that male The man who drove the truck into the crowd. New Orleans on New Year’s Day In early 2024, he posted an audio recording online expressing his religious beliefs and describing his music as the “voice of Satan.” But he made no mention of violent plans or links to extremist groups in the recording.
Eleven months before the Bourbon Street attack, which killed 14 people, Shamsud-Din Jabbar posted on SoundCloud that Qur’anic recitations and music could lead people to “prohibited” behavior, such as marijuana use. We posted three recordings with separate warning messages. , drink alcohol and commit violence.
Basharat Saleem, executive director of the non-profit Islamic Society of North America, told CBS News that many of Java’s comments in the recording reflect misinterpretations of Islamic law. He said there was.
“This is his personal and wrong conclusion,” Saleem said, emphasizing that Jabbar’s actions in New Orleans were contrary to the teachings of Islam.
Jabbar’s younger brother, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar, 24, told CBS News In the year leading up to the attack, his brother seemed to become increasingly devout. He observed changes in Jabbar’s lifestyle, noting that he adopted a more modest attire, removed tattoos, and gave up drinking.
Abdur-Rahim said he did not think any changes were concerning and had seen no signs that his brother was being radicalized.
Authorities are investigating the timing and circumstances of the radicalization in Java. Christopher Raia, deputy director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said Java posted a video on Facebook hours before the attack saying he had joined ISIS before the summer.
In the video, Java said he initially planned to target friends and family, but opted for a larger attack to draw attention to the “war between believers and non-believers.”
Muslim scholars and leaders have consistently condemned violence committed in the name of Islam and rejected extremist ideologies such as those promoted by ISIS. “This type of extremism has no place in our community,” Azhar Azeez, executive director of the Islamic Society of North America, told CBS News.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the attack in a statement, saying it was the latest example of why extremist groups are “rejected by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world.”
SoundCloud did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
and Julia Ingram contributed to this report.
