The killing of a Louisiana college student who was shot at a red light has prompted the Baton Rouge mayor-president to consider a curfew, as President Donald Trump debates sending federal troops to clean up crime in the state.
Roderick Forkner, a 19-year-old student at Southern University in the state’s capital of Baton Rouge, was gunned down and his passenger was injured when another vehicle pulled up next to their car at a red light and fired on them with a gun early Monday, local outlet WAFB Channel 9 reported.
The attack — which occurred at Government Street and South Foster Drive and was captured on video — has renewed demands to combat crime across the state. Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards has said he may impose a curfew and push to hold parents responsible for their children’s actions, according to WAFB Channel 9.
Trump said on Wednesday he is weighing the deployment of federal troops to Louisiana to tackle crime.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Polish President Karol Nawrocki in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Do we go to Chicago, or do we go to a place like New Orleans, where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that’s become quite, you know, quite tough, quite bad,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “So we’re going to be going to, maybe Louisiana, and you have New Orleans, which has a crime problem. We will straighten that out in about two weeks. It’ll take us two weeks. Easier than D.C.”
Trump has vowed to broaden his federal crackdown on Democratic-run cities, framing it as necessary to curb crime. Meanwhile, New Orleans Democrats have pushed back on Trump’s suggestion to send troops to the Louisiana city to help fight crime, with one, Democrat City Council President Helena Moreno, accusing him of “scare tactics and politicizing public safety.”
Louisiana State Capitol is pictured along the banks of a small pond in downtown Baton Rouge. (iStock)
Edwards and the Baton Rouge Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
