National Guard to patrol New Orleans for New Year’s a year after deadly attack
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — A National Guard deployment to New Orleans authorized by President Donald Trump will begin Tuesday as part of a heavy security presence for New Year’s Eve celebrations, a year after an attack on revelers on Bourbon Street killed 14 people, officials said Monday.
The deployment to New Orleans follows high-profile National Guard missions that the Trump administration launched in other cities this year, including Washington and Memphis, Tennessee. But the sight of National Guard troops is not unusual in New Orleans, where troops also helped earlier this year increase security during the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras.
“This is no different than what we’ve seen in the past,” New Orleans police spokesman Reese Harper said. “They’re not there for immigration purposes. They’re there for that extra layer of visibility. It’s for visibility and just to keep our citizens safe. It’s just another tool in the toolbox and another layer of security.”
The Guard should be confined to the French Quarter popular with tourists and will not help enforce immigration laws, Harper said. The guards will operate similarly to earlier this year when they patrolled the area around Bourbon Street following the Jan. 1 car-ramming attack.
The Guard’s 350 members will stay through Carnival season, when residents and tourists descend on the Big Easy to participate in costumed celebrations and massive parades before ending with Mardi Gras in mid-February.
Louisiana National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Noel Collins said in a written statement that the Guard will support local, state and federal law enforcement “to build capacity, stabilize the environment, help reduce crime and restore public trust.”
In total, more than 800 local, state and federal law enforcement officers will be deployed to New Orleans to close Bourbon Street to vehicular traffic, patrol the area, conduct bag searches and redirect traffic, city officials said at a news conference Monday.
The increased law enforcement presence comes a year after Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove around a police blockade in the early hours of Jan. 1 and raced down Bourbon Street, lunging at people celebrating the New Year. The attacker, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran who had proclaimed his support for the Islamic State militant group on social media, was fatally shot by police after crashing. After numerous searches, law enforcement located several bombs in coolers placed in the French Quarter. No explosive devices were detonated.
Immediately after the attack, 100 members of the National Guard were sent to the city.
In September, Gov. Jeff Landry asked Trump to send 1,000 troops to Louisiana cities, citing concerns about crime. Democrats responded, particularly leaders in New Orleans who said a deployment was not justified. They argued that the city has actually seen a dramatic decline in violent crime rates in recent years.
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Cline reported from Baton Rouge.
