Louisiana’s attorney general says the Sugar Bowl should be postponed until Friday after the attack necessitated the postponement
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill spoke up postponement Sugar Bowl game after the deadly attack in New Orleans on Wednesday.
Murrill told NBC News that she believes the game should be postponed until Friday. The game was push back so far only one day until thursday afternoon.
“It’s not my decision, but I’d like it to be delayed at least another day. If they asked me for my opinion, I’d tell them that,” Murrill said. “I think it was smart to delay it for at least a day. This is an active crime scene and they just finished removing some bodies and still haven’t taken them all out. I still think it should wait an extra day.”
Murrill added that she believes the community is “safe,” regardless. The death toll in the Bourbon Street attack has risen to 15, Fox News has learned.
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A general exterior general aerial view of the Caesars Superdome, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman)
The game is currently set to be played less than 24 hours later than the original kick-off time, despite the attack. Allstate Sugar bowl the organization announced that the game will begin at 3 pm local time (4 pm ET) on Thursday. The game was originally scheduled to start at 8:45 PM ET on Wednesday night, and earlier reports indicated that the game would be delayed by 24 hours.
The Superdome is just a mile from the site of Wednesday morning’s deadly attack. Georgia and Notre Dame arrived in New Orleans on Sunday and reportedly stayed in hotels just blocks away from the crime scene. According to reports, both schools implemented a “shelter in place” order for their teams.
According to a statement from the FBI, a man driving a Ford pickup truck crashed into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. local time. The suspect, identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, exchanged fire with local police before being pronounced dead at the scene.
The FBI is currently working to determine the subject’s “potential association and affiliation with terrorist organizations,” after an ISIS flag was found in the truck. Weapons and a potential IED were located in the suspect’s vehicle, and other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter.
Alethea Duncan of the FBI in New Orleans noted during a news conference Wednesday that the FBI does not believe Din Jabbar is “solely responsible” for the act.
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The decision to postpone the game just one day after the attack caused different reactions from fans and experts on social networks.
Conservative commentator John Ziegler also expressed disagreement with the delay in a post on X.
“This is wrong. Postponing the Sugar Bowl one day will do nothing to bring back those who lost their lives, or make the game any safer. In fact, [it] gives the terrorists exactly what they wanted. We have become SO soft as a society in almost every way,” Ziegler wrote.
“People who say ‘you can never be too safe’ seem to be pretending there are no housing costs to postpone an event the size of the Sugar Bowl. Tens of thousands of people traveled to New Orleans without a hotel for tomorrow night, or flight reservations for Friday.”
Meanwhile, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy disagreed with those who criticized the game’s postponement, insinuating that those people were “idiots.”
“Okay, so it’s delayed. And the people who say that moving forward by 24 hours allows the terrorists to win are idiots. It’s [one] day. Secure the area. Do what you have to. Postponing the game for 24 hours doesn’t allow them to win,” Portnoy wrote on X.
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Police and emergency vehicles respond to a mass casualty incident reported on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on January 1, 2025. (WVUE)
Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley released a statement sending thoughts and prayers to all victims of the attack, while thanking those who accepted the new start time.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families as we work through this,” said Jeff Hundley, chief executive officer of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. “We have full faith and trust in the governor and the mayor and all of the federal, state and local emergency services that have been called in for this horrific event. Whenever we have an event like the Sugar Bowl, public safety is paramount, and all parties involved agree that it can be can only be achieved with a delay. We will now take care of the details to make the Sugar Bowl the first class, fun and safe event it has been for more than 90 years.”
“On behalf of the College Football Playoff, we are devastated by this morning’s attack and our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those affected by this tragedy,” said Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff. “We are grateful to the leadership of the Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, the state of Louisiana and federal authorities as we work together to ensure a safe environment for everyone. We also appreciate ESPN’s flexibility in moving the game to tomorrow afternoon.”
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