President Joe Biden met with the families of the victims on Monday, attended a prayer service, and stopped by an improvised memorial in New Orleans to honor those who lost their lives in the deadly New Year’s Day attack in the city’s historic district.
Mr. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden made their first stop at a memorial on Bourbon Street, where a U.S. Army veteran carried out the attack by ramming a truck into a crowd, killing 14 people and injuring 30 others. Flowers, messages, and crosses had been placed on the sidewalk to honor the victims. The couple then proceeded to the nearby St. Louis Cathedral. There, the President and First Lady privately met with the families of those who lost their lives, survivors, and local law enforcement officials. Later, they attended an interfaith service.
This visit marked one of many solemn trips President Biden has made during his four years in office to places affected by violence, natural disasters, and other tragedies. With just two weeks left in his term, the Monday visit to New Orleans might be his last of this nature. It is a role he has embraced with empathy, drawing from his own personal experiences with tragedy. His first wife and young daughter died in a car accident in the early 1970s, and his eldest son, Beau, passed away from cancer in 2015.
“I’ve lived through this,” Mr. Biden told reporters on Sunday. “There’s nothing you can say to someone who’s had such a tragic loss.”
Security footage captured the moments when 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a truck into the crowds early on New Year’s Day in New Orleans. A black flag associated with the Islamic State (ISIS) was found in his truck, prompting the FBI to investigate the incident as an act of terrorism.
President Biden confirmed that federal law enforcement agencies are investigating all potential connections of the attacker.
“Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies are actively investigating any foreign or domestic contacts the attacker may have had that could shed light on the circumstances of the attack. We will continue our relentless fight against ISIS and other terrorist organizations wherever they may be. They will find no safe haven here,” Mr. Biden said.
The attack resulted in 14 fatalities and dozens of injuries. The perpetrator, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed in a shootout with police. The FBI revealed that Jabbar had planted improvised explosive devices at several locations, including a busy intersection. The Department of Homeland Security called the event another instance of violent extremism in the U.S.
“We are facing complex threats, and that is why, as a community—not just the federal government but state and local officials and residents—we must remain vigilant and take the necessary steps to prevent acts of violence,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Later on New Year’s Day, over 2,000 miles away in Nevada, U.S. Army Special Forces member Matthew Livelsberger detonated a rented Tesla truck near the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The Clark County Coroner confirmed that Livelsberger, a decorated soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, died by suicide just before the truck exploded. Officials stated that no one else was seriously injured.
Law enforcement agencies have not found any links between the two attacks thus far.
CREATED by:
“KORÇA BOOM”
