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FBI investigating ‘act of terrorism’ after at least 15 people killed in New Orleans

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FBI investigating ‘act of terrorism’ after at least 15 people killed in New Orleans

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The FBI is investigating an “act of terrorism” after at least 15 people were killed and 35 injured early on Wednesday when a man drove a pick-up truck into a large crowd in the heart of New Orleans.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday night said authorities were also investigating the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas to see if it was related to the attack in New Orleans.

The FBI identified the suspect in the New Orleans attack as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. The FBI said it did not believe he was solely responsible for the attack and said the investigation was “live”.

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The agency, which has taken the lead role in the investigation, said an Isis flag was located on the vehicle and they were now “working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organisations”.

The US Army said Jabbar had served as a human resource specialist and an information technology specialist between 2007 and 2020. His service included a deployment to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.

Louisiana’s governor Jeff Landry said authorities were focused on “hunting some bad people down” and securing the city. The New Orleans coroner confirmed on Wednesday evening that the death toll had risen to at least 15 people.

Biden said Jabbar had posted videos on social media before the New Orleans attack saying he had been inspired by Isis.

The president said authorities were also investigating the Cybertruck’s explosion in Las Vegas earlier on Wednesday, to see if there was a connection with the attack in New Orleans.

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Biden, speaking from Camp David, said there was “nothing to report on that score”. But Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, wrote on X that the explosion “appears likely to be an act of terrorism”.

Musk also said the Cybertruck and the F-150 pick-up truck used in the New Orleans attack had been leased from the same car rental company. “Perhaps they are linked in some way.”

The attack in Louisiana’s largest city occurred early on New Year’s Day along Bourbon Street, one of the main thoroughfares in the historic French Quarter, which is filled with bars, restaurants and musical venues and attracts domestic and international visitors.

Anne Kirkpatrick, superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, said at about 3.15am local time a man drove a pick-up truck down Bourbon Street at a “very fast pace”. The FBI said the truck had been rented.

“It was very intentional behaviour. This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” Kirkpatrick added. “He was hell bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

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The FBI also said “weapons and a potential improvised explosive device were located in the subject’s vehicle”. Authorities said other explosive devices were found elsewhere in the French Quarter.

The agency added its bomb technicians were “working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe”.

Kirkpatrick said two police officers had been shot by the driver and were in stable condition. The FBI said the perpetrator of the attack was dead.

New Orleans police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said a man had driven a pick-up truck down Bourbon Street at a ‘very fast pace’ © Gerald Herbert/AP

LaToya Cantrell, the mayor of New Orleans, said the city had been affected by a “terrorist attack”, without giving further details.

“What I’m asking at this time are prayers for those who lost their lives in the city of New Orleans due to this tragedy,” she said.

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Biden said he had directed officials to “ensure every resource is available as federal, state, and local law enforcement work assiduously to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no remaining threat of any kind”.

President-elect Donald Trump described the incident as an “act of pure evil” on his Truth Social media platform, and said his incoming administration would “fully support the city of New Orleans as they investigate and recover” from the attack.

Emergency services personnel walk through debris on Canal and Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
Emergency services personnel near the scene of the incident on Wednesday © Gerald Herbert/AP

New Orleans is often teeming with visitors during the holiday period, but the city was especially packed on New Year’s Eve this year because of the Sugar Bowl American football game planned for Wednesday between the University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame.

Authorities said the sporting event would be postponed by a day and urged people to avoid the area where the attack took place.

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

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Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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