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Louisiana AG calls out decision to play Sugar Bowl Thursday after New Orleans terrorism attack

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•01/01/25•

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© Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

When Notre Dame and Georgia went to sleep on New Year’s Eve, they were planning to play a football game on Wednesday. But an overnight terrorism attack in New Orleans meant they’d have to wait another day to play the Sugar Bowl – but the Louisiana attorney general thinks the game should be pushed back even farther.

During an appearance on NBC Nightly News on Wednesday, Liz Murrill pushed back on the decision to move the Sugar Bowl to Thursday. She pointed out the amount of police around the area following the attack, which killed 15 people after 3 a.m. local time on New Year’s Day.

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While officials didn’t ask her opinion before moving the game back less than 24 hours, Murrill said she would’ve suggested Friday as a potential option.

“Not my decision, but I would like to see it delayed at least another day,” Murrill told Lester Holt. “If they asked my opinion, I would tell them that.

“I think it was a wise decision to delay it at least a day. This is an active crime scene, and they just finished removing some of the bodies. They still haven’t removed all of them. I still think that we probably need to wait an extra day.”

Murrill said her reservations about moving the game back to Thursday isn’t because of a further threat to the community, though. She cited the fact Louisiana governor Jeff Landry would be in attendance, as well.

“I believe that the community is safe,” Murrill said. “There’s a huge law enforcement presence here in New Orleans. I believe that everyone is safe, and the governor plans to attend the football game.”

According to the AP, the incident occurred toward the end of New Year’s celebrations, at 3:15 a.m. local time in New Orleans. A man drove a pickup truck through a crowd of people and later opened fire on law enforcement. The suspect was killed at the scene and officials found an ISIS in the vehicle.

Initially, officials said 10 people were killed in the incident. However, later Wednesday, that number grew to 15.

The incident lead to shelters-in-place at both Georgia and Notre Dame team hotels ahead of their schedule appearance in the Sugar Bowl. Security did a sweep of the Caesars Superdome, which is near the site of the attack, but officials announced the game would be postponed. Kickoff will now be Thursday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN, the Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff announced.