#new orleans truck

[doubleddenden]

Listen, I know it's not really my lane here, but I need to say something because Tumblr isn't concerned with a deadly attack in New Orleans that killed between 10 to 15 people last night on Bourbon Street during NYE or so. About 30 were injured, too, and it looks as if it was an almost worse terrorist attack because of IED's they found in the truck responsible. One was found in the French Quarter and detonated by cops.

The far right is already jumping on the blame game to illegal immigrants, especially Trump, but the man from the truck was gunned down after attempting to open fire on police and revealed to be a 42 year old American Vet- however, he seems to have one of "those" names and had an Islamic State flag on his truck, along with a gun with a silencer. FBI thinks he didn't work alone because of the bombs found, and the Airbnb the guy rented was lit on fire.

I'm not talking about this to scare you, however because the majority of Tumblr doesn't give a shit about the south unless it is to point at us and laugh, and I have seen zero posts about it here, I would implore you to do a couple of things

1. If you're in New Orleans or Louisiana, or near borders like i am, please listen to the news. I'm getting mine from AP and CBS.

2. If you know anyone that may have been there, please check in on them. I'm relieved to know two friends of mine in NO are alive and well, but I'm concerned for a couple of others.

3. I think most probably can already guess, but I'd personally get ready for another wave of xenophobia and violence towards vulnerable people that could be affected, the same way it always happens when a non white person does something like this. Take precautions to keep yourself, friends, and family safe, please.

Sources:

I'll delete this once things finally start circulating here. I'm just trying to get the word out because I almost lost friends to this.

[syd-beads4evac]

I haven’t seen news on the Bourbon Street attack circulate much on Tumblr, but I implore other Palestine activists in the US to keep our Arab/Muslim communities in mind. Right-wingers and Z*nists have already been attempting to twist the tragedy to further their xenophobia and islamophobia. This is all the more insidious when one of the confirmed victims of the attack was Kareem Badawi, a 18-year-old Palestinian American from Baton Rouge. 

As a lifelong New Orleanian: please don't let z*onists and right-wingers twist this tragedy to spread their hate.

If you want to support the victims of this attack, The Greater New Orleans Foundation has set up a fund to support families of victims and people injured by the attack:

Palestinian activists in New Orleans also have an ongoing campaign for the Middle East Children's Alliance to provide essential services in Gaza:

[socialjusticeinamerica]

If only there had been 300 “good guys with guns” on scene…

🤦‍♀️🤦🤦‍♂️

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

Those are the very facts surrounding Matthew Livelsberger’s actions on New Years Day outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Yet corporate media refuses to use words “MAGA terrorism”—and many are leaving out of their reporting the full details of Livelsberger’s final bone-chilling notes. We now know many of the key facts in connection with 37 year-old Livelsberger—whose Uncle explained “loved” Trump. He was a career Army Special Forces master sergeant who served three tours in Afghanistan and was decorated by the Army for valor. Reportedly, he suffered from some form of PTSD that likely drove him to take his own life by shooting himself while in the Tesla truck. Tragically, nearly 20 veterans each day in the United States commit suicide.

But Livelsberger didn’t commit suicide like many others in a spur of the moment event or in a private setting like a home. This was part of plot hatched over time. As FBI Special Agent In Charge Spencer Evans stated Friday, “It’s evident that [Livelsberger] considered, planned, and thoughtfully prepared for this act.” [...]

Livelsberger wrote point bank in a note he directed to, “Fellow Servicemembers, Veterans, and all Americans” that it’s, “TIME TO WAKE UP!” He continued on to explain, “This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?” But the corporate media articles almost all ignored other parts of his note and instead focused on his next comment: “Why did I personally do it now? I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.”

That is misleading reporting on a few counts. First, most articles leave out that in the next line, Livelsberger pledged his allegiance to Trump and the MAGA agenda and urged others to do the same. Livelsberger wrote, “Consider this last sunset of ’24 and my actions the end of our sickness and a new chapter of health for our people. Rally around the Trump, Musk, Kennedy, and ride this wave to the highest hegemony for all Americans!” (Boldface added.) Livelsberger was urging people in his last words to support Trump and other MAGA leaders. His note also amplified the MAGA agenda such as writing “DEl is a cancer” and he labeled Vice President Harris “the DEl candidate” who “thankfully we rejected.” He mocked Biden by referring to him as “Weekend at Bernie’s,” while sharing joy about Trump’s win, claiming now we will have a “real President.”

But the most alarming and sinister parts of his notes have been barely covered by the media. For example, under his call for “Fellow Servicemembers, Veterans, and all Americans” to “wake up,” he urged them to head to Washington, D.C. to “purge” the government and military from those who oppose them. He wrote, “Military and vets move on DC starting now. Militias facilitate and augment this activity.” He demanded them take control of the facilities until “the purge is complete.”

Those ominous words are made more concerning by the lines that followed. Livelsberger made it explicitly clear that the target of this purge are Democrats—who if they won’t give up power peacefully, force must be used. He wrote, “Try peaceful means first, but be prepared to fight to get the Dems out of the fed government and military by any means necessary.” He added, “They all must go and a hard reset must occur for our country to avoid collapse.” [...] In contrast, in the case of the New Orleans attacker Shamsud Din-Jabbar who drove his rented truck into the crowd on New Years Day and killed 14 people, he has rightfully been labeled a terrorist given videos showing him swearing allegiance to ISIS and his goal being to further their sick agenda. In some parts of corporate media, there has been nuanced coverage of what led him to this dark place from personal to financial issues, etc. But the coverage still includes—rightfully—a look into what radicalized him in the hopes of preventing ISIS from successfully recruiting others in the future.

The Las Vegas Trump International Hotel Tesla Cybertruck bombing was a MAGA-inspired terrorist attack, as the perpetrator Matthew Livelsberger was a die hard MAGA cultist seeking to inspire people to violently remove Democrats and anti-Trump forces from the world.

See Also:

Mediaite: ‘WAKE UP!’ Read the Trump Hotel Bomber’s Chilling Messages Calling on ‘Militias’ to ‘Purge’ D.C. of Democrats

[howhow326]

Me: Huh, it's very weird that nobody on Tumblr seems to be talking about the Jan 1st Terror attack, even though the story (and the exploding Tesla at Trump Tower) is basically being used to bury the Luigi Mangione case (where I live at least). I wonder what people here think about it?

Me: searches the attack, and the top two posts are people using it as an excuse to be as islamaphobic as possible

Me: wtf

[duchessvultjag]

two potential terrorist attacks in one day? i fear 2025 is already shaping up to be an eventful year

[orphaned-in-storyville]

I’m a musician who played on Bourbon street on New Year’s Eve. Here’s what I have to say about the republican politicians trying to score points at the expense of all the people around me that night.

Every act of terrorism is inherently political. And since the right wing power structure in charge of this country is rushing in to speak on behalf of me and my friends and coworkers—the folks who work on bourbon street and have to deal with the aftermath of this attack—I’m going to speak out too. If you feel it’s crass to “politicize” this, remember, the terrorists and the politicians already have, so why not hear from an actual musician who was actually working that night on bourbon street.

When the people in power impose their moral code on the populace using violence. Weather it’s the cops attacking random black men during traffic stops, or the military of an apartheid state bombing civilians, or the oligarchs in control of a private prison system filling their jails to capacity. It’s called state-violence, and it’s legal. When people who are not in power use violence against random civilians to impose their own morals it’s called terrorism.

The only things that differentiates a Jihadist attacking bourbon street, from a military drone bombing civilians or a policeman beating a handcuffed man to death is the flag they waive. Whether the flag has an isis insignia, a Star of David or a thin blue line makes no difference to the victims. To kill civilians at random is an act of terror. To collectively punish the people is a war crime. These people are all the same. The terrorist, the conservative senator and the billionaire all believe you should be forced to do as they say and if you resist you should be punished with violence.

That’s why the gauntlet of conservative politicians using this attack to their own ends makes my blood boil. The beliefs of an average Republican senator today are barely different from the Islamic fundamentalists commuting mass murder. The state government that bans pornography for religious reasons, that forces their own religious iconography in schools, that makes divorce illegal, that arrests women for the way they dress, that arrests women for having an abortion when the pregnancy will kill them, or when the mother is 12 years old—has more in common with ISIS than they do with you or me.

The conservative politician’s psychopathic need to force their particular interpretation of their particular religion on us is exactly the same need as Isis. Which sect of which religion they impose hardly maters. The only functional difference is that the conservative power brokers that run our country have the law and the police on their side.

So to Trump and Landry and the slew of right wing demagogs trying to profit from the death and suffering on New Years, I’m telling you from the bottom of my heart, you are the same as the terrorists. Your psychotic need to impose your beliefs, and your willingness to use violence on innocent people to do so, puts you squarely in the company of all the other terrorists. Your views on women’s rights and religious freedom are barely different than ISIS. Through the policies you’ve imposed you’re already responsible for more deaths than the shooter. You are bad people to the core not just for using these deaths to your own advantage but because your beliefs and desires are barely different than the terrorist that committed them.

New Orleans is the freeist city I’ve ever lived in, in the least free state. The Louisiana government is controlled by religious extremists imposing their religious doctrines by force. These people are not like us. Senator Mike Johnson has an app on his phone designed for evangelical fundamentalists that alerts him if his son masturbates. JD Vance is an avowed Christian Nationalist who’s stated goal of making America a Christian Nation means forcing the country’s laws to abide by HIS interpretation of HIS sect of HIS religion, which means everything from no drinking on Sunday to making porn illegal to re-criminalizing marijuanna to forcing doctors to let woman die rather than perform abortions.

The same reason the Isis inspired terrorist chose the French quarter of New Orleans as a target—the debauchery, the decadence, the partying and music and joie de vivre that the city is known for, is exactly what the conservative terrorists that control our legislature hate about the city. The only point of contention the Republican dominated government and the Isis inspired terrorist have with one another is which sect of which religion gets to impose its totalitarian ideals on the rest of us. Jihadism is already here, it’s just called Christian Nationalism. Sharia law is already here it’s just called Project 2025.

[allthegeopolitics]

A New Year's celebration took a horrific turn early Wednesday when the driver of a pickup truck steered around a police blockade and rammed into a crowd on historic Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 15 people and injuring dozens more, authorities said.  After driving at high speed into the crowd of new years revellers, the suspect was killed in a firefight with police. The FBI has said it is investigating the vehicle attack as "an act of terrorism." Investigators found multiple improvised explosive devices, including two pipe bombs that were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.   

Continue Reading.

[achrilock-aether]

[…] “Musk later posted further, saying: “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.”

“And he subsequently posted yet more, speculating that the incident was “likely to be a terrorist attack” and posing a question about whether there was a link with the New Orleans mass killing earlier in the day, which the authorities have said they are treating as a terrorist incident.” |

I sorry, is he speak as business guy, as future government agency guy, as security clearance guy, or as is just usually full of bullshit guy? The different hats are starting to look so similar, to me.

[the-devils-diaryy]

Guy I went to high school with died in the terror attack on Bourbon Street this morning. Absolutely surreal. I hope the driver rots in hell forever. As if New Orleans hasn’t suffered enough already.

What a way to start 2025.

[canebread]

jeez

[trendsnews24]

At least 10 killed in New Orleans after driver intentionally rams into crowd on Bourbon Street

Read More

[uvmagazine]

All of the 14 victims killed in the New Orleans terrorist attack have been identified. We would like to take the time to remember these men and women.

Read more : https://bit.ly/4iZy9N8

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jay Kuo at The Status Kuo:

Celebrations turned to horror in New Orleans as the driver of a pickup truck plowed into a crowd of revelers in the French Quarter of the city in the early hours of New Year’s morning. A total of 15 people are dead and around three dozen injured, some very seriously. The nation was just processing that attack when a Tesla cybertruck exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas later that same morning. The vehicle’s trunk contained large firework mortars and gasoline and camp fuel canisters. The driver was killed and seven people in the blast zone were injured, thankfully none seriously. Many Americans are understandably concerned about the threat of violence, terror and how the incoming Trump administration will handle such incidents. As I’ll discuss below, there are some important questions that remain unanswered about the attacks, and the response to them from the right is a disturbing preview of what we can expect.

Organized terror?

After a police shootout that killed the New Orleans attacker, identified as Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, investigators found devices resembling homemade bombs in and near the truck and elsewhere in the area. This has understandably led to questions over whether Jabbar acted alone. [Update: Authorities now believe Jabbar did in fact act alone.] Jabbar’s public statements also suggest that law enforcement should look further into whether he was a sole attacker or part of a group or cell. Hours earlier, he had posted videos to Facebook indicating he was inspired by the Islamic State, and investigators found an Islamic State sticker on the trailer hitch of the rented truck. By these acts, it’s clear Jabbar fully intended his allegiances to be known once he completed his attack. “By carrying an ISIS flag with him during the attack, the suspect wanted to show that he was a true believer, aligned with the ISIS cause, and perhaps hoping to trigger others into following suit,” said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst interviewed by the Times. [...]

A terrorist that few suspected

We’re beginning to learn about Jabbar’s background, and it doesn’t seem to fit any easy patterns nor raise immediate red flags. Contrary to initial right wing claims that he was a recent migrant, Jabbar was born in Texas and was raised as a Christian but converted to Islam long ago, according to his brother. Jabbar served almost eight years in the army, deploying to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010. He became an Army Reservist after leaving active duty in January 2015, then left the reserves as a staff sergeant in July 2020. He received several awards including the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal and a National Defense Service Medal. [...]

The Tesla bomber suspect

Less is known about the perpetrator of the other attack. A local Denver news outlet, Denver7, reported that the suspect in the Las Vegas Tesla explosion is Matthew Livelsberger, who has multiple Colorado Springs addresses associated with him. There are some unsettling coincidences between the two attacks that have police investigating whether there could be any connection between them. Like Jabbar, Livelsberger was a former servicemember. According to a LinkedIn profile bearing his name and image, Livelsberger was a Special Forces Green Beret as well as an intelligence, operations and communications specialist.

[...]

Politicization of the attacks

Right wing media, Donald Trump and other radical politicians immediately sought to exploit the New Orleans attack, insinuating falsely that Jabbar, a former Christian born and raised in Texas, was somehow a migrant who had recently arrived in the U.S. The first culprit was Fox, which falsely reported that the vehicle driven by Jabbar had crossed the Southern border at Eagle Pass two days before the attack. Fox has since corrected its reporting, but not before Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (Q-GA) picked up on the misinformation and amplified it. She has not taken her post down. Donald Trump also jumped in to insinuate that this attack was due to migrant crime. In typical Trump form, he talked first about criminals coming into the country, claimed falsely that the crime rates in the U.S. are at levels never seen when they have in fact fallen sharply, then went on about the New Orleans attack as if migrant crime and the attack itself were related, when they are not at all.

The Las Vegas attack is also coming under political scrutiny. After the identify of the Tesla cybertruck driver became known, MAGA loyalists leapt to portray Matthew Livelsberger as anti-Trump by (checks notes) accusing his wife of being a Trump hater. This was based primarily on (checks notes again) a Facebook comment from 2016. Rather than give much oxygen to these absurd efforts, I note simply that it appears the two have been divorced for some time, that she is now remarried, and that Livelsberger’s politics aren’t clear but are being scrutinized to assess a possible motive. [Update: A close family member of Livelsberger told The Independent that Livelsperger was “100 percent” a patriot who “loved Trump” and was a “Rambo type.”]

Jay Kuo’s commentary on the two terrorist attacks on New Year’s Day 2025 is so spot-on. Imagine Kash Patel leading the FBI under such scenarios? It would be a nightmare.

See Also:

Let's Address This: MAGAs Exploit Atrocity to Incite Hatred