Film to be shown in Lafayette on July 16.
A new documentary prominently featuring a book by former Louisiana Sportsman editor Todd Masson and Gordon Hutchinson will show in theaters across the country in the next couple of months. “The Great New Orleans Gun Grab” exposed the attacks on gun owners and resulting confiscation of privately-owned firearms by civil authorities in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The movie — “Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire” — started as a documentary for national public television by two-time Emmy-award-winning director Kris Koenig.
“I may be the only producer in public television with a concealed handgun permit,” Koenig said.
Koenig interviewed Hutchinson in December 2012 to be included in the documentary.
Koenig then accompanied Hutchinson to New Orleans, where he conducted extensive interviews with subjects in the book who had been physically attacked, had their firearms confiscated at gunpoint, and had been terrorized and threatened for remaining behind in the aftermath of Katrina to protect their property.
Traveling across the country, Koenig and his team interviewed prominent people on both sides of the gun debate. Never-before-told accountings of incidents where guns saved lives play major roles in the movie.
Of particularly interest to fans of “The Great New Orleans Gun Grab” is an interview with Patty Konie, the elderly New Orleans resident who had the door of her Magazine Street home kicked in, was physically assaulted, had her shoulder broken, and was forcibly removed from her home and evacuated by three members of the California Highway Patrol.
Konie describes her ordeal, showing the scene in great detail.
Originally intended for National Public Television, the documentary turned out so well that it was decided it deserved a much wider audience — and was given a limited national release on June 20.
“Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire” will be shown July 16 at the Grand Cinema 16 in Lafayette if enough presale tickets are sold. Click here to reserve your spot.
Plans also include showing the movie in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Click here for information on how you can host a premier event of this important movie and to see a preview trailer of the movie.