New Orleans holds 1st parade after attack

New Orleans: Women dressed as angels, hands clasped in prayer, passed through New Orleans to celebrate the first parade of Carnival season, just blocks from where 14 people were killed five days earlier by a rampaging driver.

Hundreds filled the streets Monday evening for the annual Joan of Arc parade through New Orleans’ historic French Quarter. Organisers said they wanted the event to convey the city’s spirited grit as it grapples with the violent New Year’s Day attack but still persists with beloved traditions.

“We are celebrating life,” said Antoinette de Alteriis, a captain of the Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc. “We are choosing hope and we are choosing joy.”

Before the parade, President Joe Biden paid tribute to victims at the nearby St. Louis Cathedral.

The attacker, a US citizen who had proclaimed his support for the Islamic State militant group, was fatally shot in a firefight with police.During the meeting, it was decided that the government would impose bounties on those involved.

According to sources, the attackers were assisted by five facilitators who will also face legal action.

The Joan of Arc Parade, which began in 2008 and falls on the French hero’s birthday, marks the end of the Christmas season, arrival of Carnival and the countdown

to Mardi Gras.