New Orleans terror suspect Shamsud Din Jabbar initially intended to target family and friends rather than strangers, but feared the headlines would not focus on the “battle between believers and unbelievers.” FBI Assistant Director Christopher Reier said he did not do so. The counter-terrorism division made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday morning.
Mr. Laia provided a chronology of events leading up to this attack, which resulted in the loss of the lives of 14 innocent victims and the injury of approximately 35 more. He noted that Jabbar joined ISIS before the summer and initially posted videos on his Facebook account revealing plans to attack family and friends. However, Mr. Jabbar decided that this could not send the correct message that it was a “war between believers and unbelievers.”
“Mr. Jabbar has five videos posted to his Facebook account, starting at 1:29 a.m. and ending at 3:02 a.m.,” he said. “In the first video, Jabbar explained that he initially intended to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that news headlines would focus on the words 'war between believers and unbelievers.' “End quote.''
“Additionally, he stated that he had joined ISIS prior to this summer,” it added, noting that the FBI had obtained three cell phones and two laptops associated with the suspect.
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“Those laptops were recovered at different addresses,” he said, providing further information about Jabbar's past as a U.S.-born U.S. military veteran.
“We're looking into everything about his life. We've interviewed a lot of people who knew Jabbar, but we still need to talk to other people. We need to talk to you, whether you worked with him in , whether you were in the military, whether you saw him in New Orleans or Texas, we need to talk to you,” Raia said.
“You may not think you have relevant information, but what you know could lead to one of the leads in our investigation,” he continued, adding that on New Year's Eve or in the early morning hours, He said he specifically wanted to talk to people who were in the French Quarter on New Year's Day.
