New Orleans’ 700-pound barriers were not deployed before the attack – NBC Chicago

For nearly eight years, the city of New Orleans has had 700-pound steel vehicle barriers.

But they were not deployed before the New Year’s Eve attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens more.

The CEO of Meridian Rapid Defense Group told NBC 5 Investigates that he sold 48 of the so-called Archer barriers to the city of New Orleans in 2017, following the deadly attack in Nice in 2016, in France, and said he didn’t know why. they were not used.

“That’s a question I can’t answer; it’s a question you’ll have to ask them,” CEO Peter Whitford told NBC 5 Investigates Friday.

NBC 5 Investigates contacted New Orleans city officials early Friday morning and again Friday afternoon. A city spokeswoman said she would get back to us. NBC News first reported on New Orleans’ Archer barriers Thursday evening. When Bourbon Street reopened Thursday afternoon, New Orleans’ police chief was asked about it as she described to reporters how the city was now implementing additional security measures at the following the attack.

When asked where the obstacles came from, she replied:

“Actually, we have them. I didn’t know about them, but we have them, so we were able to put them out there.”

Video from New Orleans shows street crews unloading yellow steel vehicle barriers in the hours after the New Year’s Eve car-ramming attack.

Photos released now show them set up near the makeshift memorial for the victims along Bourbon Street.

“This is an American product, 700 pounds of American steel that’s made in our factories. We rent it and sell it. It’s the strongest movable barrier in the world,” Whitford said.

Before the New Year’s Eve attack, New Orleans was in the midst of a months-long project to replace street bollards and was using other barriers like police cars to restrict traffic.

But video from that night shows the white Ford F-150 pickup, driven by Shamsud-din Jabbar, 42, driving around the police car set up to block traffic. You can see the truck turn right onto Bourbon Street before speeding off, mowing down New Year’s Eve revelers.

Asked if he thought the attack would have had a different outcome if the Archer barriers had been deployed, Whitford replied: “I think there would be a completely different outcome; I think it’s reasonable to say.”

Whitford claims his product was used in Pasadena to protect the Rose Bowl parade. And the city of Chicago signed a $2 million contract for the barriers it deployed Friday outside Wrigley Field before the start of the Big Ten hockey tournament.

Thursday, 15th Ward Ald. Ray Lopez announced he would like Archer barriers to be mandatory for permitted street festivals in Chicago.

NBC News reported Friday that it had reviewed law enforcement documents showing that car-ramming attacks remain a highly viable option for terrorists and underscore the need for protective measures, including restricting vehicle access by blocking cars, using bollards or steel barriers.