Texas man who supported Islamic State acted alone in New Orleans attack, FBI says Reuters

By Brian Thevenot and Ned Randolph

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – A US soldier who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers in New Orleans had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, but acted alone in an attack that killed at least 14 people, the FBI said on Thursday. .

The suspect, who the FBI said was shot dead at the scene after shooting at police, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who served in Afghanistan.

He drove from Houston to New Orleans on Dec. 31. On the morning of the attack, between 1:29 and 3:02 a.m., he posted five videos on Facebook (NASDAQ: Syria, the FBI said.

A massacre in the famous Bourbon Street nightlife district of New Orleans during a holiday celebration has started the new year in the United States on an ominous note, as law enforcement officials across the country compare high security for upcoming public events.

In his first video, Jabbar said he intended to harm his family and friends, but was worried the media would not focus on the “battle between believers and non-believers.” FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia said at a press conference. .

Jabbar also said in the videos that he joined IS before last summer and gave his last will and testament, Raia said.

“This was an act of terrorism,” Raia said. “It was premeditated and a bad move.” The FBI was investigating Jabbar’s “path of radicalization,” but the evidence reviewed so far clearly showed he was inspired by IS, Raia said.

Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives were told in an interview by David Scott, deputy director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, that Jabbar was not on any government list and the bureau had not received evidence that he was. ordered by any foreign person or group.

Surveillance video footage showed Jabbar placing two improvised explosive devices in a cooler several hours before the attack at an intersection around Bourbon Street, a popular New Orleans tourist area where the attack took place. that happened, Raia said. Both were safe at the scene.

Some people were seen on video looking at the cool people, who investigators now believe were passers-by, not helpers.

New Orleans officials said the Sugar Bowl college football game scheduled for Wednesday on New Year’s Day will take place on Thursday afternoon, and Bourbon Street was soon reopened to the public. The city is gearing up for weeks of Mardi Gras festivities that begin Jan. 6, and will host the National Football League’s Super Bowl next month, and city officials have promised tight security for the crowded events.

The FBI says there appears to be no connection between the New Orleans attack and the Las Vegas incident on the same day in which a rented Tesla (NASDAQ: ) Cybertruck was filled with cans of gasoline and large flames burst into flames. burst into flames outside Trump International. A hotel in Las Vegas, a few weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returned to the White House on Jan. 20. Tesla driver, active duty soldier in the United States. The soldier shot himself shortly before the explosion, Las Vegas police said.

Two police officers were among those injured in New Orleans, wounded by gunfire from a suspect during the attack, which happened just three hours into the new year in the historic French capital. At least 14 people and the suspect were killed, the FBI said, and 35 were injured.

Among the victims were a mother of a 4-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after getting a promotion, a New York banker and a professional athlete who was visiting home. for the holidays, and an 18-year-old nurse who wants to get out of Mississippi.

Witnesses described the terrifying incident.

“There were people everywhere,” Kimberly Strickland of Mobile, Alabama, said in an interview. “You just heard this screeching of an engine and this loud noise and then people screaming and debris – just metal – the sound of metal breaking and bodies.”

A review by law enforcement officials in Louisiana and New Orleans in December found that there was no “significant threat” to the city’s New Year’s Eve events.

Authorities in other US cities said they had increased security, including Trump Tower and Times Square in New York City, adding that there were no immediate threats.

In Washington, the police also said that they have increased their presence as the capital prepares to host three major events this month: Congressional confirmation of the January 6 election of President Trump, the state funeral Jan. 9 for former President Jimmy Carter, and Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

THE FLAG OF THE ISLAMIC EMPIRE

The FBI said an IS flag was found on the trailer of a rental truck used in the New Orleans attack.

US President Joe Biden condemned what he called the “despicable” act.

“We will continue to pursue ISIS and other terrorist organizations where they are, and they will not find safe harbor here,” Biden said, referring to the Islamic State.

State officials are investigating a fire that broke out early Wednesday at an Airbnb rental in the St. Louis neighborhood. Roch New Orleans. Jabbar is believed to live at that address, and investigators are examining two laptops linked to Jabbar found there, Joshua Jackson, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives, told reporters. They were also examining three cell phones linked to Jabbar.

Jackson said the fire appeared to have started after Jabbar was killed, but authorities were still investigating whether he was set on fire with a timing device.

Public records show Jabbar was born in Beaumont, a city about 80 miles (130 km) east of Houston, where he worked in the construction business.

Jabbar was in the US Army from March 2007 to January 2015 and was in the Army Center from January 2015 to July 2020, an Army spokesman said. He was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and assumed the rank of staff sergeant at the end of the service.

IS is an Islamic militant group that once imposed a reign of violence on millions of people in Iraq and Syria until it collapsed after a sustained military campaign by the US-led coalition. Even as it has weakened in the field, IS continues to recruit sympathizers online, experts say.