Homeland Security Committee: ‘Security lapses’ emboldened terrorists


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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said Wednesday that the “national security missteps of the past four years” have “become more emboldened.” foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and homegrown violent extremism.

The committee released an updated version of its Terrorism Threat Snapshot Assessment Wednesday morning, highlighting the threat posed by terrorist threats homegrown extremists Inspired by foreign jihadist networks such as ISIS in the United States and around the world.

“Buoyed by the national security failures of the past four years, foreign terrorist groups and overseas jihadist networks remain committed to recruiting and radicalizing individuals within the United States.”

—Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee.

The updated report comes less than a month after Texas native and U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar was driving a truck around 3 a.m. on January 1. A crowd of New Year’s revelers marched through Bourbon Street, killing 14 civilians in what federal authorities called an “ISIS-inspired terrorist attack.”

Americans radicalized by ISIS ‘excited’ to travel abroad to support terror group: FBI

Read the updated snapshot:

“The terrorist attacks in New Orleans are a stark reminder that the terrorist threats facing the United States are alive and well,” Green said. “The House Homeland Security Committee highlighted this fact back in October, and sadly, Americans have Three months have witnessed a significant escalation of these threats.”

The report details more than 50 jihadi cases in 30 states between April 2021 and January 2025, including “dozens of attempts to provide material support to ISIS,” “material support to Hezbollah and other groups.” support”. Al Qaeda” “Military training from ISIS and Hezbollah” and “vehicle ramming attacks.”

FBI director says New Orleans terrorists were radicalized online by ISIS within weeks

Emergency services rushed to scene on Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street officers after a car plowed into a crowd of people on Canal and Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

From the failed Afghan withdrawal in August 2021 to the New Orleans attacks, the report details all the shocking terrorist attacks and arrests since former President Joe Biden took office four years ago.

“There is no doubt that after four years of failed leadership, our national security is in a state of disrepair.”

— Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas

August Pfluger, chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Intelligence, said Wednesday that “Americans have been the target of terror in public celebrations as ISIS and al-Qaeda have become more brazen in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar under surveillance ahead of New Orleans attack

Surveillance video photos released by the FBI show an hour before Shamsud-Din Jabbar was driving a truck on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early on January 1, 2025. (FBI via AP)

“There is still a lot of work to be done to correct course and strengthen our homeland security. That work starts now.”

The committee also noted that vehicle ramming attacks like the one in New Orleans are becoming a significant and growing threat.

Multiple victims of the New Orleans attacks are suing the city for negligence, citing repeated references to the threat of a terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in official city planning documents.

Louisiana AG investigates security breach, Bourbon Street terror victims sue New Orleans

Car plows into crowd in New Orleans

Investigators gather after a man drove his car into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on January 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A lawsuit filed by Morris Bart, LLC on behalf of seven victims alleges that the defendants “had opportunities over many years to address this known problem” and that “the city contractor failed to meet its contractual obligations and perform the work in the order and manner specified.

“One scenario proposed by (contractor) Mott MacDonald eight months before this tragedy even involved a Ford F-150 truck specifically turning right from Canal Street onto Bourbon Street, which was A shockingly similar threat seems foreseeable before December 31st.”

What we know about the victims of the New Orleans terror attack

Police investigating a crime scene on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana

On January 1, 2025, police were investigating a crime on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. In the early hours of the morning, a driver plowed into a crowd of New Year’s revelers and started shooting. (Kate Ramirez, Fox News Digital)

As part of a $2.3 billion infrastructure project that began in 2017, officials are recommending security measures in New Orleans’ French Quarter, including installing new bollards on Bourbon Street, to prevent what the FBI considers a potential threat to the popular tourist area. mass casualty incident.

Around that time, the city began planning updated safety measures, including bollards designed to block vehicles from entering busy streets in the French Quarter.

Body language expert says New Orleans attacker showed ‘red flags’ before attack

“The French Quarter is often crowded with pedestrians and is an area where mass casualty incidents can occur,” one person said. The 2017 report states. “The area also presents terrorism risks and target areas, which the FBI has identified as an issue that the city must address.

“Following the attacks in Nice, France, London, England, and the recent life-saving bollard incident in New York’s Times Square, it has become clear just how much of a threat attackers with vehicles and weapons pose to popular tourist areas.”

Islamic State militants hold Islamic State flag in desert

A masked Islamic State terrorist poses with an Islamic State flag in 2015. (Image via History/Universal Images Group, Getty Images)

A separate 2019 confidential report obtained by Fox News from security consulting firm Interfor International warned that Bourbon Street was the “most high-profile target” for a terrorist attack in New Orleans. The 60-page safety assessment commissioned by the French Quarter Management District puts it bluntly: “Bourbon Street’s current bollard system does not appear to be working.”

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The FBI is still investigating the attack and says Jabbar was motivated by Islamic State extremism.

Federal authorities announced last week that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had visited New Orleans twice before – once on October 30, 2024, and again on November 10, 2024. The attacker also visited Cairo, Egypt, and Toronto, Canada, before the attack, the FBI said.

While Jabbar apparently acted alone, authorities are still investigating whether he had co-conspirators.



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