Officials in New Orleans, Louisiana, have been responding to questions on whether measures could have been taken to prevent an act of terrorism that killed 14 people and injured 35 on New Year’s Day.
According to a New York Times report, city officials were warned in 2019 that Bourbon Street, a historic street in the French Quarter where the attack took place, was vulnerable to a “vehicular ramming” attack. The officials were told that the bollards designed to block vehicles from entering Bourbon Street did “not appear to work.”
Vehicle-resistant bollards are typically in place during busy nights at the corner of Bourbon and Canal Streets to prevent drivers from driving on Bourbon Street. Louisiana law allows for the open consumption of alcohol on the streets.
The vehicle-resistant bollards, however, have been under construction as the city prepares to host the Super Bowl this February. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said that while the bollards were installed around 10 years ago, they have not been widely used because they were damaged by debris, including Mardi Gras beads.
However, officials in New Orleans have not blamed city planning for the attack.
“This type of event can happen in any city, and that’s the tragedy of it,” Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) said Thursday.
New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick pushed back on a reporter from Britain’s Sky News, which said the city’s plan “allowed an attacker to drive into a crowd.”
“I take exception to that,” she replied. “But if you were experienced with terrorism, you would not be asking that question.”
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Police have also said there was no way to anticipate that the attacker would jump onto the Bourbon Street sidewalk.
“It wasn’t something that we expected to account for,” said Capt. LeJon Roberts, commander of the French Quarter police district, at a news conference after the attack.