The truck which attacked New Year’s revelers in New Orleans and has killed at least 15 people had an Islamic State group flag attached to the back of his rented truck, federal authorities said.
The suspected attacker, a 42-year-old U.S.-born citizen named Shamsud-Din Jabbar, died after exchanging gunfire with police after the attack on Bourbon Street early Wednesday.
Within a few hours, the FBI confirmed it was investigating the attack as a terrorist-related act.
Statement from the FBI on the situation in New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/B3TskTJyUc
— FBI (@FBI) January 1, 2025
Early Wednesday, speculation ran rampant regarding whether the suspect had an Islamic State group flag on the back of the truck:
On the left is a black flag on the back of the New Orleans terror suspect’s truck
It looks like police zip tied the flag closed but you can see it’s a black flag with white markings
On the right is the ISIS flag, which is black w/white markings
Time will tell which flag it is pic.twitter.com/WJOZvItGdG
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) January 1, 2025
During brief remarks to the media on the situation Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden confirmed that the flag that was found was indeed the standard of the terrorist organization.
Is Islamic terrorism the greatest threat facing America?
Yes: 67% (2 Votes)
No: 33% (1 Votes)
The FBI, he said, “reported to me that that mere hours before the attack he posted videos on social media indicating that it was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.
The ISIS flag was found in his vehicle which he rented to conduct this attack,” he continued. “Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well and more explosives were were found nearby.”
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“I know that while this person committed a terrible assault on a city, the spirit of New Orleans will never be defeated,” Biden added.
Biden did not take questions after his brief prepared remarks, including whether or not he had spoken to President-elect Donald Trump after the attack.
A release from the FBI National Press Office more or less confirmed this: “An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” the statement read.
“Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe.”
The device was attached to the truck’s trailer hitch, the FBI said.
According to the New York Post, Jabbar was a “military veteran who went from success to a squalid Houston trailer park where sheep roamed his yard.”
An information technology specialist, he spent more than a decade in the U.S. Army, including a stint in Afghanistan from February of 2009 to January of 2010.
He left the Army Reserve at the rank of staff sergeant, the Army confirmed.
While he was working in real estate as of 2020, according to a YouTube video he posted for his business, by the time of the attack he “lived in a squalid trailer park on the outskirts of Houston that is home to mostly Muslim immigrants.”
“The neighborhood is also within walking distance of the local mosque, Masjid Bilal — where no one answered the telephone on Wednesday,” the Post noted.
As of Wednesday evening, USA Today reported that both federal and local authorities were searching for others who may have been involved in the attack.
“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” said Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent with the FBI New Orleans field office, said on Wednesday afternoon, adding the focus was on “a range of suspects.”
As of Wednesday night, 15 were dead from the attack, with over 30 injured. The Sugar Bowl, initially scheduled for New Year’s Day at New Orleans’ Superdome, was postponed until Thursday.
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