Ahead of New Year’s Eve festivities, New Orleans law enforcement set up blockades on Bourbon Street, but the terrorist was able to maneuver around them and drive on the sidewalk to carry out his vehicular attack. As Townhall reported on Thursday, New Orleans was in the middle of replacing security bollards that would have prevented this from happening. They were expected to be finished in time for the Super Bowl. It turns out, however, that the city did have an effective mechanism for preventing attacks like the one Shamsud-Din Jabbar carried out on New Year’s Day. And the reason it wasn’t used is unbelievable.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Bourbon Street was open again and the city had added additional protections, including Archer barriers “that would be preventive if someone had, or if this particular terrorist, went around up on the sidewalk.” These 700-lb steel barriers, which are certified by the Department of Homeland Security, are reusable, portable, and designed to stop a vehicle speeding toward pedestrians. In fact, they have already proven to work during a similar incident last year at the Rose Parade in California.
So why didn’t they go up for NYE? Kirkpatrick admitted to reporters the city had them all along she just didn’t know about them.
New Orleans bought the Archer barriers in 2017 from Meridian Rapid Defense Group, which manufactures them, according to Peter Whitford, the company’s CEO. He confirmed that the barriers that appeared on Bourbon Street on Thursday looked the same as the ones from eight years ago.
“They bought them from us and I don’t know where they were on that day — so I can’t answer that question,” he said of the New Year’s Day attack.
The barriers helped protect central New Orleans during the Mardi Gras parade in 2017, according to a news release Meridian put out that year. “Painted a festive canary yellow, the barriers allowed free pedestrian flow and emergency vehicle access, through the streets while providing a solid perimeter to unwanted vehicles,” the release said. (NBC News)
When pressed whether she was upset she was unaware of the Archers, Kirkpatrick said "this is not a matter of pointing blame anywhere."
"A terrorist is hell-bent on destruction," she added. "This man was going to do his best, and if it hadn’t been on Bourbon, he was going to go somewhere else,” she said. “We have this. We’re going to implement it. End of story.”
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— AmericanPapaBear (@AmericaPapaBear) January 2, 2025
New Orleans Police Superintendent says she had no clue that New Orleans had sidewalk barriers to defend against terror attacks.
We are being led by weak people from the top down.
Where did things go wrong along the way? pic.twitter.com/QOEXQ9Yaiv
