Democratic city officials in New Orleans are clashing with Republican state leaders over President Donald Trump’s threat of sending in the military to patrol streets and assist local enforcement in the Big Easy.
Trump suggested Wednesday he may redirect National Guard members to New Orleans next, instead of Chicago where he has recently been threatening to surge troops – even while it’s still not clear troops will show up.
“So we’re making a determination now, do we go to Chicago, or do we go to a place like New Orleans where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that’s become quite tough, quite bad,” Trump told reporters. “So we’re gonna be going to maybe Louisiana, and you have New Orleans, which has a crime problem.”
The possible deployment comes as the Trump administration increasingly targets Democrat-led cities across the nation as part of a crime fighting effort that is often paired with ramped up immigration enforcement. These often-unwanted actions have been rife with controversy, sparking lawsuits and costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
The White House has not yet responded to CNN’s request for more details on the possible deployment of guard members to New Orleans.
The City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Police Department touted their downward crime trends and current approach with federal partners, calling it “instrumental” in the city’s “ongoing success in reducing crime.”
“The City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) continue to observe a significant reduction in crime,” the statement says, and recent data appears to corroborate that assertion.
Violent crimes are trending downward in New Orleans over the past year with homicides down about 27%, a 15% decrease in reported rapes and a 16.5% drop in robberies, according to data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a national organization of police chiefs.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat who was indicted last month over allegations of trying to hide her relationship with her bodyguard, did not immediately turn down Trump’s proposal or comment directly beyond the city’s statement.
Cantrell, who is slated to leave office in just months due to term limits, joins two other Black female mayors who have found their city in Trump’s crosshairs.
Both Los Angeles and Washington, DC, each led by a Black woman, have seen National Guard troops deployed in their cities. In fact, Louisiana’s governor sent the state’s own guard members to Washington, DC last month even as two of its own cities – Shreveport and Lafayette – have violent crime rates higher than Washington, DC’s.
New Orleans City council member and mayoral candidate Helena Moreno, also a Democrat, vowed to fight a federal takeover and called Trump’s plans “an attack on certain cities.”
“There are many cities with mayors aligned with this President whose crime issues are severe, but they’re not targeted. That clearly shows that this is about scare tactics and politicizing public safety,” Moreno said.
While New Orleans politics lean heavily Democratic, Louisiana is overall a Republican stronghold, including its governor, both US Senate seats and four of the six seats in the US House of Representatives. Republicans also hold a majority in both the Louisiana Senate and House.
Republican leaders across the state have endorsed the idea of military involvement coming to Louisiana, specifically to New Orleans where 14 people were killed in a terror attack when a driver rammed a pickup truck into a crowd during New Year’s celebrations on Bourbon Street, the famous party area in the city’s historic French Quarter.
While other Democratic governors have rejected Trump sending National Guard troops to their states, Louisiana’s governor is embracing the idea.
“We will take President Donald Trump’s help from New Orleans to Shreveport,” Landry, the conservative ally of the president said Wednesday in a social media post.
Gov. Landry has not immediately responded to additional questions from CNN but spoke about a possible federal crackdown in New Orleans during a Wednesday news conference at the opening of “Louisiana Lockdown,” a new immigration detention facility at a notorious state prison.
“President Trump is focused on getting control of our cities but not doing it the way past presidents and other administrations have done, where it’s temporary. What he wants to see is permanent safety for Americans,” Landry explained.
Landry launched his own crime crackdown last year sending state police to establish a presence in New Orleans.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill also took aim at local Democrats in support of Trump’s plan to deploy military to New Orleans.
“Whether it’s the January 1 terror attack, the Orleans Parish Jail escape, no one monitoring ankle monitors, or countless other failures – People continue to die in New Orleans because ‘leaders’ refuse to accept the resources that are available to them. If your gut reaction is to reject the President’s offer for assistance without condition, perhaps you’re the problem – not him,” Murrill said in a statement Wednesday.
Some local leaders suggest sending in troops may not be needed and it’s more of a political move.
“To have a militaristic environment where tourists come to the city to enjoy the ambience, the culture, the food and the people, sends the wrong message,” Marlon Defillo, a former assistant superintendent with the New Orleans Police Department, told CNN.
Defillo said local law enforcement is doing a “tremendous job” combating crime, noting that federal partners already have worked closely with local enforcement this year for big events like Super Bowl LIX and Mardis Gras. He does not see a current need to bring in any help.
“Certainly, I don’t think this city has reached that level where we have to have the military position in this city,” Defillo said, adding the idea of bringing federal resources in to patrol is “political in nature.”
City leaders in New Orleans go a step further to tout this as nothing but a “political stunt.”
“Sending troops into Black and Brown cities is not a solution,” New Orleans Councilmember Lesli Harris responded, suggesting “if the federal government truly wants to help, it should invest in our city’s ongoing programs.”
Louisiana Rep. Troy A. Carter, a Democrat, believes the city has the autonomy to govern itself and is open to challenging any possible troop deployment in court.
“Militarizing the streets of New Orleans is not a solution. Period,” Carter responded to Trump’s threat.
“I’m grateful to Gov. Landry who has had state troopers on the ground working in conjunction, collaboratively with the New Orleans Police Department. But to have a military zone created in the middle of the city of New Orleans is not necessary and I think it’s actually politically motivated,” Carter told CNN’s Erica Hill on Thursday.
Instead, the congressman suggested additional funding for the city’s district attorney, improved infrastructure at the Orleans Parish Prison and funding programs to help the root cause of crime and poverty.
The Peacekeeper Global Initiative, a national grassroots organization, echoes the sentiment that bringing in national troops wouldn’t solve issues for locals.
Bringing in troops to curb crime without providing services for people living in poverty or creating more jobs would not solve crime issues, Dennis Muhammad, the organization’s founder, tells CNN.
He believes the troops would just be in the city to pursue immigrants and worries that the issues impacting violent crime in the city won’t be met.
CNN’s Ryan Young, Andy Rose, Chris Youd, Taylor Romine and Cynthia Salinas Cappellano contributed to this report
