New Orleans Brings 350 Guard Troops and 800 Cops for New Years Because Last Year Was That Bad
NEW ORLEANS — National Guard rolled into the French Quarter Tuesday morning. 350 of them. Plus over 800 law enforcement from local state and federal agencies. Bourbon Street closed to cars. Bag checks everywhere. The whole nine yards.
One year ago a man drove around a police blockade and killed 14 people celebrating New Years. The city is not taking chances this time around.
President Trump authorized the deployment which will continue through Carnival season into Mardi Gras. Having Guard troops in New Orleans for big events isnt unusual exactly. They were here for the Super Bowl. For Mardi Gras earlier this year. But the timing means something different now.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar. Thats the name of the man who did it. Army veteran. US citizen. Had proclaimed support for ISIS on social media. Drove around police barriers in the early morning hours of January 1st 2025 and just… plowed through a crowd of people on Bourbon Street. Shot and killed by police after he crashed.
They found bombs in coolers around the French Quarter afterward. None of them went off thank god but they were there.
Among the dead was Nikyra Dedeaux. Eighteen years old. About to start college. Was on Bourbon Street with friends celebrating. Her mother Melissa told the AP she’ll be grieving while everyone else rings in 2026. Said she saw her daughters final moments in a video that circulated on social media.
“I saw no safety,” Dedeaux said. “I saw that my daughter could still be here.”
Hard to argue with that. The barricade system failed. Thats just a fact. A man drove around it and killed 14 people and the city has spent the past year trying to figure out how to make sure it never happens again.
The new security zone includes bollards, strategically parked police vehicles, and 32 large steel barriers that officers push into place every night. They announced Crescent Park wont stay open late for fireworks watching this year. “Were not going to take any chances opening up an entire other venue,” said Collin Arnold the citys homeland security chief.
Visitors to Bourbon Street these past few weeks have been walking under hand-crafted memorial flags called Second Line in the Sky. Privately funded. Staying up until January 18th. Some tourists have had to ask what theyre for.
“We seem to as a society forget,” said Buck Harley who manages a cigar shop on Bourbon. “I have to tell the tourists what the flags are up there for, because its forgotten already.”
Governor Landry designated the first four days of 2026 as a mourning period across Louisiana. Theres a Mass on Sunday at Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church.
The Sugar Bowl brings tens of thousands more people this week. Ole Miss versus Georgia. Federal resources are stretched but the city says its ready.
Police spokesperson Reese Harper was clear the Guard deployment is for visibility and citizen safety. Not immigration enforcement. Just another tool in the toolbox she called it.
Bourbon Street will be crowded tonight. People will drink hurricanes and listen to jazz and count down to midnight like they do every year. The difference is there will be a whole lot more uniforms around making sure nothing goes wrong.
Whether thats enough to make the families feel safe again. I dont know. Probably not. But its what the city can do.
