The visit to New Orleans by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden comes five days after the deadly terrorist attack in the southern city and amid increased security operations in Washington.
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will visit New Orleans on Monday to grieve with the families of the 14 people who died and 35 others who were injured there when a man drove a rented van at high speed against 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; He sped down busy Bourbon Street, a major tourist, restaurant and bar area. Jabbar was shot dead by police after he opened fire on officers.
Biden, two weeks away from handing over to President-elect Donald Trump, will also meet with researchers who say Jabbar acted alone in the attackbut what inspired by the Islamic State to carry out the terrorist attack.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said Jabbar posted five videos on social media expressing his support for the Islamic State terrorist group, ISIS, during the hour and a half before the attack, as revelers in New Orleans celebrated. the first hours of 2025. An ISIS flag was found in the back of the truck.
On the day of the attack, Biden, speaking from the Camp David presidential residence in Maryland, offered his condolences to the families of the victims in an address to the nation. “I want you to know that I grieve with you,” he said.
He noted that investigators told him the suspect had a remote detonator in his truck that was intended to set off two explosive devices placed inside coolers along busy Bourbon Street.
An official with the country's top criminal investigation agency said Sunday that Jabbar, who was wearing special smart glasses, twice last October visited the French Quarter neighborhood where the attack occurred.
Lyonel Myrthil, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Field Office, Myrthil said the video shows the suspect riding a bicycle through the French Quarter with “meta goggles” that are capable of recording or live streaming.
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 about 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 on Saturday: “All the details of the investigation and the evidence we have now still support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans. We have not seen any indication of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still investigating possible associates in the United States and outside our borders.
Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, reiterated Sunday on CBS' “Face the Nation” a previously revealed U.S. claim that members of the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations are inside The United States “working in conjunction with ISIS with the intent to harm Americans.”
“We don't know where they are,” Turner said.
Outgoing Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas said on ABC's “This Week” that there has been a “significant increase” in the last 10 years in “homegrown violent extremism.”
“It's a very difficult threat landscape,” Mayorkas said. He promised a smooth transition until Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, is confirmed.
“I have spoken with Governor Noem several times, including on New Year's Day and immediately after, regarding the horrific terrorist attack,” Mayorkas said.
“We have talked substantially about the actions we took, and I am incredibly dedicated to a smooth and successful transition for the success of Governor Noem, should she be confirmed as Secretary of Homeland Security,” Mayorkas said.
Biden's visit to New Orleans on Monday comes amid heightened security concerns in Washington as Congress meets to certify that Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November elections.
It has been four years since Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, ransacked congressional offices, and attacked law enforcement officials to block the certification of Biden's victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump vowed, within hours of taking office on January 20, pardon many of those arrested and imprisoned in the January 6, 2021 attack.