NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – New Orleans — a city where tourism plays a major role — is now waiting to see whether President Donald Trump will send the National Guard to the city, even as violent crime rates continue to decline.
“So, we’re going to maybe Louisiana and you have New Orleans which has a crime problem. we’ll straighten that out in about two weeks, it’ll take us two weeks, easier than D.C,” Trump said this week.
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, who oversees the state’s tourism initiatives, was asked by FOX 8 where he stands on the president’s comments about possibly sending in the Guard.
“Well, you know, for Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, the National Guard made a big difference and I’d like to see if we’re going to do that, send ours back from Washington because our local National Guard interacted so great with all the visitors for Super Bowl,” Nungesser said.
Members of the National Guard were deployed to New Orleans after the New Year’s Day terror attack on Bourbon Street. Louisiana State Police are already present in the city.
“If the National Guard is needed and the governor feels so, I’ll support that, but you know, I think the governor can make that decision,” said Nungesser.
City Councilmember Eugene Green also responded to Trump’s remarks.
“I want to focus on the fact that the members of our New Orleans Police Department who are under consent decree right now even just got recognized today for making progress as the department,” Green said. “I’m confident that the members of the New Orleans Police Department working with our state officials can do so without federalizing our officers or our law enforcement.”
Green also expressed skepticism about Trump’s timeline.
“It certainly can’t be done in two weeks, so at the end of the day, I’m open to all ideas, but I would like to see more resources made available to us to support the members of New Orleans Police Department and the hard work that they’re doing,” he said.
As for the state’s message to tourists, Nungesser said he doesn’t believe it would need to change if the Guard is deployed to New Orleans.
“No, I think with what we’ve seen, because we had such a great Super Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Mardi Gras with very little incident, it’s given us the opportunity to portray that New Orleans can handle anything,” he said.
However, Nungesser said he wants to work with the new mayor, who will take office in January, to enhance security in the French Quarter.
“I think we need a consolidated effort in the Quarter,” Nungesser said.
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