I’ve never seen the new television series about the Federal Bureau of Investigation but I’m sure the stars are a very diverse bunch of FBI agents who never, ever, have a politically-incorrect thought. Which is, from what we’ve seen in relation to the New Orleans terrorist incident, true of the real FBI.
It’s more than just sloppy procedures … It’s woke law enforcement that hid Jabbar’s ISIS flag from view and denied initially that his attack was probably terrorism.
Is it wokeness that has poisoned the FBI? Or is it just incompetence that comes with the Biden-Harris version of political correctness? Neither works in law enforcement.
We know that a U.S. Army vet, Shamsud din Jabbar, drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers at about 0315, killing at least fifteen and wounding more than thirty others. During the attack, Jabbar leapt from the truck and began firing at random civilians. He was killed in a shootout with local police. Two officers were wounded in the exchange of gunfire.
And then political correctness — and wokeness — took over almost immediately.
The first photos from the scene showed a flag pole mounted on the rear of the truck but the flag — later described as an ISIS flag — was already concealed.
ISIS, of course, is the Islamic terror network that arose when Obama pulled our troops out of Iraq in 2011. He had to put some of them back in 2014 to fight ISIS.
The Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans FBI office was out of town when the New Year’s Eve attack occurred. (Nothing going on in town except New Year’s Eve and the Cotton Bowl playoff game a day later. Why was the SAC on leave?)
The SAC’s job was assumed by the Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan. She showed up at the initial press conference wearing khakis and a blue polo shirt, which are fine, and a nose ring which isn’t.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said that her city was hit by a terrorist attack. Duncan followed, saying, “This is not a terrorist event. What it is right now is there were improvised explosive devices that were found, and we are working on confirming if it is viable or not.”
Which says it all about Duncan’s judgment. If improvised explosive devices were found that’s big-time evidence of a terrorist attack. So is the ISIS flag and Jabbar’s evident willingness to die in the attack.
Duncan should have said that Jabbar’s attack was a possible terrorist attack and that the investigation was ongoing. But she didn’t. She’s either incompetent or whatever form of politically-correct you choose.
FBI Headquarters in Washington later issued a statement hours later correcting Duncan. It said, in part:
An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.
Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe.
Duncan has not been disciplined for her early statement. Why?
And it gets worse.
According to a Washington Times report several FBI agents, speaking anonymously, said that the Bureau didn’t execute its comprehensive plan for terrorist attacks after the Jabbar incident. What’s more, the agents said that the attack “didn’t fit” the FBI’s current definition of a terror attack.
What is that definition? How could it not include attacks such as Jabbar’s?
And it gets still worse. According to the Washington Times report, the FBI didn’t secure Jabbar’s residence after an initial search. It was left open and reporters from at least two news organizations were able to get in, contaminating what was apparently another crime scene. The FBI and local cops reportedly found chemicals that could be made into IED’s.
At first, we were assured that there were at least three or four other conspirators behind Jabbar’s attack. About two days later, the FBI assured us that Jabbar acted alone. Fox News claimed that the truck had passed over the U.S.-Mexico border at the Eagle Pass crossing about two days before the attack. That, too, is now in doubt.
What all these conflicting statements show is sloppy work by both local police and FBI. Prying reporters were able to learn more than they should have before any thorough investigation occurred.
It’s more than just sloppy procedures and leaking information. It’s woke law enforcement that hid Jabbar’s ISIS flag from view and denied initially that his attack was probably terrorism.
We have since learned that Jabbar was from Texas and had been radicalized at a local mosque. He apparently joined ISIS — how he did that is still unclear — before last summer, possibly on a trip to Egypt a year earlier. According to several reports, he had posted videos about killing his family and then changed his mind. According to one report, he said he wanted to focus news headlines on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers.”
Jabbar reportedly walked around the French Quarter an hour or so before his attack. He apparently placed one or more improvised explosive devices there. The IED’s were made from an explosive compound not found in other U.S. or European attacks. At least one other IED was found in Jabbar’s truck.
There is plenty of blame to go around. The New Orleans police department — unlike the department in New York City, which protected Times Square from such an attack on New Year’s Eve — hadn’t placed bollards around the French Quarter to prevent an attack. Their excuse was that the barriers weren’t functional. Seriously? How hard could it be it to repair those barriers?
Why, after his trip to Egypt — during which he was reportedly in contact with ISIS — wasn’t Jabbar placed on a terrorist watch list?
There’s no excuse for New Orleans. Or for the FBI. The whole FBI “leadership” needs to be fired — along with ASAC Duncan — as soon as possible.
All American cities are vulnerable to terrorist attacks, especially those that don’t work hard to protect their citizens. We — all of us — need to be more alert to the danger.
READ MORE from Jed Babbin:
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