New Orleans residents hold vigil for victims of New Year's Day attack

The Manila Times

New Orleans residents hold vigil for victims of New Year's Day attack  Residents and visitors gathered in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, January 4, to pay tribute to the victims killed in the New Year’s Eve truck attack.  Mourners grieved at a makeshift memorial set up on Bourbon Street adorned with crosses bearing pictures of victims, and candles and flowers.  "It could have been me. It could have been anybody,” said Charles Cruz, 33, a local resident who lost a friend in the attack.  "Right now, I’m at a loss for words, really. This is a tragedy where we got to deal with all this violence from all around the world. Why here?" said James War, 47, who mourned the death of his friend Elliot Wilkinson.  Visitors from out-of-town also paid tribute to the victims.  REUTERS VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Sign up to our newsletters: https://tmt.ph/newsletters   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #themanilatimes #worldnews #newyear #neworleans

Transcript

00:00It's important for me to be here, not just me, because I'm a local and the things that

00:23have happened, man, it's just because I know I could have been out here if I wasn't helping

00:29my sister out and whatever I had to do for my family at that time.

00:35But I know if I wouldn't have been doing that, then I would have been out here myself, you

00:39know, either I would have been working or just out here with some friends or whatever

00:43like that.

00:44So I know it could have been me, it could have been anybody, but we also had a friend

00:49named Tasha and she passed and the tragedy that happened.

01:15He was fun to be around, he was a great friend, he was a great to hang around with, we had

01:19good talks, he always had great advice, make sure I stayed safe because whenever I was

01:24on the street too, he would be a great sense of like hanging out, making sure I would stay

01:28safe, just great all around guy.

01:32Right now, I'm lost for words really, this is a tragedy where we got to deal with all

01:37this violence from all around the world, why here?

01:43This is a tourist city and people come from all over the world for our music, our food,

01:49our energy, but there's residents here who after everybody leaves, after all of this

01:55is over, we still have to deal with this.

01:58And I think one of the best support that the families could get is to show that the residents

02:03of New Orleans is here, we stand by y'all, we support y'all, we are so sorry that this

02:08happened here, like it's terrible, it's terrible, but it's important to show that it's more

02:20to New Orleans than just the tourism.

02:23People live here, I live right down the street, people pass that area every day.

02:38I think that we should honor and pay tribute to those young lives that got lost, all those

02:44young kids that came and celebrate New Year's, I think that's important for people to remember

02:52what times we're living at, the times, the bad times we're living at and a bunch of crazy

02:59people out there trying to harm innocent lives.

03:02I feel that people were not expecting this and to start the year like this, it's overwhelming

03:08and we feel very sorry for all the victims here.

03:13The families, people that they left behind, exactly.

03:19So it was, it's definitely something that we need to value, right, and understand and

03:26just feel like, I don't know, like sometimes you just come in here and then you say goodbye

03:31to your family, you say we'll be here tomorrow and then you don't, you don't have fear the

03:35next day, so it's horrible.

03:37We booked our trip to New Orleans in May and then we heard about this awful thing that

03:42happened on the news on New Year's Day and we almost canceled our plans to come because

03:47we were afraid.

03:48But we attended mass tonight at the cathedral and the priest said that we need to have hope

03:54over fear and so I think that's why we came down tonight and just to keep all of these

04:00people in our memories and that New Orleans stays strong and that there's always hope.

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