Students gathered in Free Speech Alley Thursday to protest Gov. Jeff Landry’s request to deploy up to 1,000 National Guard troops in Louisiana cities.
Organized by Students for a Democratic Society, the demonstration focused on Landry’s letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking for federal approval of a yearlong deployment in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport.
“It’s an attack on the Black community. It’s an attack on poor people, and it’s an attempt to intimidate people and scare people,” said Ryan Spalt, who graduated from LSU in May with a biochemistry degree. “The crime rate is at an all-time low, and it’s decreasing locally and nationally.”…