The New Orleans attacker drove a pickup truck through New Year’s crowds on Bourbon Street. He had recorded videos in the hours before the attack. They declared his inspiration by the Islamic State group and a stated desire to kill. President Joe Biden said Wednesday night that the FBI had briefed him through the day.
Speaking from Camp David, Biden said the bureau was treating the rampage as an act of terrorism. At least 15 people died, including the attacker, and more than 35 suffered injuries. The FBI was still working to establish whether the driver had accomplices. It was also tracing how he obtained two improvised explosive devices, which agents found in coolers near the scene.
KEY POINTS
- Biden said the FBI told him the suspect posted videos to social media. The videos, posted hours before the attack, indicated Islamic State inspiration.
- The rented truck flew an Islamic State flag. The driver had acquired the vehicle through a car-sharing app in Texas.
- The president said investigators were also checking for a connection to the Tesla Cybertruck explosion. The blast happened in Las Vegas the same morning. They had established no connection by then.
What investigators knew about the New Orleans attacker
The New Orleans attacker was a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas. He had served on active duty in the U.S. Army, including a deployment to Afghanistan. Army records show he left as a staff sergeant and later served in the reserves. The suspect rented the Ford pickup through the Turo car-sharing service. He drove it from Texas to Louisiana on New Year’s Eve. Then he arrived in New Orleans hours before he struck at about 3:15 a.m.
FBI officials said he recorded the videos while he drove. In them, he spoke of joining the Islamic State and of wanting to kill. That premeditation has led the bureau to focus on whether anyone else encouraged, assisted or knew of the plan. By Wednesday night, investigators were executing search warrants in Texas and Louisiana. They were also interviewing people who knew him. The bureau set up a digital tip line for anyone who had crossed his path in the preceding days. Agents also executed court-authorized searches at his Houston-area home. They recovered electronic devices for examination.
Background and context
Biden’s remarks came at the end of a New Year’s Day with two violent vehicle incidents under federal investigation. Hours after the New Orleans attack, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Investigators said the truck carried fireworks and fuel canisters in its bed. The blast killed its driver. The president noted that someone had rented both vehicles through the same app. Law enforcement was examining any possible connection, he said, while cautioning that investigators had found nothing so far.
The New Orleans attack is the deadliest Islamic State-inspired assault on U.S. soil since the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. It arrived in the final weeks of Biden’s presidency. President-elect Donald Trump was due to take office on Jan. 20. The timing set up an early transfer of the investigation from one administration to the next. It also transferred the public argument about domestic security.
What happens next
The FBI said the next day that it believed the attacker had acted wholly alone. Agents reached that view after hundreds of interviews and a review of his devices. They called him “100 per cent inspired” by the Islamic State, but not directed by anyone. In New Orleans, officials lowered flags to half-mast. The Sugar Bowl went ahead under heavy security on Thursday. The city began the work of naming and burying its dead. Federal agents kept searching for any copycat risk ahead of the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras. The victims identified in the following days included a former Princeton football player. They also included a nurse who was the mother of a four-year-old. And they included an 18-year-old from Mississippi who had come to the city to celebrate the new year.
Biden ended his Wednesday remarks the way presidents usually end them. He spoke of the city’s resilience. He promised investigators would follow the case wherever it led.
Sources: President Joe Biden’s remarks from Camp David, Jan. 1; FBI statements and investigation updates on the New Orleans attack.
