Landry faces backlash for request to send federal troops to Louisiana cities
Landry's request came after former President Donald Trump suggested sending troops to New Orleans, a majority-Democratic city.
BATON ROUGE, La. —Gov. Jeff Landry is facing criticism after formally requesting federal troops for Louisiana’s three largest cities, despite crime data showing sharp declines.
Landry asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week to deploy 1,000 National Guard personnel to New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport through October 2026. The request came after former President Donald Trump suggested sending troops to New Orleans, a majority-Democratic city.
Local officials and crime analysts said the governor’s claims of rising violence are misleading.
“New Orleans has had the fewest murders this year since 1970. Carjackings are down 80 percent compared to 2022, vehicle burglaries are down 70 percent, and shootings are down 63 percent,” said crime analyst Jeff Asher. “This is a wholly unnecessary stunt that will hurt local businesses.”
New Orleans police officials also pushed back. “Our crime rate is going down,” said Hans Ganthier, assistant superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department.
State Rep. Joy Walters, a Democrat from Shreveport, said putting soldiers in her city would do nothing to address the roots of crime.
“Deploying troops to Shreveport will not solve our problems,” Walters said. “Crime is reduced when people have access to jobs, wages, education, healthcare and opportunity.”
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., warned against militarizing local neighborhoods.
“We don’t embrace the notion of having National Guardsmen with M-16s walking the streets of New Orleans, militarizing our communities and perhaps adding more insult to injury,” Carter said.
Landry, a Republican and close ally of Trump, defended the move in an appearance on Fox News, saying the request was made “to reduce the amount of violence” in the state.
