The domestic terrorist accused of driving a truck into a crowd of New Year's Day revelers had pledged his allegiance to ISIS months before the attack. Shamsud-Din Jabbar shared five videos on social media, where he expressed his support for ISIS as he moved from Houston to New Orleans' Bourbon Street to carry out the deadly act, according to the FBI on Thursday.
In the first video, Jabbar, 42, shared how he originally planned to harm his friends and family but changed his plan, fearing that the media would focus on the "believers and the disbelievers." Jabbar was killed by police after he opened fire on cops after the attack.
His ISIS Affiliation
According to FBI deputy Christopher Raia, Jabbar was fully inspired by ISIS, and in one of the videos, he revealed he had joined the terrorist group "before the summer." Investigators confirmed that Jabbar left behind a will and testament.
Raia said that the FBI is now certain there were no accomplices and believes Jabbar carried out the attack alone.
Authorities are still examining Jabbar's history and the factors that led to his radicalization. Jabbar rented the white Ford F-150 truck in Houston on Monday and drove it to New Orleans on the evening of December 31, according to Raia.
The suspect filmed the disturbing videos between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the morning of the attack.
Federal agent Raia said that Jabbar intentionally chose Bourbon Street as the location for his attack, though the exact motive for the act remains unclear. "What I can tell you right now is that he was 100% inspired by ISIS," Raia said.
"We're digging more of the social media, more interviews, working with some of our other partners to ascertain more of that connection."
Death All Around
The devastating attack took place around 3:15 am on New Year's Day when Jabbar bypassed a police checkpoint by driving onto the sidewalk on Bourbon Street, crashing into a crowd celebrating New Year's Day.
At least 15 people were killed in the massacre, including a 37-year-old father of two, an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, and a former LSU football player.
Also, 35 people were injured, according to the FBI.
Raia said that surveillance footage showed Jabbar placing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the intersection of Bourbon and New Orleans streets, as well as another location two blocks away.
"The IED was inside a cooler, and many people stopped and locked at the cooler and then continued on their way," the FBI deputy added.
Federal agents also recovered three phones and two laptops from the Mandeville Street Airbnb the suspect had rented.
Raia said there is "no definitive link" between the Bourbon Street terrorist attack and the explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, which is also being treated as a potential terrorist incident.
Surveillance footage captured the shocking moment when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside one of the president-elect's hotel in Las Vegas. The truck, loaded with fireworks, gas tanks, and camping fuel in the trunk, was torn apart by a massive blast, which was triggered by the driver, CNN reported.
The link between the Las Vegas explosion and the Bourbon Street attack surfaced after investigators revealed that both the Cybertruck and the Ford F-150 used in the attack were rented through the Turo platform.
Matthew Livelsberger, a U.S. Army veteran, was identified as the man who rented the Cybertruck.
Both Livelsberger and the terrorist Jabbar were stationed at North Carolina's Fort Liberty and had both been deployed to Afghanistan. However, investigators haven't yet determined if their paths ever crossed.
