FBI investigators arrive on the scene the place the white Ford F-150 pickup truck that crashed into a piece raise after allegedly driving right into a crowd of New Yr’s revelers within the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 1, 2025.
Matthew Hinton | Afp | Getty Pictures
A U.S. Military veteran who killed 14 folks by ramming a truck right into a crowd of New Yr’s Day revelers in New Orleans had pledged allegiance to Islamic State and appeared to have made recordings during which he condemned music, medication and alcohol.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texas native who as soon as served in Afghanistan, acted alone within the assault, the FBI stated on Thursday, reversing an earlier evaluation that he might have had accomplices.
He was killed in a shootout with police after the rampage, which additionally injured dozens of individuals and has been labeled by the FBI as an act of terrorism.
“It was premeditated and an evil act,” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia informed a press convention on Thursday, reaffirming the bureau’s conclusion that Jabbar was impressed by Islamic State, the militant group with fighters in Iraq and Syria.
Raia stated investigators had been trying into Jabbar’s “path to radicalization,” nonetheless unsure how he reworked from army veteran, real-estate agent and one-time worker of the most important tax and consulting agency Deloitte into somebody who was “100% impressed by ISIS,” or Islamic state.
An Islamic State flag flew from a employees hooked up to the again of the rented truck used within the assault.
Although drastically weakened by a sustained army marketing campaign by a U.S.-led coalition, Islamic State has continued to recruit sympathizers on-line, specialists say.
Jabbar’s half-brother was additionally trying to find solutions, saying Shamsud-Din Jabbar had been struggling to get previous a latest divorce however that he confirmed no indicators of anger simply weeks previous to the assault.
“He was good, humorous, charismatic, loving, compassionate, humble and actually would not harm a fly,” Abdur Rahim Jabbar informed Reuters in an interview at his residence in Beaumont, Texas. “That is why it is so devastating. This diploma of maliciousness just isn’t like him. We are attempting to know what modified, too.”
He stated their father broke down upon listening to the information.
“(Our dad) began crying. He was saying ‘nope, nope, not my oldest boy,'” Abdur Jabbar stated.
This undated and unlocated handout picture launched by the FBI on January 1, 2025 reveals a photograph of deceased New Orleans assault suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
– | Afp | Getty Pictures
Heightened safety promised
The bloodbath on New Orleans’ famed Bourbon Avenue within the French Quarter throughout a vacation celebration and an explosion outdoors the Trump Worldwide Lodge in Las Vegas have made for an unnerving begin to the brand new 12 months within the U.S.
The FBI stated it had to this point discovered no definitive hyperlink between the New Orleans assault and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas in a while the identical day, which killed the driving force and left seven folks with minor accidents.
Regulation enforcement officers throughout the nation are promising heightened safety for upcoming public occasions.
The Sugar Bowl faculty soccer sport that had been scheduled for Wednesday in New Orleans in a New Yr’s Day custom was rescheduled for Thursday beneath elevated safety and with a second of silence to honor the victims. As soon as the sport bought performed, Notre Dame defeated Georgia, 23-10.
Bourbon Avenue reopened to the general public earlier within the day. The town can also be readying for weeks of Mardi Gras celebrations that start on Jan. 6 and can host the Nationwide Soccer League’s Tremendous Bowl subsequent month, with metropolis officers promising heightened safety for the crowded occasions.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar had not too long ago renewed his Muslim religion after abandoning it in his 20s and 30s, his half-brother stated.
He appeared to have made a collection of spiritual audio recordings 11 months in the past that contained radical views on the evils of music in addition to extra mainstream Islamic views reminiscent of condemning medication and alcohol.
Abdur Jabbar confirmed to Reuters that the recordings posted on the SoundCloud platform had been of his half-brother.
“Music is the voice of Devil. … Devil’s voice can also be the deceptive of individuals from Allah’s approach,” Shamsud-Din Jabbar says in one of many recordings.
“One of many indicators of the top of occasions can be that some teams of Muslims will suppose that enjoying music is not sinful,” he stated, including that “Allah will punish them with an earthquake and transformation.”
He additionally decries the usage of “intoxicants like marijuana, alcohol, sedatives, opioids, stimulants.”
The FBI and SoundCloud didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon the recordings.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a suspect within the New Orleans assault, is seen on this image obtained from social media, launched in November 2013, in Fort Johnson (previously Fort Polk), Louisiana, U.S., 1st Brigade Fight Group, 82nd Airborne Division by way of Fb.
1st Brigade Fight Group, 82nd Airborne | Through Reuters
Household, monetary issues
Jabbar had confronted household and monetary struggles lately, in keeping with public information and interviews.
His father suffered a stroke in 2023 and he was serving to organize for his care, Abdur Jabbar stated. That got here on the heels of his divorce, in September 2022, from his second spouse, with whom he fathered one little one, courtroom information present.
In accordance with the FBI, Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans on Dec. 31. On the morning of the assault, between 1:29 a.m. and three:02 a.m., he posted 5 movies on Fb during which he stated he supported Islamic State, the FBI stated.
Within the first video, Jabbar stated he beforehand deliberate to hurt his household and pals, however was involved that the media protection wouldn’t concentrate on the “conflict between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia stated.
Jabbar additionally stated within the movies that he had joined Islamic State earlier than final summer season and supplied his final will and testomony, Raia stated.
Surveillance video confirmed Jabbar inserting two improvised explosive gadgets in coolers a couple of hours earlier than the assault at intersections round Bourbon Avenue. They had been each rendered secure on the scene.
