The deadly attack on new year revellers in New Orleans, which killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more, was all the more terrible for its familiar characteristics. The method of attack – ploughing a vehicle into crowds – and the decision to strike those celebrating at a time associated with togetherness and joy are now far too well recognised internationally. It is less than a fortnight since a man used a car to kill at least five, including a nine-year-old child, at a Christmas market near Magdeburg in Germany.
Part of the grimness of this event is that ordinary activities that should require no special protections are now guarded as a matter of course – and that even such precautions can prove inadequate. Bollards were reportedly being upgraded in New Orleans ahead of next month’s Super Bowl, and patrols and barricades were being used in the meantime. In Magdeburg, the perpetrator used an entrance for emergency vehicles.
