Remembering
James Robison

You are viewing a page from our archive site. To browse the latest Christian TV content on The Stream, click here.

The Brew: Bourbon Street and Trump International Attacks: You Can’t Spell ‘Terror’ Without ‘Error’

By Al Perrotta Published on January 3, 2025

And we’re back.

Unfortunately, our first Brew of 2025 comes with the tragic reminder there is evil in the world and idiocy in our midst.

We awake this Thursday still reeling from the two terrorist attacks on our nation New Year’s Day. We at The Stream are praying for the wounded and the families of those who were lost.

The Bourbon Street Terror Attack

At 3:17 a.m., 42-year-old ISIS-inspired U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar slammed his rented trunk into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, leaving at least 15 dead and dozens of others injured.

Even before the awfulness of the news could sink in, I blurted, “How on earth is Bourbon Street not blocked off for New Year’s Eve?!” Less than two weeks ago, a terrorist raced through the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing five people. But even if radicalized Muslims weren’t on your mind, drunk drivers should have been. After all, it’s Bourbon Street.

It turns out there were some anemic barriers set up on Bourbon Street, but they were easily dodged by the killer. Given the security failure, are we surprised to learn that New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kilpatrick moonlights as an FBI instructor on “bias and diversity”?

In the initial press conference about the attack, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the incident a “terrorist act.” Only seconds later, FBI special agent Alethea Duncan insisted, “This is not a terrorist event.” She did not say, “It’s too early to confirm it’s a terrorist attack,” which would have been reasonable. Rather, her statement was definitive.

Sure, we should cut her some slack. It’s not like Jabbar was flying an ISIS flag on the back of his truck or anything. Oh, wait — he was.

Which gets to the other thought dominating the day, alongside the grief and horror. A thought that took on extra intensity when Joe Biden addressed the nation about the terrorist attack on Wednesday night.

For four years, Joe Biden, Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Christopher Wray have insisted that we — patriotic, mostly white Americans — are the greatest terrorist threat our nation faces. The pro-life prayer warriors, the concerned parents, and hard-working, flag-loving patriots. It was our homes that were raided, our houses of worship that were monitored, our bank accounts frozen or terminated without notice, and our bodies tossed into solitary confinement.

The FBI has been focused on anyone who had the remotest connection to January 6, 2021, rather than the jihadists who have largely been entering our country illegally since then.

Can you blame them? I mean, it’s not like Jabbar posted his devotion to ISIS months ago on Facebook.

Oh, wait — he did.

We also learned Wednesday that Jabbar had been in the military. That only served to remind us that the thoroughly incompetent Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had launched his own jihad against patriotic service members under the guise of hunting for “white supremacists” in the ranks.

President-Elect Donald Trump remarked on Truth Social that the Biden administration’s obsession with getting him left the nation open to attack.

The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job. They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself. Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to our Country.

Trump has another good reason to be ticked off: Also on New Year’s Day, someone bombed one of his properties.

The Attack on Trump International Las Vegas

A man packed a rented Tesla Cybertruck with explosive materials and detonated it at the entrance to Trump International Las Vegas shortly after the attack in New Orleans. Thankfully, no one but the perpetrator was killed. But while the human toll is less than the carnage caused in New Orleans, we cannot consider it any less serious an attack.

For one thing, as Elon Musk pointed out, the death toll would have been much worse had the bomber used a different vehicle. Thanks to the Cybertruck’s sturdy construction, the blast went mostly upward rather than outward.

Second, Las Vegas and New Orleans are both prime tourist destinations. You can think of them as the co-captains of American fun (and even decadence).

Third, this was a symbolic attack on the incoming president and his administration. It’s no coincidence that the bomber used a Musk vehicle.

Are the attacks connected? The suspect in Vegas has been identified as Matthew Livelsberger, a Green Beret still on active duty. Livelsberger reportedly served at the same military base as Shamsud-Din Jabbar for a time (Fort Bragg), and both rented their vehicles through the Turo app. This could be mere coincidence. The FBI says there’s “no definitive link” between the two men. But how much faith do any of us have in the FBI at this point?

Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy has very little. At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Kennedy suggested he knew details of the New Orleans attack and warned the FBI that it better tell the American people the truth or he would hunt the the liars down “like they stole Christmas.”

If Livelsberger wasn’t in cahoots with Jabbar, what was his beef? As Jack Posobiec noted, Livelsberger was a “Special Forces operative who wore ‘Slava Ukraini’ T-shirts.” That translates as “Glory to Ukraine.” There’s also some evidence on his social media pages that he helped recruit soldiers for Ukraine.

I’m not the first to suggest this, but a gung-ho guy interested in finding soldiers for Ukraine and targeting Donald Trump sounds a lot more like Ryan Routh, the second would-be assassin who targeted Trump in September than a jihadist. As it happens, Routh supposedly made nearly 150 visits to Fort Bragg over a four-year period.

If the current FBI staff isn’t turning over every rock looking for a Routh-Livelsberger connection, Kash Patel’s upcoming FBI had better do so.

If you appreciate The Stream archives, please consider supporting the outreaches of LIFE.

One more random thought: One would think a Green Beret would have the skills to kill more people than himself in an attempted mass murder. Are we looking not at a terrorist act, per se, but an act of protest? The truth behind this attack is going to prove very interesting.

There Are More Out There

Hours after the devastating Islamist attack in New Orleans and the bombing at Trump International, pro-Palestinian protesters were marching en masse in Manhattan, chanting, “Globalize the intifada!”

Stop. Wait. I Must Issue an Apology

Perhaps it’s the lingering effects of the holidays, a bit of rust gathered on the ol’ noggin’, but I’ve made a grave mistake throughout my analysis here. I have continuously referred to “terrorists” and “suspects,” even mentioning the names of individuals Matthew Livelsberger and Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

I must apologize for my insensitivity. Looking at mainstream media headlines, it is now clear to me that the true culprits of these heinous attacks are not these individuals, but the vehicles they happened to rent.

Thus says the Washington Post about the New Orleans terror attack.

And the explosion at Trump International must be a malfunction of Musk’s Cybertruck.

Again, I apologize for the mistake. I do hope these vehicles will be brought to justice, and similar homicidally inclined modes of transportation will be swiftly removed from our streets.

Along The Stream …

In light of Wednesday’s terrorist attack in New Orleans, we have reposted an article from Dr. Timothy Furnish about the ISIS flag: “When ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Is Deadly Serious.”

Meanwhile, Shane Idleman returns to tell us “Why Revival is America’s Only Hope.”

 

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.