New Orleans attacker had ‘remote detonator’ for explosives in French Quarter, Biden says
New Orleans attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar acted alone and planted “remote detonator” explosives inside coolers in two nearby locations in the French Quarter, just a few hours before he drove a pickup truck at a high rate of speed into a crowd of people celebrating New Year’s on Bourbon Street, President Biden said at a news conference Thursday. “We have no information that anyone else was involved in the attack,” Biden said during a news conference about his administration’s 235 judicial confirmations. “They’ve established that the attacker was the same person who planted the explosives in those ice coolers in two nearby locations in the French Quarter, just a few hours before he rammed into the crowd with his vehicle. They assessed he had a remote detonator in his vehicle to set off those two ice chests.” NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: INSIDE BOURBON STREET TERRORIST’S HOUSTON HOME Biden stated that federal agents are investigating potential links to the Las Vegas explosion, also probed as a terror attack, and urged them to “accelerate” their efforts. Fourteen people were killed, and Jabbar died in a shootout with police. “As of now, they’ve just been briefed,” Biden said. “They have not found any evidence of such a connection thus far. I’ve directed them to keep looking.” The FBI identified Jabbar as the driver who crashed a rented truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The bureau told congressional lawmakers on Thursday that it had zero information about Jabbar prior to his attack. They also said that while Jabbar has said he was “inspired” by ISIS, investigators have not found any evidence that he was directed by ISIS. INVESTIGATORS USE TATTOO, PHOTOS TO IDENTIFY SUSPECT BEHIND CYBERTRUCK EXPLOSION AT TRUMP HOTEL New Orleans hospitals treated a total of 37 victims who were injured in Wednesday’s attack. LCMC Health has not stated how many of those injured have since been discharged, nor has it clarified the condition of those still hospitalized. Authorities had been investigating a potential military connection between Jabbar and the Las Vegas suspect, who law enforcement identified to The Associated Press as Matthew Livelsberger. “As you know, there’s also an FBI investigation in Las Vegas. We are following up on all potential leads and not ruling anything out,” FBI Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division Christopher Raia told reporters Thursday. “However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.” Jabbar, a U.S. native born in Texas, had previously served in the U.S. military. Authorities are still investigating how and when he became radicalized. Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Kash on Demand
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… – What to know about the race for Speaker of the House – Trump says he’s not changed his mind on H-1B visas as debate rages within MAGA coalition – Biden gives presidential medal to Liz Cheney ahead of Oval Office exit President-elect Donald Trump’s allies are excoriating the FBI for its initial characterization of the brutal car attack in New Orleans as not terror-related, before the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency backtracked and launched a terrorism investigation allegedly connected to ISIS. “The FBI has a no-fail mission. There is no room for error. When they fail, Americans die. It’s a necessity that Kash Patel gets confirmed ASAP,” a source close to Trump told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning. Early Wednesday morning, chaos broke out on Bourbon Street in New Orleans as New Year’s Eve revelers partied on the streets. The suspect, later identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is accused of ramming a truck into the crowds on the beloved and famed party street, killing at least 15 and injuring dozens of others. Jabbar, who was armed with a Glock and a .308 rifle, was killed after opening fire on police. As details filtered to the public on Wednesday morning, law enforcement officials, including the FBI, held a press conference where a special agent initially told the public that the attack was not related to terrorism…Read more ‘RADICALIZATION’: New Orleans terror suspect’s brother says attack is sign of ‘radicalization’…Read more NEW ORLEANS: What we know about the victims of New Orleans terrorist attack…Read more AIRBNB LINK: Bomb-making materials found at New Orleans Airbnb linked to Bourbon Street terrorist: report…Read more WAR ON TERROR: New Orleans, Las Vegas suspects latest in long line of military radicals…Read more ISIS INFLUENCE?: Pro-ISIS group called on Muslims to conduct NYE attacks ahead of New Orleans massacre…Read more SIGNS OF TERROR: NYC protesters follow New Orleans attack by calling for ‘intifada revolution’ hours after rampage…Read more LAS VEGAS: Las Vegas police say Cybertruck that exploded at Trump hotel had fuel containers large firework mortars…Read more SUSPECT IDENTIFIED: Suspect behind Cybertruck that exploded at Trump hotel identified as active-duty U.S. Army soldier…Read more CHRISTIANS TARGETED: Christians increasingly persecuted worldwide as ‘modern and historical factors converge’…Read more 2025 SHOWDOWNS: As Trump returns to the White House, these are the elections to watch in 2025…Read more VICTORY RALLY: Trump to headline ‘victory rally’ in nation’s capital on eve of inauguration…Read more ‘LIVES DEPEND ON IT’: Republicans push for prompt Trump confirmations in wake of New Orleans attack…Read more ‘NO WAY IN HELL’: Derrick Van Orden targets Chip Roy over speakership vote: ‘Chip is fighting to keep his brand marketable’…Read more SPEAKER STRUGGLE: Mike Johnson gets public GOP Senate support ahead of tight House speaker vote…Read more CHANGING THE RULES: House Republicans move to change rules for vacating speakership one year after McCarthy’s ousting…Read more SPOKE TOO SOON?: Hochul’s Christmastime boast of safer subway came amid string of alarming violent attacks…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
FLASHBACK: Biden downplays ISIS threat to US, repeatedly says white supremacy ‘most lethal’ danger
Before the devastating terror attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day rocked the nation, President Biden and his administration repeatedly stressed that the greatest threat facing the country was white supremacy — even explicitly stating that terrorist organizations such as ISIS could not compare to the danger posed by white supremacists. “According to the intelligence community, terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. Not ISIS, not al Qaeda — white supremacists,” Biden said in June of 2021 on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The comment came just weeks after he declared during the State of the Union that year, “We won’t ignore what our intelligence agencies have determined to be the most lethal terrorist threat to the homeland today: White supremacy is terrorism.” Early on New Year’s Day, New Orleans and the nation were rocked by a suspected terror attack when a man identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, allegedly rammed a truck into crowds of revelers celebrating the holiday on the city’s famed Bourbon Street. The FBI confirmed on Wednesday that they were investigating the incident as an act of terror, noting that they had confirmed the suspect had an ISIS flag in the vehicle at the time of the attack. BIDEN BLASTED FOR CALLING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ ‘MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST THREAT’ AT COLLEGE SPEECH: ‘PURE EVIL’ ISIS is a jihadist group that has carried out terrorist attacks worldwide but has lost momentum in recent years, including in 2019 when U.S. forces killed Iraqi militant and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The FBI said Thursday that Jabbar had been “inspired” by ISIS, adding that they have not found any evidence that he was directed by ISIS to carry out the attack. BIDEN TELLS HOWARD GRADS ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ IS THE ‘MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST THREAT’ TO THE UNITED STATES The shocking attack has resurrected Biden’s previous rhetoric on white supremacy and the state of national security, which was also promoted by administration leaders such as Attorney General Merrick Garland. “In the FBI’s view, the top domestic violent extremist threat comes from ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, specifically those who advocated for the superiority of the white race,’” Garland declared in May of 2021 before the Senate Appropriations Committee of the top threats to the U.S. Garland was joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayarokas in sounding the alarm on the threat that white supremacists posed to the U.S. that year. Garland and Biden administration officials at the time argued that Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of President-elect Donald Trump breached the Capitol building, opened the floodgates to concern over home-grown threats to democracy. “I have not seen a more dangerous threat to democracy than the invasion of the Capitol,” Garland said at the time, calling it “an attempt to interfere with the fundamental element of our democracy, a peaceful transfer of power.” Biden has also cited the threat of white supremacy in more recent public remarks, including during his commencement address to Howard University in 2023. “White supremacy … is the single most dangerous terrorist threat in our homeland,” Biden said. “And I’m not just saying this because I’m at a Black HBCU. I say this wherever I go.” BIDEN ADMIN MOCKED FOR LABELING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ THE GREATEST THREAT TO US The U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration released a report in 2020, called the “Homeland Threat Assessment,” which found that white supremacists and other “domestic violent extremists” posed “the most persistent and lethal threat” to the nation. Following Biden’s inauguration, Mayorkas declared that DHS was “taking a new approach to addressing domestic violent extremism, both internally and externally,” compared to the previous administration. Following the attack on Wednesday morning, conservative social media users and critics of the Biden administration resurrected Biden’s previous comments on white supremacy, quipping that the comments have “not aged well.” COLLEGE OFFERING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY IN THE AGE OF TRUMP’ COURSE AS PRESIDENT-ELECT RETURNS TO WHITE HOUSE The brother of the suspected terrorist told the New York Times that Shamsud-Din Jabbar had been raised Christian, but converted to Islam. The brother, Abdur Jabbar, underscored that his brother does not represent the Islamic faith and instead called his actions an example of “radicalization.” “What he did does not represent Islam,” he added. “This is more some type of radicalization, not religion.”
US Army soldier charged over alleged hacking of Trump, Harris phone records
A U.S. Army soldier has been charged with selling confidential phone records. Cameron John Wagenius, 20, was charged by federal authorities in Texas with two counts of unlawful transfer of confidential phone records information on Dec. 20 and the indictment was unsealed this week. Wagenius was a soldier at Fort Cavazos in Texas. Court records didn’t specify his rank. TOP REPUBLICAN DEMANDS ‘COSTS’ FOR CHINA AFTER IT HACKED TREASURY DEPT IN YEAR MARKED BY CCP ESPIONAGE He was allegedly linked to the online handle Kiberphant0m, which was part of several high-profile data breaches, including the Snowflake data hacking, and which claimed to have hacked President-elect Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ phone records, Reuters reported, citing cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs. The alleged AT&T call logs for the 2024 presidential candidates were posted online in November, according to The Verge, which noted that the call logs had not been verified as genuine. The indictment didn’t give details on the hacking. GOP SENATOR QUESTIONS FBI OVER REPORTED IRANIAN HACK ATTEMPT OF TRUMP PICK KASH PATEL The indictment accuses Wagenius of selling “confidential phone records” online. “We are aware of the arrest of a Fort Cavazos soldier,” Fort Cavazos told Fox News Digital. “III Armored Corps will continue to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies as appropriate.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Wagenius will next be extradited to Seattle where the case is being handled. Reuters contributed to this report.
Biden awards Liz Cheney, Jan 6 committee chairman a medal: US ‘is better because of their dedication’
President Biden awarded the leaders of the former Jan. 6 House Select Committee, former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Mississippi Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, the second-highest civilian medal for their “exemplary deeds of service for their country,” according to the White House. “The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to citizens of the United States of America who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others. The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice,” the White House detailed in a statement Thursday. The White House announced 20 people across the nation would receive the Presidential Citizens Medal on Thursday, including Cheney and Thompson, who Biden lauded as “intrepid” and holding a “steadfast commitment to truth.” “Throughout two decades in public service, including as a Congresswoman for Wyoming and Vice Chair of the Committee on the January 6 attack, Liz Cheney has raised her voice—and reached across the aisle—to defend our Nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency. Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together,” the White House said in its statement of Cheney. FBI SHOULD PROBE ‘POTENTIAL’ LIZ CHENEY ‘WITNESS TAMPERING’ IN JAN 6 MATTER, HOUSE REPUBLICANS SAY “Born and raised in a segregated Mississippi, as a college student inspired by the Civil Rights movement, Bennie Thompson volunteered on campaigns and registered southern Black voters. That call to serve eventually led him to Congress, where he chaired the House January 6th Committee—at the forefront of defending the rule of law with unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to truth,” the statement on Thompson read. Thompson served as the chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, with Cheney serving as the vice chair. The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House. The committee concluded its 18-month investigation in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House, and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending that Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to his supporters breaching the Capitol. ‘RIDICULOUS’: CHENEY RESPONDS TO TRUMP FLOATING JAIL TIME FOR J6 COMMITTEE MEMBERS The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakers, Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office. Incoming Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., reacted to Biden’s decision to award Cheney with the medal in a comment to Fox Digital on Thursday, slamming her as a former elected official who “represents partisanship and divisiveness.” “President Biden was either going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn’t deserve either. She represents partisanship and divisiveness, not Wyoming,” he said. Republican elected officials and President-elect Donald Trump have railed against the committee and its leaders for years, with a recent Republican House report calling on the FBI to investigate Cheney for “potential criminal witness tampering” related to her role on the former select committee. REP LOUDERMILK BLASTS JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE FOR TARGETING HIM: ‘THERE IS A WAR ON THE TRUTH IN THIS COUNTRY’ “Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” stated a report released last month by House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. “Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge.” Cheney and Thompson both slammed the report in comments to Fox Digital last month. DONALD TRUMP SAYS HE’LL PARDON JAN 6 RIOTERS ON DAY 1: ‘ACTING VERY QUICKLY’ “The January 6th Committee’s hearings and report featured scores of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration,” Cheney said. “All of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800 page report. Now, Chairman Loudermilk’s ‘Interim Report’ intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did. Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.” Cheney had served as the third-highest ranking Republican in the House but was ousted from her role as GOP conference chair by her colleagues in 2021. Cheney lost her 2022 primary run for re-election to Trump-backed Rep. Harriet Hageman. HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES JAN 6 COMMITTEE ‘DELETED RECORDS AND HID EVIDENCE’ The report followed speculation that Biden could grant Cheney a presidential pardon ahead of leaving the Oval Office. Late last year, Trump renewed his longstanding criticisms of Cheney and the Jan. 6 committee, suggesting she and Thompson could face jail time. “Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,” he said in an interview with NBC. “They deleted and destroyed all evidence.” “And Cheney was behind it. And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee,” he continued. “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.” The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second-highest honor a civilian can receive from the president, after the Presidential Medal of Freedom, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. threat landscape, domestic extremism pose a daunting—but familiar— test for Trump’s second term
During his first term as president, Donald Trump saw the height of a violent civil war in Syria, a resurgence of Islamic State activity, and a rise in ISIS-inspired attacks both abroad and on U.S. soil. Eight years later, many of these bogeymen have returned. In the last eight weeks, Syrian rebels launched a lightning offensive, wresting back control of the country and then of its capital—forcing longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia for safe haven. Like Trump’s first term, the instability in the Middle East has prompted fresh questions over if, or what role the U.S. should play in Syria—amid concerns that failing to act will further open the power vacuum in Syria, making it ripe for exploitation by Islamic State militants and other terrorist groups. And on Wednesday, U.S. authorities scrambled to investigate and respond to two separate attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Despite taking place thousands of miles apart, both are being investigated as possible acts of terrorism—a glaring indicator that the threat of homegrown extremism remains just as pervasive as ever. Ahead of Trump’s second term, the violence—and the unexpected collapse of Syria’s authoritarian regime— have prompted new questions as to how the U.S. might act. BOMB-MAKING MATERIALS FOUND AT NEW ORLEANS AIRBNB POTENTIALLY TIED TO BOURBON STREET TERRORIST: REPORT Options for Trump Trump, for his part, has long opposed the idea of involving U.S. troops in foreign wars. In 2019, he ordered the complete withdrawal of all military personnel in Syria’s north. He reiterated that view in a post last month on Truth Social, saying the U.S. should “have nothing to do with” the situation in Syria. “Let it play out,” he said. It’s unclear whether, or to what degree, this week’s deadly attacks may have swayed Trump’s decision. Fourteen people were killed in New Orleans early Wednesday morning by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a Texas native and U.S. army veteran who had driven from Houston to Bourbon Street in a rented pickup truck, plowing through crowds of people massed outside the famed string of bars to celebrate the new year. Jabbar himself was fatally shot by police. FBI officials said that Jabbar, who had affixed an Islamic State flag to the rented vehicle, was “100% inspired by ISIS” in carrying out the terrorist attack, though it remains unclear whether he has any legitimate ties to the group. Jabbar had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and is believed to have joined the group this past summer, officials said. He was also seen on surveillance footage planting two explosive devices in coolers along the corners of Bourbon and Orleans Streets, and another intersection nearby, though both were later rendered safe by bomb squad teams. Separately, the FBI said they are investigating a Las Vegas explosion carried out in a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas as a possible act of terrorism. The suspect in that case, Matthew Alan Livelsberger, had been a member of the U.S. Army’s elite special forces unit prior to the explosion, and FBI officials raided a house in Colorado Springs on Thursday that they said they believe could be connected to the case. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE TRUMP INAUGURATION Should Trump opt to maintain his longtime opposition to U.S. intervention in “foreign wars,” there are other options he could take to try to crack down on violent domestic attacks. This could include cracking down on immigration— a policy long embraced by Trump and many Republicans in Congress—to prevent possible threat actors from crossing the border. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security told reporters in June that it had identified more than 400 migrants from Central Asia and other countries who had been smuggled into the U.S. by ISIS-linked smuggling groups over the last three years, prompting a flurry of new arrests and “subjects of concern” designations. DHS officials said the arrests, first reported by NBC, were made out of “an abundance of caution,” and noted at the time that they had not identified any credible threats to the U.S. by the migrants, who may have simply been attempting to find a way to cross into the U.S. Still, a border crackdown might not be enough to solve the problem, made especially complex by the role of lone-wolf threat actors and individuals who become radicalized online. A pervasive threat The FBI has focused heavily on the risk of terrorism posed by domestic and homegrown violent extremists, as it noted in its most recent “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland” report. These small groups or individuals pose the biggest risk to national security, the report noted—often using easily accessible weapons, such as guns and cars, to attack so-called “soft targets,” or groups of civilians gathered en masse at accessible locations. The “greatest, most immediate international terrorism threat to the homeland” are individuals who have lived primarily in the U.S. and who carry out actions inspired by, but not at the express direction of, a foreign terrorist organization such as ISIS, the law enforcement agency said. Early in December, the FBI and other authorities warned of a heightened risk of vehicular attacks by lone-wolf offenders during the holidays, noting in a shared bulliten that threat actors have “plotted and conducted attacks against holiday targets” in previous years, with likely targets including public places with “perceived lower levels of security” holding large gatherings. The threat is also not going away. Trump’s first term as president saw multiple attacks carried out by individuals pledging allegiance to ISIS or other jihad groups—even if they had not been operating at the direction of the group itself. These individuals were responsible for the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, the 2017 New York City truck attack, a 2017 machete attack at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, and many more acts of violence. Vehicular attacks have also increased: Since 2014, there have been at least 16 vehicular ramming attacks in the U.S. and Europe carried out by individuals practicing
Harris County program decreases automatic evictions when tenants don’t come to court
After the court eviction diversion initiative started, default evictions favoring landlords dropped 44%.
New Orleans, Las Vegas suspects latest in long line of military radicals
A pair of suspected terrorist attacks on New Year’s Day were both allegedly carried out by former U.S. service members, raising questions about how those with access to sensitive intelligence and the nation’s most advanced weapons get swept up in radical beliefs. Early Wednesday morning, Texas resident Shamsud-Din Jabbar allegedly plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14. He was a former Army staff sergeant, with a deployment to Afghanistan under his belt. Hours later, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in flames outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas — a suspected terror plot that was linked to active-duty Army Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, who allegedly carried out the attack that led to his own death while on approved leave. He was a member of the elite Green Beret unit. From 1990 to 2022, 170 individuals with U.S. military backgrounds plotted 144 unique mass-casualty terrorist attacks in the United States — 25% of all individuals who plotted mass-casualty extremist crimes during this period, according to a study by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: INVESTIGATION CONTINUES, AS FBI SAYS NO OTHER SUSPECTS INVOLVED Questions posed to the Department of Defense about its plans to identify and root out radicals by Fox News Digital went unanswered. Here’s a look back at some other military radical extremists who have conducted attacks on U.S. soil in the 21st century: In 2009, former Army Major Nidal Hassan killed 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood Army base in Texas. The Islamic extremist and former Army psychiatrist had spoken out about the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Retired Colonel Terry Lee, who worked with Hassan, told Fox News that the Army major would make “outlandish” statements like, “the Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor,” referring to U.S. troops. Hassan reportedly shouted, “Allahu Akbar!” as he opened fire, killing 13 and injuring 30 others in the deadliest mass shooting on a U.S. military base. Hassan admitted to the killings in court and now sits on death row. In 2021, Army soldier Bridges, 24, was arrested for conspiring to blow up the 9/11 memorial in New York and attempting to assist ISIS in killing U.S. soldiers. Now serving 14 years in prison, Bridges was caught when he began communicating online with a covert FBI agent who he believed to be an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. Melzer, 24 at the time of his sentencing, is serving 45 years in prison for sending sensitive U.S. military information to the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), an occult-based neo-Nazi and White supremacist group, in an attempt to facilitate a mass-casualty attack on Melzer’s Army unit. He was arrested in 2020 after joining the Army in 2018 to infiltrate its ranks and gain insight for his work for O9A. After being deployed to guard a remote, sensitive foreign U.S. military base, he shared details about the site with O9A members and began to call for a deadly attack on his colleagues. Miller, a lifelong White supremacist, shot and killed three people, two outside a Jewish community center and one outside a Jewish retirement home, in Kansas in 2014. Miller had been vocal about intending to kill Jews, though all of his victims were Christians. He served in the Army for 20 years, serving two tours of duty in the Vietnam War and 13 years as a member of the elite Green Berets. Having led a branch of the Ku Klux Klan, Miller had a history of run-ins with the law. He served three years in prison after being convicted in 1987 of conspiring to acquire stolen military weapons and for planning robberies and an assassination. Miller has since died in prison. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTIMS OF NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK Thompson, a Navy veteran, committed a Salafi-jihadist-inspired hatchet attack in Queens, New York in 2014, injuring four police officers. The attack was deemed an act of terrorism as Thompson was a recent Muslim convert. In the months preceding the attack, he visited hundreds of websites associated with terrorist organizations. Thompson was involuntarily discharged from the Navy in 2003, after having been arrested six times between 2002 and 2003 in domestic disputes. He was shot dead by police on the scene of the 2014 attack. In 2016, Johnson ambushed police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five and wounding nine others. The 25-year-old Army reserve Afghanistan War veteran was angry over police shootings of Black men. He perpetrated the attack at the end of a protest against the recent killings by police of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Las Vegas authorities arrested Andrew Lynam, an Army reservist, alongside Navy veteran Stephen T. Parshall and Air Force veteran William L. Loomis — all self-identified Boogaloo Bois — on May 30, 2020, for conspiring to firebomb a U.S. Forest Service building and a power substation to sow chaos during a police protest after the killing of George Floyd. In total, 480 people with a military background were accused of ideologically driven extremist crimes from 2017 through 2023, some 230 of whom were arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
‘Lives depend on it’: Republicans push for prompt Trump confirmations in wake of New Orleans attack
Senate Republicans are urging expedited confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration appointments, particularly those for crucial national security posts, in the wake of a New Year’s attack in New Orleans where a terrorist suspect drove a car into a large crowd, killing more than a dozen people. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the senseless terror attack in New Orleans,” said incoming Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on X. “With reports of ISIS inspiration, the American people expect clear answers from the administration,” Thune said. “The threat posed by ISIS will outlast this administration, and this is a clear example of why the Senate must get President Trump’s national security team in place as quickly as possible.” The FBI said the holiday attack left at least 14 people dead and dozens of others injured. Israel revealed that two of its citizens were among those injured. Victims’ names are not to be released until autopsies are finished and families are notified, New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna said in a statement. MIKE JOHNSON GETS PUBLIC GOP SENATE SUPPORT AHEAD OF TIGHT HOUSE SPEAKER VOTE Republicans in the Senate were already eager to quickly push through Trump’s selections, including Kash Patel for FBI director, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. But with the latest attack and others developing around the country, many lawmakers have indicated that a prompt confirmation process is even more crucial. Incoming Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., wrote on X, “The U.S. Senate must confirm President Trump’s national security team as soon as possible. Lives depend on it.” HEALTHY LIVING, PARTY UNITY, AND ‘TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES’: CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS’ NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS “I’ll be working to ensure President Trump has every tool at his disposal, including a fully confirmed national security and intelligence team ASAP to investigate these attacks and make our country safe again,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in response to the attack. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., echoed that sentiment in her own statement, saying, “We must work nonstop to get President Trump’s national security team in place without delay.” Several other Republicans made similar calls for Trump’s choices for national security posts to be prioritized and confirmed without hesitation. BERNIE SANDERS PLANS TO SPEARHEAD LEGISLATION ON KEY TRUMP PROPOSAL Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., expressed frustration that the FBI was apparently behind on intelligence regarding the suspect in the New Orleans attack. “The fact that a reporter has better intel than the FBI tells us all we need to know. The FBI has failed its core mission,” the senator wrote on X in response to a report that New York Post reporters had arrived at the suspect’s home before the agency. “America needs a fearless fighter like [Patel] at the FBI,” Blackburn continued. DEM SENATOR REVEALS HOW SHE NARROWLY WON KEY STATE THAT TRUMP FLIPPED: ‘BE PRACTICAL TO FIND RESULTS’ Two sources on an FBI call with House and Senate members on Thursday informed Fox News that the FBI claimed they had zero intelligence on suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar before the attack. The FBI told lawmakers that Jabbar was “inspired” by ISIS but added that they have no evidence yet that the terrorist group directed him.
Noida schools holiday: Classes up to 8 suspended due to cold wave until…
The mercury dipped below 10 degrees Celsius in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Thursday.