More Than $20,000 Raised For 'Times-Picayune' Photographer

By: Joe Strupp More than $20,000 has been raised for a Times-Picayune photographer who was arrested last week after an altercation with New Orleans police in which he asked to be shot because of financial problems. The photographer, John McCusker, was released from the hospital earlier this week.

Friends of The Times-Picayune, which formed last fall to help raise money for the newspaper's employees devastated by Hurricane Katrina, revealed that it had received more than $20,000 through its non-profit organization since Aug. 8, the day John McCusker was arrested. A notice on the group's Web site stated that more than 100 people had donated to McCusker's cause.

"John called today to say he was surprised and enormously grateful to learn about the support pouring in for him," the statement by co-organizer Bridget O'Brian said. "He sounded like the John we all know and love."

Photo Editor Doug Parker told E&P that McCusker had been released from the hospital either Wednesday or Thursday, but he had not spoken to him since Tuesday. "He is in good spirits," said Parker.

The photo chief added that McCusker would be off work for at least the rest of this week, adding that "we will figure something out next week."

McCusker was taken into custody last week after hitting several parked cars and attempting to pin a police officer with his vehicle after cops noticed him driving erratically. During the incident, he reportedly asked police to shoot him, revealing later that he had been distraught because he could not afford to repair his hurricane-damaged home.

"He was immensely grateful, he was stunned [at the generosity]," O'Brian said after speaking with McCusker Thursday. "He said we should be in charge of FEMA. He had no idea this was going on."

O'Brian said the group had not sent the money it raised to McCusker yet, but would be ready to hand it over whenever he asked. "He has a lot to catch up on and we are still collecting," she said.

A Times-Picayune reporter from 1981 to 1988, O'Brian said the fund had so far raised a total of $204,000 since its creation. The money has been going to some 184 Times-Picayune employees since late last year. The group has distributed two rounds of checks to the employees, ranging from $300 to $400 each, with a third round expected by Labor Day.

"We are still getting updated addresses because people have moved so many times, some 8 or 9 times," O'Brian said. "The last checks were sent out in May, people have moved since then."

While donations have been made via mail and through the group's Web site, www.friendsofthetimespicayune.com, several large grants also have come in since the beginning of the year. Those include $50,000 each from the Annenberg Foundation and the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation.