President Joe Biden will visit New Orleans next week, as the city is still reeling from the deadly New Year’s Eve rampage in which an Army veteran plowed a truck into revelers.
The White House announced that the president and first lady would travel to New Orleans on Monday to “mourn the families and community members affected by this tragic attack.”
Fourteen people were killed in the attack. The driver, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US citizen from Texas, was later killed in an exchange of gunfire with police.
Biden said Thursday he had ordered an “expedited” investigation into the attack. He also praised the morale of the residents of New Orleans.
After visiting Louisiana, Biden will travel to California for an event in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
A mix of law enforcement, street performers and football fans filled New Orleans neighborhoods as the city returned to normal while mourning the victims of the deadly New Year’s rampage in which an army veteran plowed a truck into partygoers.
The attack along Bourbon Street killed 14 people, including the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who authorities say was inspired by the Islamic State militant group. Jabbar was fatally shot in an exchange of fire with police after driving his truck around a barricade and plowing into a crowd. Around thirty people were injured.
Authorities finished processing the scene Thursday morning, removing the last bodies. Bourbon Street, famous around the world for its music, outdoor drinks and party atmosphere, reopened its doors early this afternoon.
On the same block where the attack took place, trombone and lifelong New Orleanian Jonas Green said it was important for his group to be there the day after the violence.
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“I know that with this music, it heals, it transforms the feelings that we go through into something better,” Green said. “We must continue. »
The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening.
The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter is still scheduled for Monday to kick off the Carnival season before Mardi Gras, said Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the organizers. She said they expect a typical crowd of several thousand people.
The FBI continued to search for clues about Jabbar but, a day into its investigation, the agency said it was confident he was not helped by anyone else in the attack, which killed an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother, father of two and former Princeton University football star, among others.
The FBI said that hours before the attack, Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas, posted five videos to his Facebook account in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State group and gave insight into the violence that ‘it would soon trigger in this country. the famous French Quarter.
It was the deadliest ISIS-inspired attack on U.S. soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have called a resurgent international terrorism threat. It also comes as the FBI and other agencies prepare for a dramatic leadership shake-up and likely policy changes after President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes office.
Christopher Raia, deputy director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, stressed that there was no indication of a link between the New Orleans attack and Wednesday’s explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck filled with fire. fireworks in front of Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas.
Plans to attack New Orleans also included placing crude bombs in the neighborhood in an apparent effort to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were secured at the scene. Other devices were found to be non-functional.
Investigators were also trying to better understand Jabbar’s path to radicalization, which they say culminated with him picking up a rented truck in Houston on Dec. 30 and transporting him to New Orleans the following night .
The FBI recovered a black ISIS flag from Jabbar’s rented van and reviewed five videos posted to Facebook, including one in which he said he initially planned to harm his family and friends but feared that the headlines do not focus on the “war between believers and believers.” the disbelievers,” Raia said.
Jabbar also said he joined ISIS before last summer and provided a will, the FBI said.
Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deployed to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.
A U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Jabbar visited Egypt in 2023, staying in Cairo for a week, before returning to the United States. -United and then go to Toronto for three days. It was not immediately clear what he did during these trips.
Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, Jabbar’s younger brother, told The Associated Press on Thursday that it “doesn’t seem real” that his brother could have done this.
“I never thought it would be him,” he said. “That’s totally unlike him.”
He said his brother had been isolated in recent years, but had also been in contact with him recently and had seen no signs of radicalization.
On Bourbon Street, flowers and candles were placed in memory of the victims, while yellow poles were installed on the surrounding blocks. On Thursday night, bouncers danced to club music, tourists posed for photos and a group of street performers preparing to knock down a line of people had no trouble attracting a massive audience.
Mark Tabor, the manager of a Willie’s Chicken Shack on Bourbon Street, said it was strange to feel the disconnect between the normal bustle of the French Quarter outside and the violence he had witnessed in less than 48 hours earlier.
“I’m glad they cleaned the streets, but it’s like everything is forgotten,” he said. “It’s sad.”