{"id":822184,"date":"2025-01-26T10:13:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T16:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/26\/fbi-investigates-potential-associates-of-new-orleans-attacker-in-us-and-abroad\/"},"modified":"2025-01-26T10:13:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-26T16:13:33","slug":"fbi-investigates-potential-associates-of-new-orleans-attacker-in-us-and-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/26\/fbi-investigates-potential-associates-of-new-orleans-attacker-in-us-and-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI investigates potential associates of New Orleans attacker in US and abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Federal authorities investigating the avowed Islamic State (IS) sympathizer who carried out the New Year\u2019s Day Bourbon Street terror attack in New Orleans<\/a> said they were still investigating his potential associates elsewhere in the US and abroad.<\/p>\n

In a news briefing, officials from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said they were pursuing leads in Houston, Atlanta and Tampa, Florida. They also revealed that Shamsud-Din Jabbar visited New Orleans twice in the months before the attack, and, on one of those trips, rode a bicycle up Bourbon Street wearing smart Meta glasses and also rode around the French Quarter neighborhood \u2013 ostensibly, officials said, to prepare for the attack that he carried out, killing 14 people<\/a> and injuring dozens more.<\/p>\n

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Speaking to reporters, the FBI\u2019s deputy assistant director of counter-terrorism, Christopher Raia, said: \u201cAll investigative details and evidence that we have now still support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans<\/a>. We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the US and outside of our borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raia went on to reveal the itineraries of several trips \u2013 including his ultimate target \u2013 that Jabbar, 42, took before the deadly attack.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Jabbar<\/a> traveled to Cairo, the Egyptian capital, from 22 June to 3 July, according to Raia. He then flew to Canada on 10 July and returned to the US three days later.<\/p>\n

Then in 2024, Jabbar made at least two trips to New Orleans \u2013 one in October and then another in November. Beginning 30 October, while the city celebrated Halloween, Jabbar stayed at a rental home in New Orleans and was in the city at least two days during that time, Raia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJabbar, using Meta glasses, recorded a video as he rode through the French Quarter on a bicycle,\u201d Raia said. \u201cVideos showed Jabbar during that trip in October with his Meta glasses. As we continue to learn more about that trip, we ask anyone who may have seen or interacted with him to contact us now for more information.\u201d<\/p>\n

One video clip released by the FBI<\/a> showed Jabbar riding up Bourbon during the daytime on an unspecified date. He was about two blocks away from where he was killed in a gunfight with police who confronted him.<\/p>\n

Another clip shows him riding on Canal Street, about two blocks away, and across the road from the entrance to Bourbon Street, where he later rounded a police cruiser blocking the street and launch the attack.<\/p>\n

One clip showed Jabbar wearing a pair of the glasses as they recorded video. In the clip, he looked at himself in a mirror inside a home, wearing a T-shirt with the words \u201cIt all starts with VMWare vSphere\u201d \u2013 an apparent reference to the cloud computing virtualization platform.<\/p>\n

Raia said Jabbar was wearing the glasses \u2013 which allow users to take photos and videos, as well as livestream hands-free \u2013 during the night of the attacks. However, Jabbar did not activate the glasses to livestream the attacks, said Raia, without elaborating.<\/p>\n

It was only the latest ominous revelation of the weaponization of yet another tech giant\u2019s technology in the case. Officials have said Jabbar obtained a short-term rental home where he stayed in the final hours before the attack on the Airbnb platform. And officials have said he rented the truck used in the attack on the Turo platform.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the army released information showing Jabbar and Matthew Livelsberger \u2013 a decorated special forces solider who died in an apparent suicide and vehicle bombing at a Trump hotel in Las Vegas on New Year\u2019s Day \u2013 both served in the military branch in Afghanistan for about seven months beginning in May 2009.<\/p>\n

Livelsberger<\/a> at the time was assigned to the 10th special forces group, and Jabbar was a human resources specialist.<\/p>\n

Jabbar and Livelsberger also served at the army\u2019s Fort Bragg in North Carolina for about 10 months beginning in December 2012, the branch\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n

Livelsberger rented the car used in the Las Vegas explosion from Turo. Despite the multiple coincidences, Raia said<\/a> earlier this week: \u201cAt this point there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Journalist Steve Herman on Sunday published a screenshot<\/a> of an alert saying the cases in New Orleans and Las Vegas had prompted the US military\u2019s northern command to direct all military installations to immediately implement heightened security measures, including 100% ID checks, random inspections and suspension of the so-called trusted traveler program administered by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency.<\/p>\n

Authorities also disclosed more details of Jabbar\u2019s movements on the day of the attack.<\/p>\n

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