Truck attack new orleans security terrorism prevention: a Washington Institute’s deputy commissioner for intelligence, and an Islamic extremist who attacked a Manhattan bike path

A driver rammed a vehicle into a group of people protesting a white supremacist rally. The person was killed and more than 30 others were injured.

The Islamic State took responsibility for a truck mowing down a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least 12 people and injuring many more.

The attackers behind the waves of such attacks that occurred in the region in 2016 were not affiliated with the Islamic State. The terrorist group often claims responsibility in an effort to get more publicity, even though there has been no proof that they were behind the attack.

In 2017, an Islamic extremist drove a rented pickup truck into a popular Manhattan bike path, killing eight people. The New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner of intelligence said at the time that the perpetrator followed the ISIS guidelines “almost exactly to a T.”

Whereas security measures at airports and other public venues have been bolstered following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, The Washington Institute’s Margolin said that “vehicular attacks are quite hard to stop.”

She said that soft targets, where civilians are relaxing, are easier to target because you can just drive through.

In an unclassified document from 2010, the Department of Homeland Security said that vehicle-ramming gives terrorists an opportunity to carry out an attack.

The FBI said the man who intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street was alone, and that the attack is being investigated as terrorism. The suspect was inspired by the Islamic State, according to the FBI.

“Terrorism has changed,” said Devorah Margolin, senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. She said that low to medium-impact or low- to medium-cost vehicle-based attacks have become more popularized, and plane hijackings have become less common.

Source: Vehicular attacks are not new. But preventing them has been a big challenge

New Orleans Security Terrorism Prevention Strategy After the 2016 Thanksgiving Day Parade Attack: Revisiting the State of the Art after the New Orleans Attack

Greg Shill, a law professor who studies transportation policy at the University of Iowa, says that reducing car dependency in dense cities, including the use of large vehicles in urban centers, could help.

“A lot of times when these bollards or barriers are put in place, but never looked at again, clients and partners want to revisit everything they’ve done,” he said.

Both private companies and public safety officials went back to the drawing board after the New Orleans incident, according to Brian Stephens of Teneo’s security risk advisory practice. He works with public and private businesses to come up with strategies to mitigate these types of security threats.

The New Orleans Police Department had barriers at that location, as well as a car, and officers still got around there. “We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it.”

“But I’m not aware of any U.S. cities that are seriously looking at measures to keep large vehicles out of the urban core,” he said. Even modest measures can get in the way of children playing at an adjacent school.

After the Islamic State urged its supporters to attack the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2016, New York police deployed sand-filled sanitation trucks, bomb-sniffing dogs and other defenses along streets bordering the parade route.

Then, following the 2017 bike path attack, New York City announced a plan to install 1,500 bollards in some of the city’s most populated spaces as a way to block vehicles.

The Bourbon Street bollards were in the process of being repaired when the attack happened in New Orleans.

Source: Vehicular attacks are not new. But preventing them has been a big challenge

New Orleans Attack: FBI Says a New York State Suspect Visited the City to Conduct Surveillance on New Year’s Day

Police said that even though barricades could be used, the attack wouldn’t have been stopped because the attacker drove up onto the sidewalk.

The FBI has revealed that the man who allegedly carried out the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans had recently visited the city twice beforehand, and used “smart glasses” to record video of the area he later targeted.

Myrthil also said Jabbar traveled to Cairo, Egypt, in 2023 and Ontario, Canada, in the summer of 2024, although it is not clear whether those trips were connected to the attack. Jabbar was a former U.S. Army soldier who became inspired by ISIS, according to investigators.

One trip took place in October, while the other was in November. Myrthil also said Jabbar had ridden through the city’s French Quarter on a bicycle wearing smart glasses made by Ray-Ban that are capable of recording video and are connected to a user’s Facebook account.

The press conference of Sunday gave a detailed description of the times in which he drove the truck into the crowd on Bourbon Street.

FBI agents showed video of Jabbar planting improvised bombs before the attack. Jabbar’s rental truck contained a transmitter that was meant to trigger the devices, according to investigators, but they did not explode. The two bombs left in the coolers were said to have been dragged around by revelers on New Year’s Eve.

After firing at police, he was killed, and at least two officers were wounded.

The FBI said it had recovered two semi-automatic guns that Jabbar had with him in the truck: a 9mm pistol and a 308-caliber rifle. The rifle had a “privately-made silencer,” which was purchased during a private sale in Texas, investigators said.

The FBI said that before the attack, he left the house he was staying in and set a small fire in the hallway, but it burned out before firefighters arrived.

Source: FBI says suspect in New Orleans attack twice visited the city to conduct surveillance

The Times of the Louisiana Mardi Gras Attack: The Last Of The 14 Injured Lives of Edward Pettifer and LaTasha Polk

Also at the press conference, New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city is working to improve safety, bringing in a tactical expert to assess security across the region. Mardi Gras parades begin Monday, and the city is hosting the Super Bowl next month. The Bourbon and Canal streets were blockaded by police after the attack.

Cantrell also spoke of preparations for the visit of President Biden, who is planning to travel to New Orleans with first lady Jill Biden on Monday to grieve with the families of victims.

The governor of Louisiana spoke at the beginning of the press conference and stated that the innocent lives lost will never be forgotten. Landry has declared a period of mourning for the victims, beginning on Monday, with a different victim to be remembered each day.

On Saturday, the last of the 14 victims of the attack were identified: LaTasha Polk, a nursing assistant in her 40s, and a British man, Edward Pettifer. Pettifer was the stepson of a former nanny to the Royal Family, which led Prince William, son of King Charles, to express his shock and sadness at the death.

The victims died of blunt force injuries, the coroner’s office said. The youngest and oldest of the victims were in their 20s. As of Friday, sixteen people remained hospitalized, and about 30 others were injured.