US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will visit New Orleans on Monday to mourn with relatives of the 14 people who were killed and 35 injured there when a man plowed into a group of pedestrians in the early morning hours. Drove a rented pickup truck at high speed. Of New Year’s Day.
The Bidens plan to meet with family members of the victims who were crushed to death by the suspect, identified by authorities as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old military veteran from Houston, at the bustling Bourbon Street, a prominent tourist restaurant. Were. And bar locale. Police shot Jabbar after he opened fire on the officers.
“I’ve been there,” Biden told reporters ahead of his trip on Sunday, reflecting on the loss of his family members during his years in public life. “There’s really nothing you can say to someone who has suffered such a tragic loss. If I meet him alone, my message will become personal.”
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Biden, with two weeks left in office before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, is also meeting with investigators who say Jabbar acted alone in the attack but was charged with carrying out the terrorist attack. Was inspired by the state.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Jabbar had posted five videos on social media expressing support for the Islamic State terrorist group, or IS, about an hour and a half before the attack, when New Orleans revelers celebrated the first hours of 2025. Had a celebration. An IS flag was found on the back of the truck.
An official of the country’s top criminal investigation agency said on Sunday that Jabbar, wearing special hands-free glasses, had twice visited the French Quarter neighborhood where the attack took place last October.
Lionel Myrthil, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Field Office, said the video shows the suspect riding through the French Quarter on a bicycle wearing “meta glasses” capable of recording or livestreaming.
Myrthil also said authorities were also investigating Jabbar’s two trips abroad, one to Cairo in the summer of 2023 and then to Canada a few days later.
“Our agents are looking for answers as to where he went, who he went with and how those trips may or may not be connected to his actions here,” Myrthill said.
“All of the investigative details and evidence that we still have support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans,” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raya told reporters at a news conference Saturday. We have seen no signs of a partner in the United States, but we are still looking for potential partners in the United States and outside our borders.”
Biden said investigators told him the suspect had a remote detonator in his truck, which was intended to detonate two explosive devices placed inside an ice cooler along Bourbon Street. But before Jabbar could detonate the explosive, the police killed him.
Representative Mike Turner, chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” show on Sunday to reiterate a previously disclosed U.S. claim that members of the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations are “working together” inside the United States. are “with ISIS with the intent to harm Americans.”
“We don’t know where they are,” Turner said.
Outgoing Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas said on ABC’s “This Week” show that there has been a “significant increase” in “domestic violent extremism” over the past 10 years.
“This is a very severe threat scenario,” Mayorkas said. He promised a smooth transition to Trump’s appointment to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as incoming Homeland Security secretary.
“I have spoken to Governor Noem numerous times regarding the horrific terrorist attack, including on New Year’s Day and immediately afterward,” Mayorkas said.
“We have talked at length about the steps we will take, and I am incredibly dedicated to a smooth and successful transition for Governor Noem if she is confirmed as Secretary of Homeland Security,” Mayorkas said. Is performed.”
Biden’s visit to New Orleans on Monday comes with heightened security concerns in Washington as Congress meets to certify that Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election.
Today marks four years since Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, vandalized congressional offices and attacked law enforcement officers to stop the certification of Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump, within hours of taking office on January 20, has vowed to pardon several people arrested and imprisoned over the January 6, 2021 attack.