January 3rd, 2025: What We Know About The New Orleans Terrorist & Inside Israel's Covert Raid On Iran's Underground Missile Factory
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What happened during the New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans?
It's Friday, 3 January. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll begin with an update on the ISIS-inspired terror attack in New Orleans as details emerge regarding the background and potential motivations of the U.S. Army veteran-turned-terrorist who killed 14 and injured more than 30 in the New Year's Day rampage. Later in the show, Russia's last major gas pipeline to Europe has been officially shut down, marking an end to Moscow's decades-long energy dominance over the continent. Plus, Israel confirmed on Thursday that more than 100 members of their special forces executed a daring covert raid in Syria back in September that destroyed an underground missile factory funded by, can you guess by whom? Well, yes, you'd be right if you said the Iranian regime. And in today's back of the brief, three terrorists who helped orchestrate the 9-11 attacks may avoid the death penalty.
Yeah, after a military appeals court ruled that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin could not rescind controversial plea deals that were made over the summer. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. As the nation reels from the deadly ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on New Year's Day in New Orleans, we're beginning to learn more about the former army veteran turned Islamic terrorist. The attacker, identified as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, killed 14 and injured 35 others on Wednesday morning after plowing a rented pickup truck flying an ISIS flag through a crowd of New Year's revelers on New Orleans' crowded Bourbon Street. He subsequently engaged in a shootout with police, injuring two officers before being killed.
Jabbar had also planted two improvised explosive devices in coolers in the Bourbon Street area that were later neutralized by authorities. The FBI said Thursday that Jabbar had been radicalized, though it's not clear when, and he'd posted five videos to social media in the hours before the attack in which he, quote, pledged allegiance to ISIS.
Who was the attacker behind the New Orleans incident?
In the videos, apparently addressed to his family and recorded while he was driving, he claimed to have officially joined the Islamic State sometime before last summer. That's according to a report from the New York Times. As of Thursday, FBI investigators were still working to determine the specific motivations behind his attack. In one video, he said he originally planned to gather his family for a, quote, celebration with the intention of killing them, but later changed his mind. He apparently wanted to orchestrate a larger attack that would provoke media coverage of the, quote, war between the believers and the disbelievers, end quote. Jabbar served in the Army for eight years, between 2007 and 2015, in human resources and information technology roles. He was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, and he continued as an IT specialist in the Army Reserves from 2015 to 2020, before being honorably discharged with the rank of Staff Sergeant.
He is said to have had a difficult time adjusting to life outside the military. He became a realtor in the Houston area after leaving the service and later worked in business development and data engineering roles at the consulting firms Deloitte and Accenture. According to his family, there were apparently few signs that Jabbar was nurturing extremist beliefs or that he was capable of violence. Relatives and friends described him to the New York Times as a caring brother and a helpful neighbor. His 24-year-old half-brother said that he was in a state of shock over his actions. But there were also apparently mounting red flags about growing instability in his personal life. Jabbar had become increasingly isolated in recent years following multiple divorces that led to growing financial difficulties. According to a report from the New York Post, Jabbar's first wife sued him for child support payments in 2012. His second wife took out a restraining order against him in 2020.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What happened during the New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans?
0:12–2:33
2
Who was the attacker behind the New Orleans incident?
2:33–4:39
3
What were the motivations of the New Orleans terrorist?
4:39–14:45
4
What impact does the closure of Russia's gas pipeline have?
14:45–15:47
5
What details emerged about Israel's covert operation in Syria?
15:47–20:09
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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