Donald Trump used the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans to stoke fears about “criminals” coming to the United States from abroad and did not correct those claims even after the suspect was identified as a U.S. citizen from Texas.
“When I said the criminals coming in were much worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly countered by Democrats and the fake news media, but it turned out to be true.” Social on Wednesday morning.
“The crime rate in our country is at a level no one has ever seen before. “Our hearts are with all the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”
He said the incoming administration “will fully support the City of New Orleans as it investigates and repairs this act of pure evil.”
Minutes before Trump’s Truth Social post, Fox News reported that the vehicle used by the suspect had crossed from Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas, two days before the attack.
Just over an hour later, the conservative network retracted the report, saying its sources had advised that a truck had crossed the border on November 16, apparently driven by someone else. Later in the afternoon, it was reported that the truck had never crossed from Mexico.
The FBI identified the suspect this afternoon as Shamsud Din Java, 42, a U.S. Army veteran from Texas. He said he was driving a rented truck. According to CNN, Jabbar revealed in a 2020 YouTube video that he was born in Beaumont, Texas.
The suspect drove his vehicle onto busy Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more. The FBI said an Islamic State (IS) flag was recovered from the vehicle and that the attack was being investigated as an act of terrorism. The suspect died after a shootout with police.
President Trump offered no correction to his comments and later attacked “OPEN BORDERS” and said American law enforcement agencies “spend their time illegally attacking political opponents, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans.” He posted an additional post criticizing, “I’m wasting money.” “It is the outside and inside of the violent SCUM that has infiltrated every aspect of our government and our country itself.”
He posted overnight: “Trump was right about everything!”
He doubled down on Thursday morning, linking what he called “Biden’s ‘open borders policy'” to a rise in “radical Islamic terrorism and other forms of violent crime.”
“The time has come. “It was much worse than I could have imagined,” he wrote.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment Thursday morning.
Trump wasn’t the only Republican to use the attack to stoke fear and division over undocumented immigration, a central tenet of his campaign.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) wrote: “After the horrific attack in New Orleans, Alejandro Mayorkas should be called immediately to testify before the Senate before Biden leaves office. “Accountability” is a reference to the Secretary of Homeland Security, whom Republicans tried and failed to impeach over the border issue.
In a letter shared in a second post asking Mayorkas to testify, Hawley cited “news reports” that the truck “may have recently crossed into the United States from Mexico.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance shared Trump’s statement about X, condemning the “heartbreaking violence.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) expanded on Fox News’ initial inaccurate reporting about the trucks, writing, “Close the borders!!!”
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Neither of them acknowledged the man’s citizenship in posts published Wednesday after his citizenship was made public.
