to do."

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


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## zogman (Mar 20, 2002)

Can you find the song? I'd like to hear it...........


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## Gun Owner (Sep 9, 2005)

Me too!

I tell ya what, I'd buy that guy a beer if I could. It takes a real hard working, honest man to stand up to authority to do whats right. I'm glad he did it. Im sure the people whos lives he saved are glad as well.

FEMA was a disaster, and they have no buisness critisizing this guy for doing what they couldnt.


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

I'm looking...

They did play it on FoxNews this morning... that's where I first heard of the story and then the song... it's pretty good.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps ... 80324/1002

'Ballad of Billy McGee' hits airwaves
By Janet Braswell

A parody of Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee's actions in getting ice to outlying areas after Hurricane Katrina is burning up the Pine Belt airwaves.

WBBN, better known as B95, first played "Hauling Ice - The Ballad of Billy McGee" during the 6 a.m. show Tuesday.

"I've had call after call after call," said Sandy Kitchens, the station's public services director. "We are trying to play it as much as we can."

Doug Vinson, a journalism and public relations instructor at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, and Phil Coley, a musician friend, wrote the song after reading of the possible federal prosecution faced by McGee.

"I've always loved real country music," Vinson said. "You just can't beat it for telling a story and telling how you really feel about something."

McGee was to plead guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge of interfering with, intimidating and impeding a federal officer. The charge stems from McGee commandeering two ice trucks from a staging area at Camp Shelby on Sept. 4 for distribution in the Brooklyn and the Sheeplo communities.

A National Guard soldier who tried to stop the trucks was handcuffed and cited for interfering.

The case was transferred to federal court in Baton Rouge after Dunn Lampton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, recused himself last week.

Becoming the subject of a song surprised McGee.

"I never envisioned that," he said.

Mary Morgan of the Eatonville community heard part of "Hauling Ice" while waiting for Paul Harvey's newscast Tuesday.

"It is precious, I love it," she said. "I'm for our sheriff 100 percent plus. I just think it's the most wonderful, cute song."

Vinson heard of McGee's case from his department chairman, David Goff, former director of the School of Mass Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi. Goff maintains a home in the Hattiesburg area and knew of McGee's situation.

"Knowing (Vinson's) hobby of writing country-type songs, I told him about it," Goff said. "I think it's great timing. I'm surprised that no one else has jumped in and done it. It's such a natural."

Vinson was intrigued by the case.

"I've been a teacher and worked for the state for 30 years and understand following rules, but something just didn't seem right," he said. "There's got to be some place in America for common sense."

He is trying to find a way to make copies of the song available on CD or through Internet downloads but at the same time protect his copyright, he said.

"I'm tickled for Doug, but I'm pleased it's also giving the community something to rally around in support of Sheriff McGee," Goff said.

Funds to help with legal expenses have been set up at BancorpSouth and Trustmark banks. Donations can be made at any branch.

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Ryan


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

The Ballad of Billy McGee

03/04/2006

The Hattiesburg, Miss., American reports that federal court proceedings have been delayed in the case of Forrest County, Miss., Sheriff Billy McGee, accused of commandeering two trucks full of ice last Sept. 4 and diverting them to sweltering folks in his county.

That was six days after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. The stunned residents of rural Brooklyn and Petal, Miss., had been without power, water and ice for nearly a week. Sheriff McGee, frustrated with Federal Emergency Management Agency incompetence, told his deputies to escort the ice trucks to where they were needed. When a National Guard captain tried to stop them, the sheriff cited him for interfering with a police officer.

Well, you can't have the law taking the law into the law's own hands, so the feds slapped Sheriff McGee with misdemeanor charges of impeding and intimidating a federal officer. As the American's editorial page noted acidly, "The prosecution of McGee will no doubt help to restore South Mississippi's flagging confidence in the federal government."

The sheriff cut a deal with the prosecutor and was to have entered a guilty plea last week, but someone at higher levels apparently recognized a folk hero in the making, and the judge postponed matters indefinitely.

We like Sheriff McGee's chances for re-election, and hereby submit a campaign song:

Katrina left a lot of folks

With nothin' left to lose.

Nothin' ain't worth nothin'

But it's free.

Feelin' good was easy, Lord, when

Billy stole the ice.

Feelin' good was good enough for me,

Good enough for me and Billy McGee.


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## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

Ok so now we can see first hand how effective Goverment really is. How well our hard earned dollars are being used to hire the nations biggest Idiots to run things.We also see how law enforcement is really not for the good of the people but rather just a means of control and job creation!!


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