In early November one of my good friends, Josh, invited me to stay the weekend at his house in Chalmette. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the parish seat of St. Bernard parish, it is an area just east of Arabi in Orleans Parish. Josh grew up here pre-Katrina, then moved to Texas, and has since moved back.
It was a Friday night that Josh, myself, his cousin Dewey, and our friend Mike set out from Loyola to Josh's house. Mike and I were in the back seat of the grey 2001 Honda Civic, with Dewey behind the wheel and Josh in the passenger seat. We cruised down into the 9th ward to get gas, and while we were sitting at a shell station Josh spotted some old friends of his. They stopped in front of two gas pumps and got out to go into the gas station store. Josh, being the good samaritan he is, got out to move the car up so the car behind it could get gas. Then, gas in the car, Dewey pulled out and immediately blue lights were everywhere. Two squad cars drove up and parked behind us and New Orleans police officers, guns drawn, ordered us to put our hands on the roof of the car. They took us out of the car and searched it, claiming that Josh dealt drugs to his friends when he moved their car. After getting harassed both physically and verbally by the NOPD for about 20 minutes, they checked our ID's to see that we were simply Loyola students on our way to a friends house. They immediately told us to have a good night, and returned to their cars. Quite the unpleasant experience.
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