A member of Homeland Security Investigations keep watch over Bourbon Street at Canal Street in the French Quarter Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (Staff photo by Scott Threlkeld, The Times-Picayune)
A member of Homeland Security Investigations keep watch over Bourbon Street at Canal Street in the French Quarter Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (Staff photo by Scott Threlkeld, The Times-Picayune)
The New Orleans City Council is investigating the Jan. 1 attack on Bourbon Street in which a driver plowed through crowds, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens.
A “local and state legislative committee” convened by the council will examine “the incident and its implications” for New Orleans’ preparedness for future attacks, Council President Helena Moreno wrote in a letter to her colleague, JP Morrell, in a memo Friday morning which The Times-Picayune obtained. Morrell chairs the council’s Governmental Affairs Committee.
“This Committee will play a crucial role in assessing our current policies, enhancing security measures and ensuring we are adequately prepared to respond to any future threats,” wrote Moreno, who is running for mayor.
The legislative probe adds to a massive law enforcement investigation underway into the attack, in which the FBI says Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, committed an act of alleged terrorism by swerving a Ford F-150 over a sidewalk and ripping down Bourbon Street on one of the busiest nights of the year.
In an interview, Morell said council members have already begun gathering documents from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration as well as from contractors involved in a plan to erect bollards near Bourbon Street that officials said had not been set to conclude until after the attack occurred.
Morrell said the probe stemmed from a realization that there were “substantial deficiencies” in the city’s preparation for the deadly attack.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
James Finn covers politics for The Times-Picayune | Nola.com. Email him at jfinn@theadvocate.com.
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