USA Today, January 2025
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have issued a joint warning about the potential threat from violent extremists of a “copycat” vehicle attack like the one that killed 14 people in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. The driver in that attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran who described himself as a member of the Islamic State group, was killed in a shootout with police. But federal authorities said vehicles remain an appealing weapon for attacks because they are easy to obtain.
“The FBI and DHS are concerned about possible copycat or retaliatory attacks due to the persistent appeal of vehicle ramming as a tactic for aspiring violent extremist attackers,” the agencies said Monday. “Previous attackers inspired by foreign terrorist organizations who have conducted vehicle attacks in the United States and abroad have used rented, stolen, and personally owned vehicles, which are easy to acquire.”
