As RedState reported, at least 10 people are dead and many more injured after a man drove a truck through a crowd and then began firing a weapon on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, LA. If you aren’t familiar with the area, it’s one of the most famous bar-hopping spots in the world and was packed for New Year’s Eve, making it a prime target for someone who wanted to cause mass casualties.
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SEE: Multiple People Dead After Driver Plows Through Crowd on Bourbon Street (UPDATED)
Given that the assailant, who was killed in a firefight, got out of the vehicle and started shooting people, any presumption this could have been an accident went out the window immediately. Was this a terrorist attack? It sure seems like it, and that’s exactly what New Orleans’ Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced. Yet, at the very same press conference, an FBI assistant special agent got Christoper Wray’s agency into hot water by pointedly saying “This is not a terrorist attack.”
Here’s a video splicing together the two women’s statements.
This is unbelievable. The mayor of New Orleans confirmed it was a terrorist attack, and literally minutes later, at the same press conference, an FBI spokesperson stated it was not a terrorist attack. pic.twitter.com/FbTyG3VNXt
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) January 1, 2025
CANTRELL: Good morning. First of all, we do know that the City of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack. It’s all still under investigation. You’ll hear more after me, however, I have been in direct contact with the White House, with Gov. Landry, and of course, a unified command who is present here.
(Video break)
FBI ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT: This is not a terrorist attack. What it is right now is there improvised explosive devices that was found, and we are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not.
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I don’t understand the strategy here. Did this lady, whose statement was already grammatically hard to understand, speak out of turn? Or was that the official position of the bureau at the time she said it? If the FBI didn’t know if it was a terrorist attack or not, then the right move would have been to say that clearly, not come out and immediately say it’s not one. Also, why is an assistant special agent taking on the role of leading the investigation’s public face?
And lest anyone think the above clip is taking things out of context, here’s the assistant special agent’s full statement.
The New Orleans incident is “not a terrorist event” says FBI assistant special agent in charge, Aletha Duncan.
There have been “improvised explosive devices” found in the area, she adds.
The local mayor called it a “terrorist attack” moments before.https://t.co/lgEpBlrO0r pic.twitter.com/aauIieHNQp
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 1, 2025
Sure enough, the FBI changed its position and subsequently told reporters it was investigating the event as a terrorist attack.
This FBI assistant special agent has now been contradicted by the FBI https://t.co/chW6UdGFZz pic.twitter.com/XC9dx2fAbo
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) January 1, 2025
In some ways, I don’t think that revision passes muster either. When someone rams a vehicle through a crowd and then gets out to murder more people, it is pretty clearly a terrorist attack. It doesn’t matter what race or nationality they are. Further, since the assailant is dead, the FBI almost certainly knows exactly who he is at this point. Why not just be honest instead of pretending it’s some grand mystery? Or at least advise the public on what is known, which is more than “This is not a terrorist attack, but oh yeah, it might be a terrorist attack.”
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The way the mayor spoke, it seems pretty likely she had already been briefed that it was a terrorist attack. Perhaps the FBI assistant special agent didn’t realize the mayor had said that before taking the podium and thought the talking points were being adhered to. Does that excuse the FBI lying, if that’s in fact what happened? Obviously not, but whatever the reason, this is another black eye on an already beleaguered FBI that has lost the trust of the American people.
This is a developing story.
