Within the wake of the tragic New Yr’s Day assault in New Orleans, the place 14 individuals lost their lives and dozens had been injured, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) have issued a joint warning about the potential of “copycat or retaliatory assaults.”
The assailant, identified as 42-year-old Military veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, drove a rented pickup truck right into a crowd on Bourbon Road, a well-liked vacation spot for revelers.
Jabbar, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), was subsequently killed in a shootout with police.
Authorities are significantly involved concerning the potential for comparable vehicle-ramming assaults.
The FBI and DHS have famous that such assaults might be carried out with minimal sources, making them interesting to lone actors impressed by extremist ideologies.
The Public Service Announcement (PSA) reads:
Abstract
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) are issuing this Public Service Announcement to focus on a possible public security risk from violent extremists in response to the New Yr’s Day assault in New Orleans, Louisiana.
As with all potential threats to the USA, we’ll coordinate with our state and native regulation enforcement companions to make sure they’ve the sources and knowledge essential to preserve our communities protected.
MenaceThe FBI and DHS are involved about doable copycat or retaliatory assaults as a result of persistent enchantment of car ramming as a tactic for aspiring violent extremist attackers.Earlier attackers impressed by international terrorist organizations (FTOs) who’ve performed automobile assaults in the USA and overseas have used rented, stolen, and personally owned automobiles, that are simple to amass.Some have used further weapons, comparable to firearms and knives, to assault people after the automobile has stopped. Moreover, attackers might try to hide and pre-position improvised explosive units (IEDs) to complement a automobile assault.Targets have included pedestrians, regulation enforcement or army members, and crowded public venues, together with festivals and industrial facilities, which usually are accessible from roadways. We ask that the general public stay vigilant concerning doable copycat or retaliatory assaults and report any suspicious exercise to regulation enforcement.
The warning comes only a week forward of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration.
Throughout a press conference on Monday, Mayor Muriel Bowser, together with district and federal authorities, assured the general public that there aren’t any recognized threats to Trump’s inauguration.
“We aren’t presently monitoring any particular or credible threats to the inaugural ceremony or to the Capitol complicated,” FBI particular agent David Sundberg stated Monday.
“We are going to proceed to work carefully with our companions to share info and determine and disrupt any risk that will emerge.”
J. Thomas Manger, chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, stated that the first concern is the “lone actor” risk.
“That risk of the lone actor stays the most important justification for us sustaining this heightened state of alert all through the subsequent week,” Manger stated.
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