Consider This from NPR - Can we prevent deadly truck attacks like the one in New Orleans?

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

New Orleans is still reeling from the New Year's Day attack that killed 14 people on Bourbon Street. We ask a counterterrorism expert how attacks like this can be prevented and hear the latest from New Orleans.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Last week on Christmas morning, I was on vacation in New Orleans strolling the French Quarter, and it was drizzling but beautiful. Bourbon Street lit up with holiday lights, people out calling to friends, walking their dogs, enjoying the day. Well, that is what it should have looked like yesterday. Instead, New Orleans spent New Year's Day wheeling from the news that overnight a driver plowed a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street, killing at least 14, injuring dozens more. Jim Mauer and his wife were on Bourbon Street at the time of the attack and they described the truck's rampage to CBS News. It was traveling at a very high rate of speed and so we managed, we were in the middle of the road and managed to run off the road onto the sidewalk

and into the doorway of the building for cover. Police responded immediately and exchanged gunfire with the driver. He was killed. Officials also found two explosive devices placed by the driver at different locations in the French Quarter. The FBI has called the incident an act of terror. Yesterday, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency, and Bourbon Street was closed while the FBI carried out the investigation. At a press conference Thursday, Mayor Latoya Cantrell said the victims were removed, identified, and their families notified. They mattered. The families matter and matter to the city of New Orleans.

Bourbon Street was reopened to the public this afternoon. Fourteen yellow roses have been placed on the sidewalk near Canal Street as a makeshift memorial for the victims. The always busy city has an even busier month ahead. Mardi Gras is coming up. In a month, tens of thousands of football fans will flock to the Superdome to watch the Super Bowl. Mayor Cantrell assured residents the city is prepared for the upcoming events, including this afternoon's Sugar Bowl, postponed from yesterday. I want to reassure the public that the city of New Orleans is not only ready for game day today,

but we're ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city because we are built to host. Governor Landry echoed that sentiment saying the city and state will be back. Louisiana invented hospitality. The people in this city care for each other. And believe you me, City and state will be back. their losses be snuffed out because of fear. Consider this. Officials often point out that spreading fear is a primary goal of terrorist attacks like this. Is it possible to prevent them? After the break, we'll put that question to a counterterrorism expert and hear the

latest from New Orleans. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. It's consider this, from NPR, New Orleans is still reeling after a deadly New Year's Day attack. Today, state and local officials assured people the city is safe. And after reviewing more evidence, the FBI says it seems clear the attacker acted alone. NPR's Jennifer Ludden joins us from New Orleans with the latest. Hey there. Jennifer Ludden Hi.

LESLIE Start with that last point, which is a change. Yesterday, officials had said they did believe the attacker might have had others involved. Why did they say that's not the case? Well remember that not far from the attack site on Bourbon Street, officials had found two coolers with improvised explosive devices in them and they had said there was video of other people putting them there. Well today they said they have now seen that in fact it was the attacker Shamsuddin Jabbar who placed those IEDs and the other people were just passers-by looking into the coolers. Also, officials say after watching more video and

looking at social media and interviewing hundreds of people, there is no evidence anyone helped him. So with all this new information, Bourbon Street reopened this afternoon. And then what about motive, Jennifer? Have we learned anything more about what may have motivated the suspect to carry out this rampage? Well, in a briefing today, the FBI's Christopher Reyes said the attacker posted five videos to his Facebook account in the hours leading up to the rampage. And in them, he said he had joined the terror group ISIS before this past summer. He had a will and testament. And there was this. In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but

was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the quote, war between the believers and the disbelievers, end quote. Now, Raya says they still want to learn more about why he then picked New Orleans to attack. And I will add that separately we are learning that Jabbar had a history of divorce and serious financial troubles. So all these questions, this whole massive investigation is happening today amid big crowds for the college football playoff. This is between University of Georgia and Notre Dame,

the Sugar Bowl. It was supposed to happen yesterday. It got moved to today. How are people who you're meeting there, how are they feeling about the security situation? Well, you know, they are the ones who decided to stay. Kimme and Bud Hoagland traveled here from Fort Lauderdale. She's a Georgia alum.

They were to have left this morning and they did consider security after thinking about it We just decided that we would we would stay and cheer them on and what my husband says is you know What they win if you're afraid and you don't just keep on living I also spoke with John Verdon and his son They were here from Cincinnati and all decked out and fighting Irish gear Verdon says he feels awful about what happened But he does figure the Superdome is even safer now. I've seen a lot of police presence around.

We've been watching the news, so we've kind of heard what they've done about the Superdome and the security around there. So I have no issues. Plus Verdon said he was a senior at Notre Dame back in the 1981 Sugar Bowl when the Fighting Irish played Georgia and lost big time. Okay, so he's looking for payback.

So where do things go next? Next steps, Jennifer, for the city and the investigation. Well, the FBI says it still has a ton of work. It wants to know more about the attacker's path to radicalization. It's asking anyone who knows him or ever knew him to please come forward and be interviewed. And as for New Orleans, you know, they've got Mardi Gras and they're hosting the Super Bowl next month. There's been a long debate here about safety on Bourbon Street. I mean, the crowds. We're just going to have to see what changes they make to assure people of that. That's NPR's Jennifer Ludden in New Orleans. Well, at the press conference Thursday morning,

Christopher Rea, Deputy Assistant FBI Director, emphasized what the agency said yesterday. This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act. David Brannon studies these types of terror acts as a counterterrorism expert at the Naval Postgraduate School. When I spoke to him yesterday, I asked what stood out from the incident. Well, the pedestrian nature of what we're looking at really stands out to me. We've had... What do you mean? We've had close to 20 ramming attacks, certainly since 2006. But in 2010, Al-Qaeda came out in Inspire magazine and asked people to start using vehicles to ram.

They in fact named the F-350 specifically as a heavy duty weapon that could be used by their people. And then that was added to by the Islamic State. And so it's not something that we should be surprised by. I will add that the FBI has also said that the suspect had an ISIS flag attached to the trailer hitch of the truck. Still so many more questions than answers, but based on what we know so far, would you agree with the FBI assessment that this was a terror attack? Yes, ma'am. Absolutely.

Why? Intentional. With the ISIS flag, the political aspect of terrorism, which is essential for it to be terrorism, as opposed to straight criminal. It's assumed at that point. as opposed to straight criminal. It's assumed at that point. And then it's intended to cause fear in an audience beyond those which are directly impacted by the violence. And it absolutely does this because anybody who is out running around on this holiday has to question whether or not they're next, because we're an open society where vehicles are an ongoing part of everything we do. So you're a former police officer. I'm told that you were on a SWAT team for years.

You work with cops all over the country now. How do you protect against something like this? It's such a perfect question and it's something I'm really glad you're asking because it's something that citizens need to understand. We cannot be hermetically sealed and safe at all times. The famous terrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman has said repeatedly to me that terrorists are dynamic and amorphous and evolving. And so they are going to constantly adapt to our countermeasures.

Those police running towards the scene of this attack show that they are desperate to protect the people they're sworn to protect, but they can't be everywhere at all times. And the pickup truck itself becomes this terrible weapon. And so they're ubiquitous everywhere. I mean, that leads to a very basic question. Is there just a certain amount of risk? And it's never going to be zero when a crowd gathers in a very basic question. Is there just a certain amount of risk and it's never going to be zero when a crowd gathers in a public space outside? Yes, ma'am. And I would just say also that

the fact that it's such a common weapon, the vehicle itself shows just how vulnerable we are. We are certainly much better off than we have been in the past. The relationship between the federal, state, and local law enforcement is 100%, more than 100% better than it was at 9-11. That's David Brannon, counterterrorism expert at the Hoffman Group and at the Naval Postgraduate School. Thank you. Thank you ma'am.

This episode was produced by Megan Lim, Noah Caldwell, and Alina Burnett. It was edited by Sarah Handel, Russell Lewis, and Jeanette Woods. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly. Answer is Sammy Yennegan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.