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President-elect Donald Trump’s allies are reeling the FBI for its initial characterization of the brutal New Orleans drive-by attack as unrelated to terrorism, before the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency backtracked and launched an allegedly related terrorism investigation ISIS
“The FBI has a no-fail mission. There is no room for error. When they fail, Americans die. It is imperative that Kash Patel be confirmed as soon as possible,” he told Fox News Digital Thursday morning a source close to Trump.
Chaos erupted on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Wednesday morning as New Year’s Eve revelers partied in the streets. The suspect, later identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is accused of plowing a truck into crowds on the beloved and famous party street, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more. Jabbar, who was armed with a Glock and a .308 rifle, later died open fire on the police.
As details trickled out to the public Wednesday morning, law enforcement officials, including the FBI, held a news conference where a special agent initially told the public that the attack was not terrorism-related .
Left to right, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Kash Patel and President-elect Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
“We will take over the investigation of this event. This is not a terrorist event,” Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New Orleans office Alethea Duncan said during the news conference.
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The mayor of New Orleans contradicted Duncan in the same press conference, declaring that the attack was related to terrorism.
“Know that the city of new orleans was affected by a terrorist attack. Everything is still under investigation. You’re going to hear more from me,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat who has been in office since 2018, told reporters.
The FBI released statements later Wednesday noting that the attack is now being investigated as an act of terror, including reporting that an ISIS flag was found on the truck that plowed into the crowd.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent of Police Anne Kirkpatrick speaks after a vehicle plowed into a crowd at Canal Street and Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
“An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s possible associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” an FBI statement said.
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“The FBI is the lead investigating agency and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We are aggressively eliminating all leads to identify possible associates of the subject,” the statement added.
Conservative lawmakers denounced the attack and mourned the victims, while directing their anger at the FBI for its alleged failures in handling the attack. Senator Marsha Blackburn, a key ally of the Senate of Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, criticized the FBI in a series of messages posted on X and again rallied support for Patel’s confirmation to serve as FBI director.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies work at the scene on Bourbon Street after at least 10 people were killed when a person allegedly drove into a crowd in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, Jan. 1. 2025 in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/Getty Images)
OFFICERS ARRANGING THE SUSERERA EAST OF THE APPARENT TERRORIST ATTACK ON BOURBON STREET
“The tragic terrorist attack that killed innocent people in New Orleans is a stark reminder of the importance of strong leadership. America needs a fearless fighter like @Kash_Patel at the FBI.” Blackburn posted on Wednesday.
Blackburn also took issue with the FBI for allegedly reporting to the suspect’s home in Texas after the media had already flagged the property.
“The FBI didn’t show up at the suspect’s NOLA address until 1:00pm today. We were on the scene earlier. No one came out of the house or answered the door,” the New York Post reporter . Jennie Taer posted on X Wednesday.
Blackburn responded to the Post reporter, saying the FBI had “failed” its mission as the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
“The fact that a reporter has better information than the FBI tells us all we need to know. The FBI has failed in its basic mission,” Blackburn posted.
When approached for comment on the criticism, the FBI directed Fox Digital to its three previous statements about the attack that described it as an act of terror, but did not comment on the New Orleans agent saying Wednesday that the attack was not related to terrorism.
“This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing several people and injuring dozens of others. The matter involved local law enforcement and he is now deceased .The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” the FBI said in one of its three statements provided to Fox Digital.
An FBI-released photo of Shamsud-Din Jabbar. (F.B.I.)
Jabbar was identified as a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. He was an Army veteran who served as a Human Resources Specialist and Information Technology Specialist from March 2007 to January 2015, and was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.
Trump criticized President Biden and his administration’s policies for the attack.
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“With Biden’s ‘open border policy,’ I said, many times at rallies and elsewhere, that radical Islamic terrorism and other forms of violent crime will become so bad in America that it will be hard to even imagine or believe it. the time has come, worse than ever imagined Joe Biden is the WORST PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY, A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER,” Trump posted. to Social Truth.
New Orleans police and federal agents investigate a suspected terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January 1, 2025. (Chris Granger/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
Biden mourned Wednesday’s attack, stressing that despite the violence, “our New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated.”
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“New Orleans is a place unlike any other place in the world,” the president said. “It’s a city full of charm and joy. Many people around the world love New Orleans for its history, its culture, and most of all, its people.”
“So I know that while this person committed a terrible assault on the city, the spirit of our New Orleans will never, ever, ever be defeated,” he added.
