Louisiana AG Liz Murrill continues to hammer decision to play Sugar Bowl Thursday after terror attack
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill doesn’t believe New Orleans is ready to host the Sugar Bowl later Thursday, just one day after a tragic “act of terrorism” struck Bourbon Street in the early morning hours on New Years Day.
During a Thursday morning hit on FOX & Friends, the state’s top lawyer doubled-down on her previous opposition to the city hosting the College Football Playoff national quarterfinal between No. 2 Georgia and No. 5 Notre Dame at 4 pm ET from the Caesars Superdome, located just a few blocks from the site of Wednesday morning’s terrorist attack on Bourbon Street.
The Sugar Bowl was originally scheduled to kick off at 8:45 pm ET Wednesday night, but was pushed to 4 pm ET Thursday after lengthy discussions between bowl exectutives, ESPN, the participating teams and state and federal officials.
But even that postponement wasn’t enough for Murrill.
“I would have probably at least postponed it until Friday,” Murrill said Thursday morning on FOX & Friends, via journalist Aaron Rupar. “but I think they have secured the city and, you know, it’s OK, I guess if they’re going forward with it. But I would probably at least delayed it until Friday.”
When a FOX host asked Murrill why she wasn’t comfortable with the game being played Thursday, the Louisiana AG cited the victims, after 16 died and more than 35 were injured when Texas resident and U.S. citizen Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck down a crowded Bourbon Street full of New Years Eve revelers around 3 am local time.
“We have 16 people who are dead, their families are grieving, we have at least 10 more that are clinging to life in the hospital,” Murrill added, “and I think there’s a certain degree of respect that we owe to the dead and their families and the victims.”
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.
Nick Schultz contributed to this report.
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