FBI to brief House Homeland Security Committee on New Orleans attack
Washington — Members of the House Homeland Security Committee will receive a briefing from the FBI on Thursday morning. New Orleans attack, A man deliberately drove a pickup truck into a crowd in the French Quarter on New Year’s Day, authorities said.
David Scott, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, will brief committee members and staff as well as members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation during a conference call Thursday morning, according to committee aides.
Officials said the attack killed at least 14 people and injured dozens more and was being investigated as an act of terrorism, the FBI said. A black ISIS flag flew from the truck’s rear bumper. this FBI identifies Shamsud-Din JabbarThe man driving the vehicle was a 42-year-old man from Texas. Jabbar “posted videos on social media suggesting he was inspired by ISIS and expressed a desire to kill.” President Biden said Wednesday.
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The FBI is leading the investigation, and Biden said in a statement that he had directed his administration to “ensure that federal, state and local law enforcement are working diligently to uncover the truth about what happened as quickly as possible and that all resources are available.” Possibly and ensure that there are no threats of any kind. ”
Democratic Rep. Troy Carter, who represents the area and serves on the Homeland Security Committee, said on “CBS Morning Show” that he believed New Orleans was safe, citing the FBI’s assessment. He said the area was cleared and a thorough search of the entire downtown area was conducted.
“We are acting on a number of leads, and like any other terrorist incident, you can never be too careful, so our caution is to make sure we leave no stone unturned in the investigation,” Carter said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said Thursday morning on Fox News that he had spoken with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Merrick Garland, noting that “there are a lot of Numerous FBI agents have been sent to the scene “in New Orleans” and they are looking at “every possible angle.”
“We are confident that collaboration between federal and state authorities will bring us the answers we need,” Johnson added.
Rep. Mike Walz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, said on Fox News that intelligence indicators need to be reviewed. Although the attackers were born in the United States, Walz said, “the whole world knows we have open borders” and “they intend to attack us, and they are doing it by pushing people into our interior.”
Walz said that if the United States “investigates itself internally, we cannot defend ourselves abroad.”
The FBI investigation is ongoing. A U.S. official familiar with the investigation told CBS News on Thursday that the FBI now believes the attacker may not have been working with co-conspirators.
