Authored by Aldgra Fredly through The Epoch Instances,
The US is going through a “heightened menace surroundings” following the lethal New Orleans assault on New 12 months’s Day, Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas mentioned on Jan. 5.
The assault left 14 individuals useless and dozens injured after a person drove a truck into crowds on Bourbon Road within the historic French Quarter of the town. The suspect, recognized as Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Texas, was later killed in a shoot-out with police.
In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Mayorkas mentioned that his workplace has labored with regulation enforcement in New Orleans and applied sweeping precautionary measures for the Sugar Bowl school soccer sport and different upcoming occasions within the wake of the incident.
Mayorkas said that over the previous 10 years, his workplace has noticed “a big improve in what we time period homegrown violent extremism” in the USA.
“It’s a very tough menace panorama, and it’s why that we as a group, not simply the federal authorities, however state and native officers and residents, should be alert to it and take the precautions essential to keep away from violence from occurring,” he informed the information outlet.
Mayorkas mentioned that the New Orleans assault was unrelated to frame points, citing the suspect’s U.S. citizenship.
Jabbar was a 42-year-old former U.S. Military soldier from Texas.
“The assailant who perpetrated the terrorist assault in New Orleans was born in the USA, raised in the USA, and served in our Armed Forces. It isn’t a problem of the border,” Mayorkas mentioned.
“With respect to the border, our highest duty and one which we work to satisfy each day all through the Division of Homeland Safety, all through the federal authorities, is the protection and safety of the American individuals.”
Authorities mentioned they discovered an ISIS flag on the hitch of the truck utilized by the suspect. The FBI additionally mentioned that Jabbar posted movies on Fb within the hours earlier than the assault through which he proclaimed his help for the terrorist group.
President-elect Donald Trump had beforehand condemned the New Orleans assault as an “act of pure evil” and steered that it was related to the nation’s border points.
“Once I mentioned that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we’ve got in our nation, that assertion was continually refuted by Democrats and the Pretend Information Media, however it turned out to be true. The crime price in our nation is at a stage that no one has ever seen earlier than,” Trump said on Fact Social.
President Joe Biden and First Woman Jill Biden will journey to New Orleans on Monday to “grieve with the households and group members impacted by the tragic assault,” based on a White Home assertion.
