Southwest
New Orleans terrorist's radical shift a wake-up call for all Americans: 'ISIS and others are back'
A 42-year-old Texas consultant named Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove through a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans as they celebrated the beginning of 2025 — flying an ISIS flag from the hitch of his rented pickup while killing 14 and injuring another 30.
On the 350-mile drive from Houston to the Big Easy, Jabbar recorded selfie videos declaring his allegiance to ISIS and saying he initially planned to kill his own friends and family but decided on attacking innocent members of the public in order to attract more attention to what he called a “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” according to the FBI.
He was a U.S. Army veteran and had a lucrative job at a major consulting firm, but he brought a pair of IEDs and two firearms with him to attack civilians — allegedly radicalized in just weeks. And authorities are warning of similar lone wolf attacks and how deadly they can be, as New Orleans officials work to bolster security following the ramming attack on its iconic, pedestrian-packed Bourbon Street.
“ISIS and others are back,” James Jay Carafano, an expert on national security and foreign policy, warned in a recent Fox News op-ed. “Biden’s humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan reignited the hope that America really was the paper tiger that Usama Bin Laden claimed we were.”
NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST RADICALIZED BY ISIS ONLINE WITHIN WEEKS, FBI DIRECTOR SAYS
The FBI released photos of surveillance footage that shows Shamsud-Din Jabbar an hour before he drove a truck down Bourbon Street, New Orleans, early Jan. 1, 2025. (Federal Bureau of Investigation via AP)
Although the shockingly violent group’s “territorial caliphate” was destroyed during the first Trump administration, its propagandists continue to encourage and radicalize potential terrorists. Jabbar, in one of his videos, declared that he had “joined ISIS before this summer,” FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia told reporters in a news briefing.
“The threats from international terrorism, domestic terrorism, and state-sponsored terrorism are complex and persistent — and notably, they are all simultaneously elevated,” Raia said. “We continually face threats from foreign terrorist organizations, violent extremists across the ideological spectrum, and criminal actors that aim to bring violence to the United States.”
A black flag with white lettering lies on the ground rolled up behind a pickup truck that a man drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing and injuring a number of people, early Wednesday morning, Jan. 1, 2025. The FBI said they recovered an Islamic State group flag, which is black with white lettering, from the vehicle. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Jabbar traveled to Cairo, Egypt, from June 22 to July 3, 2023, then returned to the U.S. In a separate trip on July 10, 2023, he traveled to Ontario, Canada, and returned to the U.S. a few days later, the FBI said during a press conference. It was unclear whether the visit was connected to the attack, but Raia said the Bureau is investigating whether Jabbar had any associates in the U.S. or overseas.
BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT SAYS NEW ORLEANS ATTACKER EXHIBITED ‘RED FLAGS’ BEFORE ATTACK
Investigators said they are still looking into how and why Jabbar became radicalized. In an interview with “60 Minutes” over the weekend, FBI Director Christopher Wray said he believes the killer was inspired by ISIS content he found on the internet.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a suspect in the New Orleans attack, is seen in this picture obtained from social media, released in November 2013, in Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk), Louisiana, U.S. (1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division via Facebook via REUTERS)
“[Jabbar] appears to have been inspired — from afar — by ISIS, and it is, in many ways, the most challenging type of terrorist threat we face,” Wray told the interviewer, Scott Pelley. “You’re talking about guys like this, who radicalize not in years but in weeks, and whose method of attack is still very deadly but fairly crude. And if you think about that old saying about connecting the dots, there are not a lot of dots out there to connect. And there’s very little time in which to connect them.”
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTIMS OF NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK
Wray is warning that lone wolf attacks are a major priority for the FBI and began warning of an elevated threat more than a year ago.
The New York Times earlier this month noted that the way Jabbar flew his flag, from the trailer hitch in the back of his rented Ford F-150 EV, was the same as in an ISIS propaganda poster uncovered by the Daily Mail, in 2017.
Investigators continue to block off Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday, January 2, 2024, after the New Year’s attack. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
The image, which shows an SUV driving over a pile of skulls in front of an urban backdrop, includes the caption, “Run over them without mercy,” as written in English. That year saw vehicular terror attacks in London, New York City, Jerusalem, Barcelona and elsewhere.
A year earlier, an ISIS-inspired terrorist drove a truck into Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France, killing 84.
Older terror groups, like Al-Qaeda, focused on highly planned attacks on a global scale, like Sept. 11, 2001, an earlier attack on the World Trade Center with a car bomb in 1993, according to Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector. ISIS promoted a shift toward small but brutal attacks that could be perpetrated anywhere around the globe.
“You didn’t have to take down the Brooklyn Bridge. You were a lion of Islam if you stabbed your neighbor because he was an apostate,” he said.
As ISIS rose to prominence, the terrorists posted horrific videos of violence that were highly produced, depicting torture and murder in extremely graphic detail.
U.S. THREAT LANDSCAPE, DOMESTIC EXTREMISM POSE A DAUNTING—BUT FAMILIAR—TEST FOR TRUMP’S SECOND TERM
But even after its defeat, the terror group continues to maintain an online presence that includes propaganda videos and a weekly newsletter, according to the Times report.
A member loyal to the Islamic State waves an ISIS flag in Raqqa June 29, 2014. (REUTERS/Stringer)
Roughly a year before Jabbar’s rampage, ISIS propagandists urged supporters to invade people’s homes and “kill them wherever you find them,” Voice of America reported at the time.
Counter-terror investigators have been fighting lone wolves inspired by such campaigns for years, Mauro said.
He’s calls it a “loser-to-lion” syndrome — radicalized lone wolves who have nothing going for them become convinced they can achieve martyrdom through acts of terror.
But even with increased surveillance and awareness of the issue, attackers can slip through the cracks.
In another New Year’s attack, on Dec. 31, 2022, a 19-year-old Maine man named Trevor Bickford drove to New York City and attacked three police officers with a machete while shouting “Allahu akbar.”
He had reportedly been on the FBI’s radar already, and earlier that year became radicalized and decided to “wage jihad.” He is serving a 27-year prison sentence.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
-
A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
-
South-Carolina34 seconds agoSouth Carolina Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for May 16, 2026
-
South Dakota7 minutes agoSouth Dakota softball’s run ends in extra-inning loss to Grand Canyon
-
Tennessee13 minutes agoTennessee Softball’s Opponent Set for Knoxville Regional Finals | Rocky Top Insider
-
Texas19 minutes agoTexas A&M claims first title in rebooted Lone Star Showdown
-
Utah25 minutes agoVideo: Utah couple biking 4,000 miles for their 40th wedding anniversary – KSLTV.com
-
Vermont31 minutes ago
VT Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for May 16, 2026
-
Virginia37 minutes agoNew Virginia law banning `assault firearms’ prompts quick lawsuits from gun-rights groups
-
Washington43 minutes ago
Washington Lottery Powerball, Cash Pop results for May 16, 2026
