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Louisiana’s top tourism official tears into New Orleans mayor after terror attack: ‘An embarrassment’
Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser expresses anger over Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s ‘lack of leadership’ and failure to secure the French Quarter after years in office.
New Orleans is still reeling on Friday, the third day since the truck-ramming attack killed 14 people, as well as the alleged terrorist who died during a shootout with police early on New Year’s Day.
The FBI released new eerie surveillance images Thursday showing the now-deceased suspect – 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar – just about an hour before he allegedly sped a rented Ford pick-up through a crowd of Bourbon Street revelers in the attack that officials say was inspired by the Islamic State. More than 30 others were injured. Despite previously investigating the potential of accomplices in the attack, the FBI said Thursday the bureau is confident Jabbar acted alone.
The investigation now turned to how Jabbar – a U.S. Army veteran who recently held a six-figure job – was radicalized. He grew up Muslim in Texas and most recently lived in Houston.
“This investigation is only a little more than 24 hours old, and we have no indication at this point that anyone else was involved in this attack other than Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar,” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia from the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters said on Thursday. “The FBI is surging people and assets to this area from across the region and across the nation. Special agents in field offices across the country are assisting with potential aspects of this investigation and following up on leads. Additional teams of special agents, professional staff, and victim specialists continue to arrive to provide more investigative power and assistance to the victims and their families.”
“Let us be very clear—what happened here in New Orleans was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act,” he added.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTIMS OF NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK
The surveillance images released by the FBI show Jabbar, dressed neatly in a long light brown coat, a dark button-down shirt, blue jeans and brown dress shoes, walking along Dauphine St. near Governor Nicholls St. at 2:03 a.m. CST – about an hour before the attack. Additional images showed coolers Jabbar allegedly placed on the street. Officials said he planted improvised explosive devices inside with the intention of causing added carnage.
The FBI released photos of surveillance footage that shows Shamsud-Din Jabbar an hour before he drove a truck down Bourbon Street in New Orleans early on Jan. 1, 2025. (Federal Bureau of Investigation via AP)
Federal authorities were also searching an Airbnb property in New Orleans rented by Jabbar that caught fire early Wednesday morning, as well as Jabbar’s home in Houston.
Bourbon Street — famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes — reopened for business by early afternoon Thursday.
The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening. The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter is still scheduled to take place Monday to kick off carnival season ahead of Mardi Gras, said Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the organizers. She said they expect close to its typical crowd of around 30,000 participants.
The FBI has continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar, but a day into its investigation, the agency said it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton University football star, among others.
The FBI said that hours before the attack, Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the famed French Quarter district. It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat.
It also comes as the FBI and other agencies brace for dramatic leadership upheaval, and likely policy changes, after President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes office.
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Samantha Petry places flowers at a memorial on Canal and Bourbon Street on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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Military personnel walk down Bourbon Street on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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Matthias Hauswirth of New Orleans prays on the street near the scene where a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon streets on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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Police officers stand near the scene where a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon streets on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
BOMB-MAKING MATERIALS FOUND AT NEW ORLEANS AIRBNB POTENTIALLY TIED TO BOURBON STREET TERRORIST: REPORT
Raia stressed there was no indication of a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck filled with explosives outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel.
The New Orleans attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.
Investigators also were trying to understand more about Jabbar’s path to radicalization, which they say culminated with him picking up a rented truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and driving it to New Orleans the following night.
The FBI recovered a black ISIS flag from Jabbar’s rented pickup and reviewed five videos posted to Facebook, including one in which he said he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia said. Jabbar also stated he joined IS before last summer and provided a last will and testament, the FBI said.
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said.
He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 at the rank of staff sergeant.
A half-brother of Jabbar told Fox News that the alleged New Orleans attacker had been radicalized and struggled to find himself.
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A black flag with white lettering lies on the ground rolled up behind a pickup truck that a man drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing and injuring a number of people, early on Wednesday morning, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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A man uses a power washer on Toulouse street a day after a vehicle was driven into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon streets on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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Security and bomb-sniffing dogs patrol the area around the Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
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Fans pass through security check points as they enter the Caesars Superdome fan zone ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
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Local SWAT teams patrol outside the Caesars Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
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Security personnel investigate the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon streets on Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Fox News spoke with Abdur Rahim-Jabbar in Beaumont, Texas, where they grew up alongside three additional siblings.
Abdur said that they grew up Muslim, along with his whole family. He said that Jabbar stepped away from Islam, but found his way back following his 2022 divorce.
Jabbar struggled to find himself throughout his life, his half-brother told Fox News. He said that his half-brother joined the Army to “find something, to set him straight, ground him, and maybe find a viable career path.”
Following Jabbar’s two divorces, his brother said that he was “looking for some type of guidance.” His half-brother blamed radicalization for the attack and said that he did not see any signs prior to the attack, as well as expressing his condolences for the lives lost. He said this “was not a direct reflection of his brother and the Muslim community.”
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A U.S. government official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Jabbar traveled to Egypt in 2023, staying in Cairo for a week, before returning to the U.S. and then traveling to Toronto for three days. It was not immediately clear what he did during those travels.
On Bourbon Street, flowers and candles were arranged as memorials to the victims, while yellow posts were set up on the surrounding blocks. By Thursday night, bouncers danced to music blasting from clubs, tourists posed for photos and a group of street performers preparing to flip over a line of people had no trouble attracting a massive audience.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.
Related Topics
- New Orleans
- Terror