U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden traveled to New Orleans on Monday to grieve with relatives of the 14 people who were killed and 35 injured there when a man drove a rented pickup truck at high speed through a group of pedestrians in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Upon landing, the Bidens first made an unannounced stop at a makeshift memorial at the site where the attack occurred. Jill Biden laid a bouquet of white flowers at the memorial, while the president made the sign of the cross. They then headed to a church where they were to meet with the families of the victims. “I think what you’re going to see this president do today is show up for the community, be there for the community in the hardest time,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday on Air Force One on the way to Louisiana. Watch related report by Arash Arabasadi: “He believes this is also an important part of the job that he believes he needs to do as president,” she said. The president and first lady met privately with the families of those killed, survivors and local law enforcement. Afterward, they attended an interfaith prayer service. The suspect in the attack, identified by authorities as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old military veteran from Houston, sped down bustling Bourbon Street, a prime tourist, restaurant and bar locale. Police fatally shot Jabbar after he opened fire on officers. “I’ve been there,” Biden told reporters Sunday ahead of his visit, reflecting on the loss of his own family members through his years in public life. “There’s nothing you can really say to somebody that’s just had such a tragic loss. My message is going to be personal if I get to get them alone.” Biden, with two weeks remaining in office, is also meeting with investigators who say Jabbar acted alone in the attack but was inspired by the Islamic State terror group. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Jabbar posted five videos on social media expressing support for Islamic State, or IS, over roughly an hour and a half before the attack as revelers in New Orleans celebrated the first hours of 2025. An IS flag was found in the back of the truck. An FBI official said Sunday that Jabbar, wearing specialized hands-free glasses, last October twice visited the French Quarter neighborhood where the attack occurred. Lyonel Myrthil, FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office, said video shows the suspect riding through the French Quarter on a bicycle wearing Meta glasses that are capable of recording or livestreaming. Myrthil said officials are also investigating two foreign trips Jabbar took, one to Cairo in the summer of 2023 and then to Canada a few days later. “Our agents are getting answers to where he went, who he went with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here,” Myrthil said. FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia told reporters at a news conference Saturday, “All investigative details and evidence that we have now still support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans. We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the U.S. and outside of our borders.” Biden said investigators told him the suspect had a remote detonator in his truck that was meant to set off two explosive devices placed inside ice coolers along Bourbon Street. But police killed Jabbar before he could detonate the explosives. Representative Mike Turner, chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, on Sunday reiterated to CBS’s “Face the Nation” news show a previously disclosed U.S. claim that there are Islamic State members and other terrorist organizations inside the United States “working in conjunction with ISIS with the intention of harming Americans.” “We don’t know where they are,” Turner said. Outgoing Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC’s “This Week” news show that there has been a “significant increase” over the last 10 years in “homegrown violent extremism.” “It is a very difficult threat landscape,” Mayorkas said. He pledged a smooth transition to Trump’s appointment as the incoming Homeland Security secretary, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. “I have spoken with Governor Noem a number of times, including on New Year’s Day and immediately thereafter, with respect to the horrific terrorist attack,” Mayorkas said. “We have spoken substantively about the measures that we take, and I am incredibly devoted to a smooth and successful transition to the success of Governor Noem, should she be confirmed as the secretary of Homeland Security,” Mayorkas said. Biden’s visit Monday to New Orleans occurred amid heightened security concerns in Washington as Congress met and certified Trump’s election victory. It is four years to the day after Trump supporters rampaged through the U.S. Capitol, ransacked congressional offices and attacked law enforcement officers to block certification of Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump has vowed, within hours of taking office on Jan. 20, to pardon many of those arrested and imprisoned in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
