Two weeks later, a small Christmas parade is still the talk of town in St. Martinville.
The issue, the city didn’t authorize any permits.
Monday night, city leaders addressed the unanswered questions.
“Christmas day I got multiple texts and videos about a parade going through St. Martinville with trains and bikes and I’m just kind of wondering how that occurred without a permit,” said Councilman Mike Fuselier.
There are questions about who put on the Christmas parade and why it wasn’t stopped.
“Everybody was pointing to the safety of main street and all that my wonder was why didn’t the police stop it? If they would’ve said something to [the people in the parade] we wouldn’t have to be here two weeks later, wasting time,” said one woman in the audience.
“We’ve had a few incidents where the officers have sat back because they thought people were involved. That needs to stop,” said Councilman Craig Prosper.
KATC’s Dannielle Garcia spoke with Police Chief Ricky Martin who said police weren’t notified about the parade until after it happened. And the two officers working Christmas day were on calls in a different part of the city at the time.
Mayor Melinda Mitchell also addressed rumors about her being involved.
“It was actually said that I was in the parade riding my bicycle which is incorrect because I was at my house Christmas day,” she said. “If there wasn’t a permit we were supposed to issue a citation or shut it down. I’m not sure exactly who gave the parade at this point, but moving forward we need to address the issue.”
