Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s New Year’s massacre in New Orleans, carried out with a pickup truck flying an ISIS flag, could embolden the terrorist organization to radicalize more Americans, experts told Fox News Digital.

Jabbar’s younger half-brother, Abdur Rahim-Jabbar, told Fox News Digital that he, his Army veteran half-brother and their three siblings were raised in a Muslim household in Beaumont, Texas; Jabbar stepped away from the religion, but embraced it again after his latest divorce, his brother said. 

Rahim-Jabbar said this “was not a direct reflection of his brother and the Muslim community,” blaming Wednesday’s attack on his half-brother’s radicalization rather than religion.  

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He added that Jabbar did not know what he wanted to do in life and began his military career “to get some sort of discipline.”

While he was traveling from his home in Texas to Louisiana on Tuesday, Jabbar posted videos to his Facebook account pledging his allegiance to ISIS, law enforcement sources said.

Retired FBI agents Scott Duffey and Chris Swecker told Fox News Digital Wednesday’s attack could embolden ISIS, other terrorist groups or individuals who have been radicalized.

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ATF agents investigate a rental home used by Shamsud-Din Jabbar in New Orleans on Thursday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

“This is a time where ISIS is under extreme stress, and their existence is being threatened in Syria and elsewhere. It would make sense for them to double down on their message to radicalize Americans to put them into action and activate any cells that they have in place,” Swecker said.

Before his rampage in New Orleans, Jabbar posted several videos on Facebook declaring his support for ISIS, the FBI said at a news conference Thursday.

“In the first video, Jabbar explains he only planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers,’” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said. 

ISIS and other terrorist organizations often use social media to recruit new members, experts said.

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“ISIS and other foreign adversaries use all sorts of social media platforms to spread anti-American ideologies, rhetoric and propaganda,” Duffey said. “It’s free speech and designed to slowly convert young people to start questioning their American and religious ideals.

“It starts off (with) soft messaging to attract people into their thought process,” he added. “Links are often provided that lead people to additional messages… sowing division and distrust of government in young impressionable minds.

“I think there is often an underlying mental issue in the reader that attracts them to the message, which over time leads to… more encrypted messages of violence.

“It’s a win for them if someone does something like what he did yesterday.”

Investigators search a rental home used by Shamsud-Din Jabbar in New Orleans on Thursday. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

Most people are radicalized by online materials, said John Ryan, who served as chief of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department.

“Him being an IT person, it would mean he probably knows how to access the dark web where a lot more material is available,” Ryan said of Jabbar’s background in information technology.

“In regards to whether it could trigger other people, sadly there are a lot of keyboard warriors who are being exposed to this and searching for something to connect to. Given the high level of mental health issues in the aftermath of COVID and the number of protests in support of Hamas and pro-Palestine and anti-Israel, the answer is yes. Mostly lone wolf type of people.”

Although law enforcement officers were initially searching for accomplices in the attack, the FBI said Thursday it appears Jabbar acted alone. However, Swecker said, that does not discount the possibility of an active terror cell within the country. 

“If his radicalization was as a result of the propaganda and calls to action from ISIS on the internet, this is [still] international terrorism. We’re calling him homegrown, but it’s directed from a terrorist organization,” Swecker said. 

“Even if he doesn’t carry a card, even if he isn’t on the phone with the ISIS director but he’s being called to action by propaganda on their websites, it’s still international terrorism,” he said. “That’s very much a part of the playbook for al Qaeda and these international groups.”

Jabbar was stationed at Fort Bragg, now called Fort Liberty, in North Carolina, as was active-duty U.S. Army soldier Matthew Livelsberger, who police said intentionally set and died in an explosion that injured seven outside Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Investigators have uncovered no evidence of a connection between the Bourbon Street terror attack in New Orleans and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas despite the suspects’ shared military history.

The driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that blew up outside Trump International Hotel Las Vegas New Year’s Day has been identified as active-duty U.S. Army soldier Matthew Livelsberger, pictured right. Livelsberger’s attack took place within hours of Jabbar’s in New Orleans. (Fox News)

“If they served at the same base, I think I’m still very open and there’s a distinct possibility that they linked up on the internet or with their prior military associations,” Swecker said. “If [Livelsberger] was a convert, he would have been going to the same [religious] services as [Jabbar].

“What [Jabbar] did and what happened in Las Vegas does give credibility to the movement and creates that excitement in others who may be thinking about it [carrying] on their plan in a short time frame,” Duffey said.

Multiple diversity, equity and inclusion consulting companies have been struggling in Florida in the years following the “Stop WOKE Act.”

Roni Bennett, the Executive Director of South Florida People of Color, told the Miami Herald on Thursday that she has seen her annual revenue of nearly $300,000 be cut in half thanks to Florida’s new policies.

“We’re in trouble,” Bennett said.

The “Stop WOKE Act” or the “Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act” is a law that was passed in 2022 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. It targeted critical race theory in work and educational programs. Bennett found that many businesses stopped requesting services from her organization despite a slight boost during the pandemic.

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Bennett added how even prior to the act she saw shifts in some clients’ attitudes, suggesting their original interest was “performative.”

“One client had a president change, and the new president wasn’t into DEI training,” she said.

Consultants like Bennett are now trying to remind current and potential clients that, regardless of the national concerns about the “Stop WOKE Act,” the bill does not actually target private businesses.

“It’s important because the Stop Woke Act for businesses became very prominent after passing,” Alexander Rundlet, a Brickell lawyer and public policy consultant, said. “It made every business fearful it couldn’t [participate] in DEI training in fear of the act. Since March, it’s clear this doesn’t apply to businesses.”

In March, a federal appeals court ruled that the workplace portion of the law violated the First Amendment.

In April 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 7, known as the “Stop WOKE Act.”  (Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“We cannot agree, and we reject this latest attempt to control speech by recharacterizing it as conduct. Florida may be exactly right about the nature of the ideas it targets. Or it may not. Either way, the merits of these views will be decided in the clanging marketplace of ideas rather than a codebook or a courtroom.” Judge Britt C. Grant wrote at the time. “The First Amendment keeps the government from putting its thumb on the scale.”

A federal judge later granted a permanent injunction against that portion of the law in July. However, the portion of the law focused on education has been allowed to remain intact.

Despite the favorable ruling, DEI consultant businesses continue to struggle based on the growing anti-woke culture, Rundlet said.

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“A lot of deep and widespread harm has been inflicted over the past few years,” Rundlet said. “People like Roni Bennett have to do a lot of work to undue that harm.”

Bennett has shown concerns that some clients’ actions are only “performative.” (iStock)

The Miami Herald reported that Bennett nevertheless “remains steadfast in her work,” though she is looking for an angel investor to help her business.

“We owe it to the next generation to make progress for them,” she said. “I want to be able to dismantle systematic racism in America.”

A Florida man was arrested on Christmas Day after allegedly attempting to kill his wife and himself in a murder-suicide, according to police reports.

Jonathan McPhee, 78, faces a first-degree attempted murder charge after he allegedly attacked his wife and then called 911 at the couple’s home on Pine Cone Way.

McPhee told the dispatcher, “I clubbed her, and I’m going to try to stab myself in the heart,” according to a legal document obtained by People Magazine.

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When Largo Police Department officers arrived, they found McPhee had stabbed himself and his wife had suffered blunt-force trauma. 

They were both transported to a local hospital, where they are in critical condition.

“While being attended to by medical staff, the defendant spontaneously stated, ‘Just let me die, I killed (redacted),” according to an arrest report.

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Jonathan McPhee, 78, faces an attempted murder charge after he allegedly attacked his wife and then called 911 at the couple’s home on Pine Cone Way. (iStock)

He also sent a text to his wife’s daughter saying he “killed” her and was going to kill himself because of “financial and health issues,” the report said.

He allegedly went on to detail how he would like the funeral arrangements and life insurance to be handled.

This is an ongoing investigation, and no further information is available currently.