Washington DC [US], January 6 : The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed new details about the New Orleans attacker and said that Shamsud Din Jabbar travelled to Cairo and Ontario prior to the attack and used Meta glasses to record the street.
The FBI in a press release said, "We have tracked that Jabbar travelled to Cairo, Egypt from June 22 until July 3 of 2023. A few days later, he flew to Ontario, Canada on July 10 and returned to the US on July 13. Our agents are getting answers as to where he went, who he met with, and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here in New Orleans. We've also discovered Jabbar made at least two trips to New Orleans in the months prior to the attacks: one in October and the other a month later in November."
It added, "From what we know now, Jabbar stayed at a rental home in New Orleans beginning October 30, 2024. He was in town for at least two days. During that time, Jabbar, using Meta glasses, recorded video as he rode through the French Quarter on a bicycle. Meta glasses appear to look like regular glasses, but they allow the user to record photos and videos hands free. They also allow the user to potentially live stream their video."
The FBI further revealed that Jabbar was wearing a pair of Meta glasses when he conducted the attack on Bourbon Street but he did not activate the glasses to live stream his actions that day.
Earlier on January 2, US President Joe Biden had informed that the New Orleans attacker had a remote detonator in his vehicle to set off Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that he planted in the ice coolers in the French Quarter before ramming his car into the crown on Bourbon street.
The FBI recovered the two IEDs that Jabbar placed in the coolers, CNN reported.
"They've established that the attacker is the same person who planted the explosives in those ice coolers in two nearby locations in the French Quarter just a few hours before he rammed into the crowd with his vehicle. They assessed he had a remote detonator in his vehicle to set off those two ice chests," Biden had said.
Notably, 15 people, including the attacker, were killed in the New Orleans attack on New Year's night.
FBI had established that the attacker, who carried out this "act of terrorism," was an ISIS supporter. An ISIS flag was found in his vehicle and the suspect had admitted his support in a series of videos he posted online.
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