Law enforcement officials in New Orleans held a press conference early Wednesday afternoon regarding the horrific truck ramming attack on Bourbon Street on New Year’s morning.
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As RedState reported, at around 3:15 a.m., as New Year’s Eve revelers wound down their celebration of the holiday, a man, who’s since been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen, Army veteran, and resident of Texas, drove a white Ford F-150 Lightning truck onto Bourbon Street ramming it through a crowd, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens of others.
Despite some initial confusion prompted by a statement from an FBI spokesperson asserting that the incident was not “a terrorist event” (despite New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell having just characterized it as such), the matter is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
BREAKING: Multiple Deaths/Injuries Reported After Driver Plows Into Crowd on Bourbon Street
NEW: Attacker in Bourbon Street Massacre Identified, and the FBI Clearly Misled the Public
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Here are the latest details provided by officials at the press conference:
FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan spoke first, confirming the details already known, including the number killed and injured and the identity of the suspect. She confirmed the truck appeared to be rented and that there was an ISIS flag on the trailer hitch. She also confirmed that there were IEDs found and recovered from the vehicle and two other locations, and those have been rendered safe.
The key takeaway from Duncan (and other officials who spoke) was that they do not believe Jabbar acted alone.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell spoke and offered her condolences to all those affected. She emphasized the cooperation between the local, state, and federal law enforcement authorities. She and the Chief of Police, Anne Kirkpatrick, have been to the hospital to visit the officers who were shot and confirmed that they are doing well, considering their injuries. She also indicated that, as of the time of the press conference, some victims still remained on Bourbon Street, and the priority was for them to be “serviced and removed as soon as possible.”
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Governor Jeff Landry spoke and emphasized that their primary focus is public safety. He had planned to issue an emergency declaration on Thursday ahead of the city hosting the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, but has amended that and issued it today to allow federal, state, and local partners to bring all the resources necessary to make the city safe.
In light of Wednesday’s events, a decision was made to postpone the Sugar Bowl, originally set to be played Wednesday evening, to Thursday evening.
The police have conducted a sweep of the area, with officers walking in a grid to search for any other IEDs.
Witness to Bourbon Street Massacre Describes Horrific Scene, Says Barricades Were Not in Place
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) addressed reporters and had some powerful words. Paraphrasing, Kennedy said:
I wish I understood better why bad things happen to good people. If I make it to Heaven, I’m gonna ask. For those people who don’t believe in objective evil, all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning to see that it does. If this doesn’t trigger the gag reflex of every fair-minded American, I’d be very surprised.
I’m here because these are my people and my people’s friends. I’m here because a lot of Louisianans are scared tonight, and I don’t want them to be.
There is a lot of information swirling around — some of it is true, some of it is not. The federal authorities are now in charge. I have not spoken with the FBI but I did speak with the Secretary of Homeland Security a little while ago. I told him we expect to put the full resources of the federal government behind this investigation.
My ask: Catch these people; catch these people; and then tell the American people the truth. I don’t want you to tell us anything that’s going to interfere with the investigation. But after we get to the bottom of this, they need to tell the American people the truth.
I believe it is wise to postpone the Sugar Bowl — there’s too much stuff we don’t know, and it’s just not worth it.
I promise you this: When it is appropriate and the investigation is complete — you will find out what happened, or I will raise fresh hell.
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The issue of the bollards/barricades was discussed. Gov. Landry began by saying that was one of his first questions when he received the news from Mayor Cantrell early Wednesday morning. He affirmed that “Whatever the problem was is going to be solved.”
Mayor Cantrell explained that over 10 years ago, the city implemented an infrastructure project that included installing bollards on Bourbon St. Thereafter, issues with the bollards malfunctioning ensued. The New Orleans Police Department deemed them inefficient because they did not do what they were intended to do. Because the city is hosting the Super Bowl, they now have the resources to build in bollard replacement into the infrastructure package and have moved forward with it. The bollards were not up because they were near completion of the project.
Police Superintendent Kirkpatrick added that they had been aware of the bollard situation for a while and that they had vehicles and officers and other barriers in place where the bollards were not up, but that the suspect defeated those efforts by driving up onto the sidewalk and around them. In essence, “We had a plan, but the terrorist defeated it.”
Asked for more details regarding what is known about any of Jabbar’s accomplices, Kennedy stepped back in and said, “The FBI’s not going to be able to answer those questions, but they will eventually, once they have a chance to investigate it all, along with police, Homeland Security, and the City of New Orleans — I promise, or I’m going to raise fresh hell. But right now, they’re in the process of trying to catch the other bad guys.”
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