There was “no definitive link” between the attack in New Orleans and the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, despite tangential links between the suspects in both attacks, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said Thursday.
The Vegas blast, which left one person dead and injured at least seven others, happened just hours after the fatal truck ramming in New Orleans. The FBI is investigating both attacks as acts of terrorism.
“At this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas,” Raia told reporters during a news conference updating the investigation into the New Orleans attack.
Raia said investigators had determined Shamsud-Din Jabbar had acted alone after poring over his social media accounts, conducting “hundreds” of interviews with witnesses and searching three cell phones and two laptops recovered from an Airbnb on Mandeville Street in New Orleans linked to the terror suspect.
When asked by a reporter about the bureau’s apparent about-face regarding the safety of Bourbon Street following the deadly truck attack, Raia said investigators had determined that individuals seen on surveillance footage peeking inside coolers were not planting explosive devices, but were instead “patriots” determining they were safe.
Follow the latest on the terror attack on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street:
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Asked whether the city was safe today in spite of authorities warning people as recently as Wednesday to “be vigilant,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry insisted the city is “better off than we were before” the attack in terms of public safety.
However he declined to outline what specific security measures have been implemented since New Year’s Eve on the grounds that he didn’t want to tip off “enemies” what the city has done to thwart another attack.
Nola.com reported Wednesday that protective barriers that had previously been installed were removed from Bourbon Street in November as part of a security system overhaul on the historic thoroughfare.
Echoing Raia and Landry’s assertions that the Big Easy has been fortified and is now ready for visitors to return, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Bourbon Street will be officially reopened before Thursday’s scheduled 3 p.m. Sugar Bowl kickoff, which had been scheduled for New Year’s Day but was postponed after the deadly terror attack.
“The FBI was able to clear Bourbon Street and what that meant also for me and this city is that we were able to remove our victims, identify them, and notify their families,” she said.
“I want to reassure the public that the city of New Orleans is not only ready for game day today but we’re ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city because we are built to host at every single turn,” Cantrell added.
