Washington — Members of the House Homeland Security Committee are scheduled to receive a briefing from the FBI on Thursday morning. new orleans attack, Authorities say a man intentionally drove his pickup truck into a crowd in the French Quarter on New Year’s Day.
David Scott, deputy director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, along with members of the Louisiana congressional delegation, are scheduled to brief committee members and staff via phone call Thursday morning, according to a committee aide.
The FBI said the attack killed at least 14 people and injured dozens more and was being investigated as an act of terrorism. The truck had a black ISIS flag on its back bumper. that FBI identifies Shamsud-Din JabbarA 42-year-old male from Texas is driving the vehicle. Jabbar “posted videos on social media inspired by ISIS and expressing a desire to kill.” President Biden said this. wednesday.
Patt Little/Anadolu via Getty Images
The FBI is leading the investigation, and Biden issued a statement directing his administration to “make every resource available to federal, state and local law enforcement to get to the bottom of the case as quickly as possible.” He said he did. It is possible to ensure that no threat of any kind remains.”
Representative Troy Carter, a Democrat who represents the district and sits on the Homeland Security Committee, told “CBS Mornings” that he believes New Orleans is safe, citing the FBI’s assessment. He said the area was swept and thorough searches were carried out across the city.
“There were a lot of leads that led to the investigation, and as with any terrorist incident, you can’t be too careful,” Carter said. “We have to be careful not to cut corners when it comes to the investigation.” said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on Fox News Thursday morning that he spoke with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Merrick Garland and that “there are a lot of FBI agents on the scene.” in New Orleans’ is looking at ‘every possible angle.’
“I believe this partnership between federal and state authorities will bring us the answers we need,” Johnson added.
Rep. Mike Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, told Fox News that intelligence metrics should be examined. Although the attacker was born in the United States, Waltz said, “The whole world knows we have open borders. They intend to attack us and they are pushing people inside us to do that.”
Waltz said the United States “can’t defend ourselves abroad if we’re investigating ourselves internally.”
The FBI’s investigation is ongoing. A U.S. official familiar with the investigation told CBS News on Thursday that the FBI believes the attacker may not have acted with an accomplice.
