New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, Sen. Bill Cassidy and other leaders gathered with mourners Sunday at a memorial to honor the victims of the deadly Bourbon Street attack on Jan. 1, 2025, with survivor Brittany Francois asking attendees to make the event meaningful through their actions going forward.
“One year and three days ago, our lives changed forever,” Francois said from the pulpit of the Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church on Baronne Street, less than two blocks from the site of last year’s tragedy. “In a moment of violence, we lost loved ones, a sense of safety, and a piece of ourselves. … We owe it to those who are no longer with us to live fuller and braver lives. In each act of kindness and every embrace, and in every voice that speaks out for peace, there is life.”
Hundreds gathered for the 2 p.m. remembrance ceremony, which was followed by a short second-line parade to the corner of Canal and Bourbon streets…