7 IN New Orleans facing charges in brutality case

Six white detectives and a former officer were ordered to appear before a US magistrate to face formal charges for brutality while pursuing leads in the murder of a fellow officer. A federal grand jury indictment charged that the officers beat, locked up, and tied up three blacks and a white, threatening them with guns and placing suffocating plastic bags over their heads, during interrogations lasting up to 16 hours. The investigation ended in the killing of four backs, two considered murder suspects.

The slayings in November created racial tensions leading to the firing of the police chief, demonstrations, and a 56-hour takeover of the mayor's office by protesters.