On New Year’s Day 2025, around 3:15 am, an electric Ford pick-up truck was driven into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The FBI identified the suspect as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. On the back of the truck, he flew a flag representing the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS. According to their website, the FBI believes that the suspect was acting in the name of the group. After the suspect drove the truck into the crowd of people and wrecked it, he got out and opened fire on three police officers, two of which were hit, taken to the hospital, and treated.  According to CBS News and BBC News, the suspect was shot and killed at the scene. The number of dead and injured people is still growing due to the uncertainty of some injuries.

 Since then, 14 deaths have been confirmed and 30 people were injured. The victims’ ages range from 18-63, with the majority being in their 20s.

On the same day around 7:30 am, an army veteran used ChatGpt to plan an attack on The Trump Hotel with a Tesla cyber truck and fireworks. According to NBC News, the attack in front of the hotel was intentional and deadly. The explosion killed a person inside the car and injured several people outside the vehicle and near it. 

People believe that the two attacks were connected and worked together, but the FBI has debunked those theories, stating that they are not connected. Still, both perpetrators were reading ISIS propaganda and acted in the name of the group.  

The victims of the New Orleans terrorist attack deserve to be honored: LaTasha Polk, Edward Pettifer, Brandom Taylor, Elliot Wilkinson, Terrence “Terry” Kennedy, William “Billy” DiMaio, Hubert Gauthreaux, Kareem Badawi, Andrew “Drew” Dauphin, Matthew Tenedorio, Nikyra Dedeaux, Reggie Hunter, Martin “Tiger” Bech, and Nicole Perez.