U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy is urging Americans to not live in fear — instead “live in freedom.”

Cassidy, in a press call with Louisiana journalists on Tuesday, condemned the evil New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans in which Texas native Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a truck into a Bourbon Street crowd, killing 14 and injuring dozens of others.

The year 2025 “quickly took a tragic turn in New Orleans,” Cassidy said. “Instead of waking up to a happy new year, New Orleans was left devastated by a Bourbon Street terrorist attack.”

Cassidy, R-Louisiana, said since that attack, the city, state and country have united to mourn the loss of the 14 victims.

“As we grieve we must not allow fear to be struck in our heart,” Cassidy said. “If we do, the terrorists win. We must be strong, we must live with liberty, we must be brave. We can’t let the terrorists win, so let’s live in freedom.”

While Cassidy was in Washington, D.C., on Monday to certify the results of the presidential election, he said his wife met with families of the victims.

“It was incredibly moving,” Cassidy said, his voice quivering. “I want to convey to those families how much support that they have from all of us.”

Cassidy said an investigation of what went wrong — “from top to bottom” — is underway.

In the meantime, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s request for a Special Event Assessment Rating of 1 for the city’s Mardi Gras festivities has been granted. SEAR 1 will be in effect Feb. 21-March 4. According to Homeland Security, SEAR 1 is designated for significant events with national or international importance that require extensive federal inter-agency support. The federal support includes funding for additional safety measures — including bomb-sniffing dogs, extra law enforcement and screening — as well as sending an expert to identify vulnerabilities with the city’s security plan.

“There’s always the concern that terrorists go after so-called ‘soft targets,’ which is not a place that is barricaded but a place in which there are crowds of people in the streets that a car could otherwise have access to under normal times,” Cassidy said. “The fact that the federal government is partnering with the state and local government in order to increase the security will increase the security of those attending.”

Cassidy said he doesn’t want Louisiana residents to live in fear and this rating move now allows law enforcement to do everything possible in order to keep residents from having to worry about future attacks.

“We need to have confidence that our federal agencies have their eye on the ball as to how to prevent both national and domestic terrorism,” he said. “There is going to be a complete review of what went right and what went wrong in this incident. Wherever there are soft targets around the country, that is where a copycat might be more likely to occur. Now that New Orleans and Louisiana are prepared, they would be more likely to go someplace else. There’s going to be somebody out there in the future that is going to be similarly inspired as this person was and we need that person — despite the inspiration — to fail.”