Louisiana attorney general says Sugar Bowl should be delayed to Friday after attack prompts postponement
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill weighed in on the postponement of the Sugar Bowl game after a deadly attack in New Orleans on Wednesday.
Murrill told NBC News that she believes the game should be postponed to Friday. The game has been pushed back just one day to Thursday afternoon so far.
"Not my decision, but I would like to see it delayed at least another day. If they asked my opinion, I would tell them that," Murrill said. "I think that it was wise to delay it at least a day. This is an active crime scene, and they just finished removing some of the bodies, and they still haven't removed all of them. I still think we need to wait an extra day."
Murrill added that she believes the community is "safe," regardless. The number of victims killed in the Bourbon Street attack has risen to 15, Fox News has learned.
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The game is currently set to be played less than 24 hours later than its initial start time, despite the attack. The Allstate Sugar Bowl organization announced that the game will start at 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) on Thursday. The game was initially set to kick off on 8:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday night, and earlier reports indicated the game would be postponed 24 hours.
The Superdome is located just a mile away from the site of Wednesday morning’s deadly attack. Georgia and Notre Dame arrived in New Orleans on Sunday and were reportedly staying 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 drove into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street at around 3:15 a.m. local time. The suspect, identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, exchanged gunfire with local law enforcement before being pronounced dead at the scene.
The FBI is currently working to determine "the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations," after an ISIS flag was found in the truck. Weapons and a potential IED were located inside the suspect's vehicle, and other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter.
New Orleans FBI's Alethea Duncan noted during a press conference on Wednesday that the FBI does not believe that Din Jabbar was "solely responsible" for the act.
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The decision to postpone the game just one day after the attack prompted mixed responses from fans and pundits on social media.
Conservative commentator John Ziegler also expressed disagreement with the postponement in a post on X.
"This is wrong. Postponing the Sugar Bowl one day will not do anything 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 nearly every way," Ziegler wrote.
"The ‘you can never be too safe’ people seem to pretend that there are no residential costs for postponing an event of the magnitude of the Sugar Bowl. Tens of thousands of people have traveled to New Orleans with no hotel for tomorrow night, or flight reservations for Friday."
Meanwhile, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy disagreed with those who have criticized postponing the game, insinuating that those people are "idiots."
"Ok so it is postponed. And the people saying moving it 24 hours lets the terrorist win are idiots. It’s [one] day. Secure the area. Do what ya gotta do. Delaying a game 24 hours isn’t letting them win," Portnoy wrote on X.
Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley released a statement sending thoughts and prayers to all the victims of the attack, while thanking those who have accommodated the new start time.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families as we work through this," said Jeff Hundley, the chief executive officer of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. "We have full faith and confidence in the governor and the mayor and all the federal, state, and local first-responders that they've applied to this horrific event. Any time we have an event like the Sugar Bowl, public safety is paramount, and all parties involved agree that could only be achieved with a postponement. Now we will move ahead to take care of the details to make the Sugar Bowl the first-class, fun, and safe event that it has been for over 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, the 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 we can provide a safe environment for everyone. We are also appreciative of ESPN's flexibility in moving the game to tomorrow afternoon."
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