Before Wednesday's terrorist attack in New Orleans, Democrats and liberal media focused on overhyping the threat of terrorism related to white supremacy while downplaying the threat from jihadist terrorist organizations like ISIS. was.
On New Year's Day, a 42-year-old Texas Native American man plowed his pickup truck into a crowd celebrating the New Year on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 30 others. The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud Din Jabbar, and said he was flying an ISIS flag on his truck at the time of the attack. The incident revisited earlier statements by liberal pundits and Democratic lawmakers about the national security threat.
President Biden said in June 2021, “According to the intelligence community, white supremacist terrorism is the deadliest threat to our homeland today. It's not ISIS or Al Qaeda, it's white supremacists.”
Biden will once again call white supremacy the “most dangerous terrorist threat” facing this country in his commencement address at Howard University on May 13, 2023. The next day, MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas what he thought about Biden's comments about white people. He was correct in pointing out that hegemony is the “most dangerous terrorist threat'' facing nations. “That's tragic,” Mayorkas responded.
Shamsud Din Jabbar is pictured in an undated photo released by the FBI after he was killed in a shootout with responding police officers during a pickup truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. (FBI)
Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland gave similar responses to questions from then-Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, asked, “What if white supremacist extremism continues to be the most persistent and deadly threat facing us in our homeland today?”
New Orleans terrorists choose Bourbon Street for biggest massacre: Timeline
“That's certainly true,” Mayorkas said.
Asked if he agreed with Mayorkas' opinion, Garland said, “I do. That's the FBI's latest assessment.”
Their comments followed a report released by the government. Director of National Intelligence They found that racially motivated extremists pose the deadliest domestic terrorist threat to the United States. At a March 2021 Congressional hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that the threat from domestic violent extremism is “metastasizing” across the United States.
According to D.H.S. Between 2010 and 2021, there were 231 incidents of domestic terrorism. About 35% of these were classified as racially or ethnically motivated. These attacks were also some of the deadliest, but the FBI and DHS do not analyze the racial background of this category of offenders.
Anti-government or anti-authority motivated violent extremism was the second most common category of attacks, resulting in 15 deaths over the same 11-year period.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on December 5, 2023, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP/Susan Walsh)
report The think tank New America concluded that far-right extremists have killed 134 people in more than 30 attacks, and that individuals in the United States, whom the FBI calls “jihadists,” have killed 107 people in 14 attacks. . The FBI defines far-right terrorism as consisting of anti-government, militia, white supremacist, and anti-abortion violence.
“White supremacists, right-wing extremists, and domestic terrorists are trying to instill fear in the hearts of New Yorkers,” New York Governor Cathy Hochul said in a speech to New Yorkers on November 22, 2022. They want us.” Before you go to church or take the subway, think again about your safety. ”
Alejandro Mayorkas says US won't allow 'atmosphere of fear' to prevail after deadly New Orleans terrorist attack
New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks at a press conference in New York City on September 13, 2023. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) (John Lamparski)
Joy Reid, host of MSNBC's “The ReidOut,” explained on a November 2023 broadcast why Republicans believe domestic terrorism is not condemned as harshly as foreign terrorism.
“Iran stands in for Muslims. We're going to shoot people in Mexico, and talking about fentanyl stands in for brown people south of the border.” Reid said.
Her guest, Cornell Belcher, was also dismayed by the idea that not enough attention is being given to white supremacist terrorism compared to foreign threats.
“You never hear them say we're going to rid this country of white supremacy or that we're going to stifle white supremacy, just like they talk about terrorism elsewhere.” No,” Belcher said.
“Why is that?” he asked.
Security guards with bomb-sniffing dogs patrol the area around the Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl NCAA College Football Playoff game in New Orleans, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
ISIS is a jihadist group that: terrorist attacks around the world However, it has lost momentum in recent years, with the U.S. military killing Iraqi extremist and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019. The FBI said Thursday that Mr. Jabbar was “inspired” by ISIS, adding that it had found no evidence that he was directed by ISIS to carry out the attack.
The terrorist suspect's brother told the New York Times that Jabbar was raised as a Christian but converted to Islam. His brother Abdul Jabbar stressed that his brother does not represent the Islamic faith, instead calling his brother's actions an example of “radicalization.”
FOX News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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