NEW ORLEANS — Defiant revelers flocked to New Orleans’ Bourbon Avenue Thursday as the long-lasting stretch re-opened forward of the Sugar Bowl — simply 36 hours after 14 folks have been killed and dozens extra have been injured in a bloody New Yr’s terror assault.
“The big reason why we came is to spite them,” Mississippian Mark Beaden informed The Submit as he strolled down Bourbon Avenue consuming along with his spouse Thursday.
“The hell with ISIS,” he mentioned of the phobia group that 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar pledged allegiance to earlier than rushing down the bustling Massive Straightforward road in a rented Ford F-150 early Wednesday.
Beaden had no plans to attend the Sugar Bowl — the annual New Orleans school soccer sport usually held on New Yr’s Day that was postponed after the assault — however purchased tickets Thursday to attend as an act of defiance.
“They can kiss my ass, how about that?” he mentioned.
“You can’t deviate from the plans, then they win.”
Beaden was simply one among many who had the identical concept and headed to Bourbon Avenue, the place a brass band performed merry New Orleanian tunes and Mardi Gras beads and 14 yellow roses adorned the street the place Jabbar’s rampage unfolded.
“It’s building morale because it was a tragic incident. This will lift everyone back up,” mentioned Michigan resident Darryl Brownlee, 63, as he watched the musicians play.
Observe the newest on the phobia assault on New Orleans’ Bourbon Avenue:
Bourbon Avenue was closed all through New Yr’s Day as police investigated the crime scene, however it reopened for festivities Thursday.
“They couldn’t keep it closed forever,” Brownlee mentioned.
New Orleans resident Stephanie Drake, 44, walked down Bourbon Avenue waving a bundle of lit sage, saying it was “to get rid of all the really nasty energy that just happened down this road.”
“Nothing better than a good stick of sage to clear off all the gross, right?” Drake, who sells crystals, mentioned. “It’s what I can do right now. I feel helpless, and this makes me feel like I’m doing something.”
Dwell updates: Every little thing to know concerning the New Orleans terror assault
Some employees alongside the long-lasting stretch who witnessed the horror assault even turned up, saying they wouldn’t be cowed by the likes of Jabbar.
“It was chaos, and it was a massacre,” mentioned Jim Hill, the supervisor at Mango Mango Daiquiris on Bourbon Avenue who watched the terrorist pace by earlier than he slammed right into a crane blocks away earlier than he was gunned down in a shootout with police.
“I hate what happened but I’m going to work tonight. I’m not going to let hate win and hide in my house,” he mentioned.
Hill mentioned he has each intention of displaying up and opening his bar’s doorways for the soccer sport festivities Thursday night time — and that the terrorist completed nothing however reminding folks what issues most.
“I’m not going to live in fear. I’m going to live a better life.”
