Part IV Summary and Analysis

Part IV

Tuesday, September 6

The men who broke into Zeitoun's house were wearing mismatched military garb—nothing official looking. They were carrying M-16s and handguns. There were five white men and one African American woman. Zeitoun told the intruders that he was the landlord of the house. They asked for his ID but didn't look at it. They ordered him to get in their boat. Ronnie and Nasser were already in the boat, an enormous fan boat—a military craft. Todd arrived in his boat and the men forced him into the boat, too.

Zeitoun did not panic. He figured their actions were connected with the mandatory evacuation orders issued by the mayor. He needed a lawyer and wanted to call Kathy but Yuko's phone number was inside and he hadn't memorized it. The men would...