Trump Insists He’s ‘Right About Everything’ After Wrongly Suggesting Suspect in New Orleans Terrorist Attack Was an Immigrant

“This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday morning, despite the suspect being a Texas native and military vet.

By Lauren Tousignant  |  January 2, 2025 | 1:05pm
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Trump Insists He’s ‘Right About Everything’ After Wrongly Suggesting Suspect in New Orleans Terrorist Attack Was an Immigrant

At about 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day, a white pickup truck sped down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 30. The suspect was killed in a shootout with police and, by 11 a.m., President-elect Donald Trump was posting on Truth Social, using the deadly terrorist attack to further stoke anti-immigrantion hate and suggesting that the then not-yet-identified suspect wasn’t from the U.S.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” Trump wrote at 10:48 a.m. on Wednesday. His statement came minutes after Fox News wrongly reported that the pickup truck had crossed the Mexican border into the U.S. on December 30th. Vice President-elect JD Vance screenshotted Trump’s statement and shared it on Twitter, while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted: “Shut the border down!!!”

But the suspect wasn’t an immigrant—42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar was a Texas native and a U.S. Army veteran. By 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Fox News retracted their initial story. The pickup truck drove through from Mexico into Eagle Pass, Texas on November 16, and the owner has no connection to the terrorist attack. Jabbar rented the truck using Turo, which is like Airbnb for cars. Officials confirmed that they had no evidence that the attack had anything to do with the border. MAGA world then spent Wednesday night deleting their xenophobic tweets. But not Trump, Vance, or Greene.

Early Thursday morning, the president-elect doubled down, writing on Truth Social in the third person that “Trump was right about everything.” In a separate post, he wrote, “Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World! This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership.” Again, the suspect was a U.S. citizen and served in the military for more than a decade. Vance and Greene have yet to take down or correct their social posts.

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, the FBI confirmed that an ISIS flag was attached to the truck. “IEDs [improvised explosive devices] were located in the subject’s vehicle, other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter,” FBI New Orleans special agent-in-charge Alethea Duncan said. “As of now, two IEDs have been found and rendered safe.”

And on Thursday, the FBI said they believe Jabbar acted alone and confirmed that he had posted videos before the attack about joining ISIS and wanting to kill his family.

“We do not access, at this point, that anyone else is involved in this attack, except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar,” Christopher Raia, the FBI Deputy Assistant Director of the agency’s Counterterrorism Division, said. “There were five videos posted on Jabbar’s Facebook account, which are timestamped beginning at 1:29 a.m. and the last one at 3:02 a.m. In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers.’ Additionally, he stated he had joined ISIS before this summer.”

Authorities are also reportedly investigating whether there’s a link between Jabbar and the Tesla cybertruck that exploded outside Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. FBI officials in New Orleans said there’s no “definitive” link, but the suspect in that attack, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, was also an Army vet who served on the same base as Jabbar.

 
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