The New Year began in America with news that a Ford F-150 Lightning pick-up truck had been driven into crowds on Bourbon Street, in New Orleans’ French Quarter, killing 15 and injuring 35 more. The suspect then exited the vehicle and opened fire, wounding two police officers, before being shot dead. The assailant has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a US army veteran born in Texas. While this had all the hallmarks of an Islamist attack, the FBI were quick to have a barely-literate confirm “it is not a terrorist event”. This was then recanted, when it was revealed that Jabbar was flying an ISIS flag from the trailer hitch of the truck, and that two improvised explosive devices were found near the scene. Now, the FBI suspects Jabbar did not work alone.
