National Guard troops patrol New Orleans on New Year's a year after attack

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Hundreds of National Guard troops are patrolling the streets of the iconic French Quarter successful New Orleans this New Year's Eve, 1 twelvemonth aft a panic onslaught killed 14 radical and injured dozens of others.

A caravan of National Guard Humvees precocious down Bourbon Street Tuesday nighttime to artifact disconnected entrances to the thoroughfare that were not protected by barriers susceptible of blocking vehicles – marking the commencement of the Guard's two-month deployment successful New Orleans.

Their accomplishment was met with mixed reactions from radical connected Bourbon Street.

"There's National Guard everywhere, and they request to get outta here," said 1 section resident, Phillip, who declined to springiness his past name. "This is simply a metropolis wherever you conscionable unrecorded life, unrecorded beingness to the fullest. However, you privation National Guard looking implicit my shoulder? Don't similar it."

City leaders accidental the National Guard's assistance is simply a partnership, not an invasion.

"People request people, and they've answered the telephone to service successful this magnitude, and we should each beryllium grateful," said Mayor LaToya Cantrell.

One section nonmigratory who works information astatine a barroom connected Bourbon Street said the national enactment makes him consciousness safer.

"It doesn't wounded to person the National Guard retired here," said the resident, Chris Wolfe.

"Somebody did it once, doesn't mean they won't bash it again," helium said, referring to past year's attack, erstwhile an ISIS-inspired U.S. Army seasoned barreled down 3 crowded blocks successful the aboriginal greeting hours of New Year's Day, attempting to deed arsenic galore pedestrians arsenic possible.

Dr. Dwight McKenna, the New Orleans Coroner, described the country arsenic a "nightmare" that inactive haunts him to this day. He responded with his squad of lone 2 different radical to behaviour forensics.

"When I got the call, I thought it was a mistake," McKenna said. "What I saw was a nightmare, bodies strewn everywhere, assemblage parts here, assemblage parts there, humor everywhere. Young radical evidently had been killed, adjacent the perpetrator was down connected the ground, and it was, it was a country I'll ne'er hide … This 1 inactive wakes maine up astatine nighttime sometimes."

Many are inactive seeking justice. Eighty radical who were affected by the onslaught – including loved ones of radical killed, onslaught survivors who were injured, and radical who witnessed the onslaught and present unrecorded with anxiousness and trauma – claim successful a suit against the metropolis that it was a preventable tragedy.

In the lawsuit, filed successful October, they allege that immoderate of the barriers that were successful spot were not moving decently astatine the time. Other barriers for the sidewalk, called archers, were successful retention and were not being used.

"It cannot beryllium overstated that the metropolis had the tools astatine their disposal connected New Year's Eve to forestall this onslaught from occurring, oregon astatine the precise slightest stopping it earlier it became acold worse, and they failed to bash so," said lawyer Michael Ceresa, a spouse astatine Romanucci and Blandin successful Chicago, Illinois, which is representing the 80 radical named arsenic plaintiffs successful the suit against the city.

"Back successful 2016, the City of New Orleans undertook a broad reappraisal of the information successful the French Quarter, determined to find a mode to forestall an onslaught from occurring connected Bourbon Street oregon successful the French Quarter, and they enactment a batch of resources towards implementing information protocols," Ceresa said. "What we cognize is that that archetypal program was failed from the start."

Asked however the metropolis has responded to the lawsuit, Ceresa said "the metropolis has been comparatively quiet."

"They person not… made immoderate overtures towards doing close by the victims to this point," helium said. "The bottommost enactment is, the metropolis has made nary steps to instrumentality immoderate accountability for what happened to date."

The City of New Orleans declined to remark owed to pending litigation, and pointed CBS News to a press conference astir information plans for New Year's celebrations and Sugar Bowl festivities.

In a quality merchandise issued Monday astir their information program for New Year's, metropolis officials wrote, "the City of New Orleans is grateful for the national resources and coordination dedicated to enactment these events and appreciates the continued partnership. Local, state, and national partners volition proceed to enactment intimately to guarantee due preparedness, coordination, and situational consciousness passim the lawsuit period."

Since the attack, the metropolis has made respective improvements to its web of metallic barriers on Bourbon Street, to artifact conveyance postulation during precocious pedestrian postulation hours. But immoderate radical consciousness it's acold from adequate.

"I inactive deliberation there's a batch of questions that request to beryllium answered that haven't been answered yet," said Christian Pendleton, who manages a edifice successful the French Quarter and serves connected the board of the French Quarter Management District.

So far, lone 1 gross that tin withstand speeds supra 40 miles per hr has been installed – located astatine the intersection of Canal Street and Bourbon Street, wherever the attacker archetypal began his rampage.

Pendleton wants stronger gates astatine galore much intersections successful the French Quarter.

The metropolis plans to ballot connected a measurement to instal much barriers erstwhile a newly-elected politician takes bureau successful January.

"I deliberation it would beryllium just to accidental astir radical expected this speech to hap months ago," Pendleton said.

Tuesday nighttime earlier New Year's Eve, arsenic authorities and national agents were taking their posts connected each artifact of Bourbon Street, CBS News spotted respective vehicles inactive weaving astir crowds of pedestrians successful the street.

Meanwhile, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Monday she has completed her probe into the city's information plan, but said she is not releasing her findings yet owed to their delicate nature. The probe began aft the attack.

Other locals request a imperishable solution beyond national enactment and barriers. This week, the metropolis announced that Bourbon Street volition beryllium a pedestrian-only portion from sunset connected Dec. 31 to sunrise connected Jan. 1. Some would similar to spot it permanently go a pedestrian-only zone, during the daytime, too.

It's a contentious topic, since businesses trust connected conveyance entree to person regular shipments of goods.

Brooke Gauthreaux, of adjacent Gretna, Louisiana, believes that turning parts of the French Quarter into a imperishable pedestrian portion is an important determination that could assistance support people. Her brother, 21-year-old Hubert Gauthreaux, was 1 of the 14 radical killed successful the New Year's Day attack.

"He was truthful thoughtful" and a "loving quality being," Brooke Gauthreaux said. "It's truthful cliche to say, but helium was conscionable the kindest, astir beauteous idiosyncratic ever. One of my champion friends, truly."

She remembers the nighttime her member near to spell retired for New Year's Eve celebrations with friends.

"The 2nd to past happening I told him, different than 'I emotion you' … I wanted him to enactment location truthful bad," she recalled. "I truly conscionable wanted to bent retired with him, and I was trying to guilt him into staying location and I said, 'You're gonna beryllium bittersweet erstwhile you can't bent retired with maine and ma erstwhile we're dead,' and past helium walked retired the doorway and ne'er came home."

She said she doesn't deliberation the metropolis has done capable to amended information since the attack. She hopes different cities volition larn from what happened successful New Orleans, and trade a information program and execute it.

"I would emotion to spot a re-working of the metropolis plan," she said. "Because, it would interruption my bosom to deliberation that it could hap again."