After the horrific New Year’s Eve terrorist attack in New Orleans, Louisiana Governor Billy Nungesser expressed his frustration with the city’s leadership and its apparent unpreparedness. He made some good points, including wondering where the bollards were. He took direct target to Mayor LaToya Cantrell:
Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser leveled a series of broadsides at Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration a day later fatal attack on Bourbon Street, lending a sharply political tone to the government’s response to the New Year’s Day tragedy.
In three interviews with various news outlets on Thursday, Nungesser, a Republican who as lieutenant governor is the state’s top tourism official, said he was frustrated by the “excuses” made by the city’s Democratic mayor and her deputies about the obstacles that exist were missing at the entrance to Bourbon Street on Canal Street and questioned Cantrell’s leadership.
“I’ve kept my mouth shut long enough,” Nungesser said. “Their lack of leadership is an embarrassment.”
“I don’t think anyone knew – at least I didn’t… – that those balusters weren’t there. And saying they would be repaired is not a good answer.”
– Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser was upset about the lack of barriers on Bourbon St.@BillyNungesser @EmmaRechenberg pic.twitter.com/RIoHQZ2enS
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) January 2, 2025
Tragedy: Trump criticizes US leadership after terrible NO terror attack: “We are making a mockery of ourselves around the world”!
Final press article on the Bourbon Street attack: FBI points out that terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar was a lone wolf
“I’m a little angry that some things in this French Quarter that we’ve been trying to do for years haven’t been done,” he told 4WWL.
Cantrell’s office responded:
“The city of New Orleans will not be distracted by outside comments and welcomes everyone to join the positive efforts of the combined command partners,” Cantrell’s deputy press secretary Kourtney Williams said in the statement.
Some expressed outrage at what they saw as Nungesser injecting politics into a tragedy.
Ed Chervenak, a pollster and political analyst, called Nungesser’s decision to throw barbs at New Orleans leaders so soon after the attack as a surprising political decision.
“It is far too early to criticize any leadership at this point. “We should mourn the victims, talk about the bravery of the first responders and try to figure out what exactly motivated this person to attack innocent people on Bourbon Street,” Chervenak said. “There will be many opportunities to criticize the mayor and the police. But now politics should be left out.”
But there are reasons why people ask questions:
ADMIN POST.
Listen to the absolute clowns of New Orleans trying to make excuses as to why the terrorist was able to drive down the street directly toward pedestrians, a street that has had bollards on it for over a decade, but they didn’t know how to deal with them should.
The terrorist must first… pic.twitter.com/U8XoDiBeAi
— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) January 1, 2025
The terrorist must have known about it beforehand. Why would he accidentally drive for almost twelve hours?
While I agree that now is not the time to play politics, the question of why the bollards were “fixed” at such a enormous event needs to be answered. President Joe Biden famously downplayed ISIS, saying the biggest threat to the US was “white supremacy“And he and his government seem to have diverted attention from the real core – namely radical Islamic terrorism. We have known for over two decades that events in major cities are cushioned targets. Being negligent in applying basic security measures is a mistake worth lamenting.
One lesson we can learn from this tragic event is that it is time to stop playing DEI games, obsessing over pronouns, and minimizing the threat of terrorism in the name of political correctness. The modern Trump administration will have to take a completely different approach than Biden, who has let in untold millions of people at the southern border and focused little on the dangers of ISIS.
Nungesser is right to ask a crucial question: Where the hell were those bollards, and who made the decision to essentially expose Bourbon Street to such an attack?
