Preview

Bidens to visit New Orleans, relatives of victims of terrorist attack

Please log in to download this media. Not registered? Register now!

Metadata

Bidens to visit New Orleans, relatives of victims of terrorist attack
January 6, 2025
Article Body Text Washington — U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit New Orleans on Monday to grieve with relatives of the 14 people who were killed and 35 injured there when a man drove a rented pickup truck at high speed through a group of pedestrians in the early hours of New Year’s Day. The Bidens plan to meet with family members of the victims who were run over when the suspect, identified by authorities as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old military veteran from Houston, sped down bustling Bourbon Street, a prime tourist, restaurant and bar locale. Police fatally shot Jabbar after he opened fire on officers. “I've been there,” Biden told reporters Sunday ahead of his visit, reflecting on the loss of his own family members through his years in public life. “There's nothing you can really say to somebody that's just had such a tragic loss. My message is going to be personal if I get to get them alone." Watch related report by Arash Arabasadi: <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/bidens-set-to-visit-new-orleans-days-after-deadly-attack-/7925105.html"><img src="https://gdb.voanews.com/17f6489e-2466-4d0b-83bf-36427c68edfb_tv.jpg" />Bidens set to visit New Orleans days after deadly attack </a> Biden, with two weeks remaining in office before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, is also meeting with investigators who say that Jabbar acted alone in the attack but was inspired by the Islamic State to carry out the terror attack. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that Jabbar posted five videos on social media expressing support for the Islamic State terrorist group, or IS, over roughly an hour and a half before the attack as New Orleans revelers celebrated the first hours of 2025. An IS flag was found in the back of the truck. An official with the country’s top criminal investigative agency said Sunday that Jabbar, wearing specialized hands-free glasses, last October twice visited the French Quarter neighborhood where the attack occurred. Lyonel Myrthil, FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans Field Office, Myrthil said video shows the suspect riding through the French Quarter on a bicycle wearing "meta glasses" that are capable of recording or livestreaming. Myrthil also said officials are also investigating two foreign trips Jabbar took, one to Cairo in the summer of 2023 and then to Canada a few days later. "Our agents are getting answers to where he went, who he went with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here," Myrthil said. FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia told reporters at a news conference Saturday, "All investigative details and evidence that we have now still support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans. We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the U.S. and outside of our borders." <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/new-orleans-attacker-had-suspected-bomb-materials-at-home-officials-say/7924423.html"><figure><img src="https://gdb.voanews.com/08a3ee02-99ba-42e2-86a8-6d2b9adb8b23_cx0_cy5_cw0_w1600_r0_n_s.jpg" /></figure></a><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/new-orleans-attacker-had-suspected-bomb-materials-at-home-officials-say/7924423.html">New Orleans attacker had suspected bomb materials at home, officials say</a> Biden said investigators told him the suspect had a remote detonator in his truck that was meant to set off two explosive devices placed inside ice coolers along Bourbon Street. But police killed Jabbar before he could detonate the explosives. Representative Mike Turner, chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, on Sunday reiterated to CBS’s “Face the Nation” show a previously disclosed U.S. claim, that there are Islamic State members and other terrorist organizations that are inside the United States "working in conjunction with ISIS with the intention of harming Americans.” “We don’t know where they are,” Turner said. Outgoing Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC’s “This Week” show that there has been a “significant increase” over the last 10 years in “homegrown violent extremism.” “It is a very difficult threat landscape,” Mayorkas said. He pledged a smooth transition to Trump’s appointment as the incoming Homeland Security secretary, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. “I have spoken with Governor Noem a number of times, including on New Year’s Day and immediately thereafter, with respect to the horrific terrorist attack,” Mayorkas said. “We have spoken substantively about the measures that we take, and I am incredibly devoted to a smooth and successful transition to the success of Governor Noem, should she be confirmed as the secretary of Homeland Security,” Mayorkas said. <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/us-capital-in-heightened-threat-environment-after-new-year-s-day-attacks-/7923765.html"><figure><img src="https://gdb.voanews.com/14abde7e-e352-4d7e-b3d6-9c274ef2defb_w1600_r0_n_s.jpg" /></figure></a><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/us-capital-in-heightened-threat-environment-after-new-year-s-day-attacks-/7923765.html">US capital in 'heightened threat environment' after New Year's Day attacks </a> Biden’s Monday visit to New Orleans is occurring with heightened security concerns in Washington as Congress meets to certify that Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election. It is four years to the day after Trump supporters rampaged through the U.S. Capitol, ransacking congressional offices and attacking law enforcement officers to block certification of Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump has vowed, within hours of taking office on January 20, to pardon many of those arrested and imprisoned in the January 6, 2021, attack.
Content Type Text
Language English
NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing Available No
Network VOA
Embargo Date January 5, 2025 13:31 EST
Byline Ken Bredemeier
Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English