US probing if New Orleans attack and Tesla truck blast outside Trump hotel are linked
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FBI agents look at the site where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Jan 1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – US President Joe Biden said law enforcement officials were looking for any additional people who may have played a part in the attack in New Orleans that left at least 15 people dead.
Mr Biden said initial indications – including social media videos posted by the suspect in the hours ahead of the attack – suggested he had been influenced by militant group ISIS but urged Americans to allow the investigation to proceed before drawing their own conclusions.
He also said law enforcement was examining if there was any link with the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside US President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas.
“The FBI is leading the investigation to determine what happened, why it happened, whether there was any continuing threat to public safety,” Mr Biden said on the evening of Jan 1 from Camp David, calling the violence in New Orleans a “despicable attack”.
The President said the law enforcement and intelligence communities would “continue to look for any connections, associations, or co-conspirators” and urged that “no one should jump to conclusions”.
President Joe Biden says law enforcement officials are also looking for any additional people who may have played a part in the New Orleans attack.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Biden said the dead suspect – identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42 – was an American citizen who was born in Texas and who had served in the US Army. Mr Biden said Jabbar had posted videos on social media expressing a desire to kill.
The incidents in New Orleans and Las Vegas have thrust questions about national security and terrorism to the forefront, with just weeks before Trump is set to be inaugurated for his second term.
Trump vowed to support New Orleans as officials and residents “investigate and recover from this act of pure evil”, in a Jan 1 statement on his Truth Social platform.
But he also used the incident to assail border security and crime, appearing to suggest – before the suspect was identified – that he may have been a migrant.
“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the fake news media, but it turned out to be true,” Trump said in a post.
“The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before.”
Early investigation
Mr Biden on Jan 1 called the situation “fluid” and cautioned that the investigation was still in its early stages.
Earlier on the morning of Jan 1, he spoke to New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell to offer the federal government’s support. Mr Biden was briefed throughout the afternoon by his homeland security team, according to the White House.
He also received a briefing on the fire and explosion outside the Las Vegas hotel.
The New Orleans attack occurred around 3.15am local time on Jan 1 near the intersection of Canal and Bourbon streets in New Orleans, when the suspect allegedly drove a Ford pickup truck through crowds in the French Quarter.
In addition to the death toll, dozens of others were injured, according to the FBI.
The suspect was killed after exchanging fire with law enforcement, striking two officers, who are in stable condition.
Two improvised explosive devices were found in the suspect’s vehicle, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The FBI said additional possible improvised explosive devices were found in the French Quarter neighbourhood.
The FBI said the pickup truck appeared to be rented and an ISIS flag was found in the vehicle. The agency is working to determine any potential associations or affiliations Jabbar may have had with terrorist groups.
The suspect in the attack left a trail of carnage in a part of New Orleans that is a popular tourist hot spot, particularly during New Year’s celebrations that can draw thousands to the bar-lined French Quarter.
And it came hours before the football teams from Notre Dame and the University of Georgia were set to play in the city’s Superdome. The game has been postponed until Jan 2.
Cybertruck explosion
In the Las Vegas incident, police said a Cybertruck pulled up to the entrance of the Trump International Hotel and that smoke appeared from the vehicle before a large explosion.
The driver is dead, and there are seven individuals with minor injuries, according to the authorities.
Mr Biden said that while law enforcement was investigating any “possible connection with the attack in New Orleans”, there was “nothing to report on that score at this time”.
In a post on his X platform, billionaire Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and a Trump ally, said the company confirmed that the Cybertruck explosion was “caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed” and was “unrelated to the vehicle itself”.
He suggested the two incidents could be linked, saying they appeared “likely to be an act of terrorism”.
“Both this Cybertruck and the F-150 suicide bomb in New Orleans were rented from Turo,” he wrote, referencing a car-sharing marketplace that allows hosts to rent out their cars.
Investigators in Las Vegas have found no overt signs of a connection to international terrorism, but they are still exploring all possibilities.
“We are absolutely investigating any connection to what happened in New Orleans. We are not ruling anything out yet,” Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters on Jan 1.
He added that there is no evidence suggesting a broader threat to the public. FBI officials described the explosion as an isolated incident.
The sheriff also said that Tesla has been cooperating with the investigation, providing vehicle data and charging station records to assist the authorities. BLOOMBERG
