A mosque near the Houston home of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who police say carried out the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, has urged its congregation not to respond to media inquiries and to refer to other Islamic organizations if contacted by the FBI.
Newsweek contacted the Houston Masjid Bilal, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of Greater Houston for comment via email on Thursday outside regular office hours.
Why It Matters
On Wednesday, 15 people were killed and 35 injured after a pickup truck crashed into a crowd on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street. The driver, identified by authorities as U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was later killed in a shootout with police.
The FBI said it had recovered a flag of the Islamic State group from the truck and was investigating the incident as an “act of terrorism.” At a press conference, the agency said it believed Jabbar was not “solely responsible” for the attack and that it was also investigating any potential links to a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas hours later, killing one person believed to have been the driver.
What To Know
In an Instagram story posted after the attacker’s identity was announced, the Masjid Bilal condemned what it said were “terrible acts.” It added, “If approached by the FBI and a response is necessary, please refer to CAIR and ISGH,” referring to the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of Greater Houston.
Users on X, formerly Twitter—including Daily Wire reporter Bree A. Dail and the popular @Breaking911 account—shared screenshots of the mosque’s Instagram story on X.
In its social media message, which was addressed to “Brothers and Sisters,” the mosque noted that the FBI was treating the “tragic events” in New Orleans as an “act of terror” and urged its congregation to “stay very vigilant and aware of your surroundings.”
In 2014, the United Arab Emirates listed CAIR as a terrorist group over its alleged affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Islamic organization of which Palestinian militant group Hamas is an offshoot.
In response, CAIR called the move “shocking and bizarre,” saying there was “no factual basis” for the UAE to list it as a terrorist group.
“Like the rest of the mainstream institutions representing the American Muslim community, CAIR’s advocacy model is the antithesis of the narrative of violent extremists,” it added.
What People Are Saying
The Masjid Bilal said in its Instagram story: “If anyone is contacted by the media, it is very important that you do not respond. If approached by the FBI and a response is necessary, please refer to CAIR and ISGH. It is crucial that we stay united at this time as we condemn these terrible acts.”
Mike Davis, a lawyer who supports President-elect Donald Trump, wrote on X: “The Trump 47 Justice Department must investigate @CAIRNational.”
President Joe Biden said in an address following the attack: “Our hearts are with the people of New Orleans after this despicable attack that occurred in the early morning hours … The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, [Jabbar] posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry wrote on X: “A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning. Please join [Louisiana first lady] Sharon and I in praying for all the victims and first responders on scene.”
What Happens Next
Police and the FBI are investigating the New Orleans attack, seeking to determine whether anyone else was involved or whether there was a connection to the Cybertruck explosion outside the Las Vegas Trump Hotel.
In 2015, Trump, who is set to return to the White House on January 20, called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
During his first term, he introduced a travel ban on a number of Muslim majority nations, which he has vowed to bring back.
In September, Trump said, “I will ban refugee resettlement from terror infested areas like the Gaza Strip, and we will seal our border and bring back the travel ban.”
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