New Orleans attacker ‘inspired by ISIS’

President Joe Biden has confirmed that a terrorist who killed fifteen people during the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans was “inspired by ISIS.” Biden said that Shamsud-Din Jabbar — who also injured at least thirty-five people after driving his pick-up truck through crowds of revelers — had expressed a “desire to kill” in videos posted online. An ISIS flag was found in Jabbar’s Ford F-150 Lightning vehicle, Biden confirmed.

“The situation is very fluid,” the president said. “The law enforcement [and the] intelligence community continue to look for any connections, associations or co-conspirators… the investigation is continuing to be active, and no one should jump to conclusions.”

The FBI initially said it does not think Jabbar, a forty-two-year-old ex-soldier, acted alone. “We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” Alethea Duncan, an FBI special agent, told reporters in New Orleans.

Donald Trump took to Truth Social a few hours after the attack to say that the authorities — including the FBI and the Department of Justice — “have not done their job” in protecting Americans.

“The CIA must get involved, NOW, before it is too late,” the president-elect said. “The USA is breaking down — A violent erosion of safety, national security, and democracy is taking place all across our nation. Only strength and powerful leadership will stop it. See you on January 20th. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Jabbar, who was shot dead by police following the attack, served on active duty in the US Army from 2006 to 2015. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. A number of weapons, including a semi-automatic rifle, were recovered from the hired vehicle Jabbar used in the attack. Several homemade bombs were also found in a coolbox inside the truck. The FBI confirmed that other suspected explosives, wired for remote detonation, were found in the city’s French Quarter where the horror unfolded.

A manhunt is now underway for those who may have helped Jabbar conduct the attack. A rental property in New Orleans, where the suspect is believed to have stayed the night before the attack, is being searched. Authorities in Houston, Texas, where Jabbar lived, are searching a property there. Police are also investigating the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas which happened hours after the attack. President Biden has said that no link between the two incidents has been identified yet.