New Orleans attack suspect searched for Germany truck-ramming incident hours before carrying out attack: FBI
Michael Democker/Getty Images, FILE
(NEW ORLEANS) — The man who is suspected of committing the New Years Day vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans searched online for information about the Christmas market car-ramming attack in Germany, just hours before carrying out his own attack on Bourbon Street, according to the FBI.
In a report released Tuesday, the FBI said a search of Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s “electronics” showed that he “conducted many online searches” related to the New Orleans attack “as late as mid-November,” including “how to access a balcony on Bourbon Street” and information about Mardi Gras, which occurs in March.
“Just hours before the attack on Bourbon Street, he also searched for information about the car that rammed into innocent victims in a Christmas market in Germany just ten days before,” the FBI report said.
On Dec. 21, 2024, a man drove into a crowded German Christmas market, killing five and injuring 200, according to German authorities.
In the early hours of New Years Day, Jabbar, whom the FBI previously said had recorded videos “proclaiming his support for ISIS” and mentioning he had joined the terrorist group earlier in the year, drove a rented truck down Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring 57. He died in a shootout with police while he was reaching to detonate coolers filled with explosives, according to investigators.
“A total of 136 victims have been identified, including two businesses that suffered damages,” the FBI’s report said, updating the official number of victims.
The FBI report also provided more detail about Jabbar’s visits to the city prior to the attack.
“On November 10, 2024, Jabbar took a train from Houston, Texas to New Orleans and returned to Texas that evening on a bus,” the report said. “While in the city, Jabbar looked at an apartment for rent on Orleans Street. Just days after his travel he applied to rent the apartment but later told the landlord he changed his mind.”
Jabbar at the time lived in Houston, Texas. The FBI on Tuesday also released an image they said is of Jabbar in New Orleans on November 10.
“Thanks to the overwhelming response from the public, the FBI is closer to getting answers for those families who lost loved ones and the other victims of the New Year’s Day attack,” the FBI report said.
(NEW YORK) — A winter storm has left tornado damage along the Gulf Coast and piles of snow in the Plains and the Midwest — and residents are now preparing for a new storm moving in this weekend.
This latest storm has dropped over 11 inches of snow in Iowa, 10 inches in Illinois and 7.5 inches in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
On the southern end of the storm, at least two tornadoes were reported in Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday as winds gusted near 60 mph.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump, former presidents and other dignitaries came together Thursday to honor the life of former President Jimmy Carter at a state funeral at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Grandson Jason Carter and Biden were among those who delivered eulogies for the 39th president, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
Plane takes off for Georgia
The plane carrying former President Jimmy Carter’s casket has taken off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, marking the last time the 39th president leaves the Washington, D.C., area.
Carter is returning to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where his family will hold a private service and burial.
Carter to return to Plains
Former President Jimmy Carter’s casket was carried out of Washington National Cathedral to the strains of “Hail to the Chief” at the conclusion of the service.
Next, the hearse will drive to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The casket will be placed on a plane to return to Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, for a private service.
The 39th president, who died on Dec. 29 at age 100, will be buried in Plains next to his beloved wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, who died on Nov. 19, 2023, at the age of 96.
‘Your spirit will remain with us’
“I don’t mean this with any disrespect, but, it’s still hard for me to understand how you could get to be president from Plains, Georgia,” said former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, prompting a big laugh from the crowd in the cathedral.
Young, 92, was appointed to be U.N. Ambassador by Carter and was the first Black person to hold the position.
Young recalled how Carter grew up in a mostly Black county and had many Black friends. He said Carter asked that his roommate at the Naval Academy be the first Black midshipmen in hopes that he could help him adjust.
Carter “went out of his way to embrace those of us who had grown up in all kinds of conflict,” Young said. “But that was the sensitivity, the spirituality that made James Earl Carter a truly great president.”
“He never wavered from his commitment to God almighty and his love of all of God’s children,” Young said. “Jimmy Carter was a blessing that helped to create a great United Staes of America. And for all of us, and many who are not able to be here, I want to say, thank you. You have been a blessing from God and your spirit will remain with us.”
Biden recalls Carter’s ‘strength of character’
After wiping his eyes during “Amazing Grace,” President Joe Biden stepped up to the podium to recall his friendship with former President Jimmy Carter.
“Jimmy Carter’s friendship taught me … strength of character is more than the title or power we hold. It’s the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect. That everyone — and I mean everyone deserves an even shot,” Biden said.
“We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to — [what] my dad said, the greatest sin of all — the abuse of power,” Biden said, as all of the former presidents looked on. “It’s not about being perfect, none of us are perfect. We’re all fallible.”
“Jimmy Carter, throughout his life, he showed us what it means to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of God, and of the people,” Biden said.
Some may think Carter is from a “bygone era,” but Carter “saw well into the future,” Biden said.
To anyone in search of meaning and purpose, Biden said, “study the power of Jimmy Carter’s example.”
“I miss him, but I take solace in knowing that he and his beloved Rosalynn are reunited again,” he said.
Grandson calls Carter ‘definition of integrity’
Former President Jimmy Carter’s house was filled with items like so many other southern grandparents’: fishing trophies, a phone with a landline and a fridge covered with photos of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, his grandson Jason Carter said.
“And demonstrating their Depression-era roots, they had a little rack next to the sink where they would hang Ziploc bags to dry,” Jason Carter said, as the crowd laughed.
“In my 49 years, I never perceived a difference between his public face and his private one. He was the same person,” Jason Carter said. “For me, that’s the definition of integrity.”
“His political life and his presidency, for me, was not just ahead of its time — it was prophetic. He had the courage and strength to stick to his principles, even when they were politically unpopular,” Jason Carter said. “As governor of Georgia half a century ago, he preached an end to racial discrimination and an end to mass incarceration. As president in the 1970s, as you’ve heard, he protected more land than any other president in history. Fifty years ago, he was a climate warrior who pushed for a world where we conserved energy, limited emissions and traded our reliance on fossil fuels for expanded renewable sources.”
President Carter’s beloved wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, died on Nov. 19, 2023, at the age of 96.
Jason Carter said that, in recent weeks, his grandfather “told us he was ready to see her again.”
‘Unshakable sense of right and wrong’
Stuart Eizenstat, who was former President Jimmy Carter’s chief domestic policy adviser, praised Carter’s “unshakable sense of right and wrong.”
“His faith brought integrity to the presidency after Watergate and Vietnam,” Eizenstat recalled. “‘I will never lie to you,’ he promised the American people — a vow he fulfilled.”
Carter is known for his deep faith, and Eizenstat noted how Carter’s “faith respected other religions — he was the first president to light a Hanukkah menorah and he created the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.”
“This president from the deepest part of the Deep South championed civil rights, appointing more people of color and women to senior executive positions and judgeships than all previous 38 presidents,” he said.
“President Carter parked politics at the Oval Office door, to do what he believed was the right thing — tackling controversial challenges regardless of the political consequences. Much of his agenda passed with bipartisan support, a quaint notion in today’s hyper-polarized politics,” Eizenstat said.
Walter Mondale’s son delivers his father’s eulogy
Former President Jimmy Carter’s vice president, Walter Mondale, left behind a eulogy for Carter before he died in 2021.
Mondale’s son, Ted Mondale, delivered that eulogy at Thursday’s service.
The two became close friends and established a person relationship that continued throughout their life, Walter Mondale said.
“While we had only four years in the White House, he achieved so much in that time,” Walter Mondale wrote. “It stood as a marker for Americans dedicated to justice and decency.”
“Carter was far-sighted — he put aside his short-term political interests to tackle challenges that demanded sacrifice to protect our kids and grandkids from future harm,” he wrote. “Very few people in the 1970s had heard the term climate change. Yet Carter put his presidency on the line to pass laws to conserve energy, deregulate new oil and gas prices, and invest in clean, renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. … In many ways, he laid the foundation for future presidents to come to grips with climate change.”
“All of us know President Carter elevated human rights to the top of his agenda, but sometimes we forget how seriously he pushed to advance the rights of women. He proposed and signed the law extending the period for states to approve the Equal Rights Amendment, which now, finally, has been ratified by three quarters of the states,” he wrote.
“Toward the end of our time in the White House, the President and I were talking about how we might describe what we tried to do,” Walter Mondale wrote. “We came up with this sentence, which to me remains an important summary of what we were trying to do: ‘We told the truth, we obeyed the law and we kept the peace.'”
President Ford’s son delivers his father’s eulogy
Former President Gerald Ford, who lost the 1976 election to former President Jimmy Carter, later forged a friendship with Carter, and the two agreed to leave eulogies for each other.
Ford died in 2006 at the age of 93.
Ford’s son Steven Ford, read his father’s eulogy at Carter’s service.
But first, Steven Ford shared his own message, saying he is praying for the Carter children. It was 18 years ago, nearly to the day, Steven Ford said, that his family sat in that same row at the cathedral and the Carters supported his family.
“It was your dad and his great faith that supported my mom and gave her hope,” he said to the Carter children.
President Ford said in the eulogy he left for Carter, “Jimmy and I forged a friendship that transcends politics. We immediately decided to exercise one of the privileges of a former president, forgetting that either one of us had ever said any harsh words about the other one in the heat of battle. Then we got on to much more enjoyable subjects: discussing our families, our faith and sharing our experiences in discovering that there is indeed life after the White House.”
“The American people and the people of the world will be forever blessed by his decades of good works,” President Ford wrote.
To President Carter, President Ford said, “Looking forward to our reunion — we have much to catch up on.”
Carter’s grandson remembers his Sunday school lessons
At the service, former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson Josh Carter recalled his grandfather’s weekly packed Sunday school classes in Plains, Georgia.
He said his grandfather would always poll the congregation and learn people came from all over the country, with diverse backgrounds and beliefs.
“If he stopped a conflict, he talked about it. If he eliminated disease from a village or a country, he would talk about it,” Josh Carter said. “When my brother Jeremy died, he announced that news at Sunday school. In fact, I remember that my brother died on a Sunday because it was the only time my grandfather was ever late to teach.”
“He stated the most serious and universal problem on our planet is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on Earth,” he said. “For the next two decades, as the problem compounded, he returned to this theme with stories from the Bible and stories from today.”
“Many of the people that my grandparents helped lived on less than $1 a day,” he said. “My grandfather spent the entire time I’ve known him helping those in need. He built houses for people that needed homes. He eliminated diseases. … He waged peace. … He loved people.”
Harris, Biden arrive
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are seated in front of President-elect Donald Trump.
The two did not appear to interact.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are also at the cathedral.
Clintons, Bushes arrive
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are sitting next to former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush.
Laura Bush sat next to former President Barack Obama, who continued a lengthy conversation with President-elect Donald Trump.
Obama arrives, speaks with Trump
Former President Barack Obama arrived at the service and exchanged a long handshake and a laugh with former Vice President Al Gore.
Obama then sat directly next to Trump and the two exchanged words, both smiling.
Trump arrives, greets Pence
President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump have arrived at the service.
Trump shook hands and exchanged brief words with his former Vice President Mike Pence.
Hearse arrives at Washington National Cathedral
Former President Jimmy Carter’s hearse has arrived at Washington National Cathedral for the 10 a.m. service.
Mike Pence, Al Gore arrive at service
Former Vice Presidents Al Gore and Mike Pence have arrived at Washington National Cathedral for the 10 a.m. service.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Vice President-elect JD Vance were also seen at the service.
Carter’s casket leaves US Capitol for final time
Former President Jimmy Carter’s casket has left the U.S. Capitol for the final time. Carter had been lying in state at the Capitol since Tuesday.
His motorcade will now head to Washington National Cathedral for a 10 a.m. service.
An emotional, weeklong goodbye
The emotional, weeklong public goodbye to former President Jimmy Carter began on Saturday when a motorcade carried his remains from his hometown of Plains, Georgia, to Atlanta.
Family, friends and employees of the Carter Presidential Center congregated at the center in Atlanta for a Saturday afternoon ceremony. Carter’s son Chip Carter addressed the mourners and thanked his late parents for their service and sacrifice.
The public was then invited to pay their respects at the Carter Presidential Center from Saturday through Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Carter’s body was transported Washington, D.C., and a service was held at the Capitol. Carter lied in state at the Capitol on Wednesday.
On Thursday afternoon, following the Washington National Cathedral funeral, Carter will return to his hometown of Plains for a private service and private interment.
Motorcade makes emotional stop at Navy Memorial Former President Jimmy Carter’s motorcade made an emotional stop at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., to honor Carter’s service as a lieutenant in the Navy.
Carter’s childhood dream was to be in the Navy and he went on to graduate from the United States Naval Academy in 1946. Carter resigned from the Navy in 1953 after his father’s death so he could return to the family farm.
Carter’s casket was transferred from the hearse to a horse-drawn military caisson for a funeral procession that reproduces the walk Carter took with his family on the day of his inauguration. On that January day in 1977, Carter walked the mile-and-a-half inaugural parade route to the White House, rather than ride in a limousine, bringing a common touch to his presidency.
Navy officers stood silently along the snow-lined street, witnessing the casket’s transfer to the caisson.
The Carter family will walk behind the casket as it heads from the U.S. Navy Memorial to the U.S. Capitol.
Motorcade leaves Joint Base Andrews
Former President Jimmy Carter’s motorcade has left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland en route to Washington, D.C., to begin several days of services in the nation’s capital.
Carter lands in DC
A plane carrying the Carter family and the casket of former President Jimmy Carter has landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for several days of ceremonies in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Navy Memorial will be the first stop for the motorcade to honor Carter’s service as a lieutenant in the Navy.
Carter en route from Georgia to DC
The Carter family is accompanying former President Jimmy Carter’s remains on a flight from Georgia’s Dobbins Air Reserve Base to Washington, D.C. for the late president’s final journey to the nation’s capital.
“Hail to the Chief” was played and troops fired a 21-gun salute after the coffin was taken out of the hearse. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was among the officials at the base to witness the coffin’s transfer from the hearse to the plane.
Carter is survived by four children — John William (Jack), James Earl III (Chip), Donnel Jeffrey (Jeff) and Amy Lynn — and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The flight will land in the D.C. area around 2 p.m.
The late president’s first stop in snowy D.C. will be the U.S. Navy Memorial to honor his time in the service.
That will be followed by a 4:30 p.m. ET service at the U.S. Capitol, which will be
Carter leaves Carter Presidential Center for final time
Former President Jimmy Carter is leaving the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta for the final time Tuesday morning as Carter Center employees and their families look on.
The former president had been lying in repose at the center since Saturday, allowing the public to come pay their respects.
At a Saturday service at the Carter Presidential Center, Carter’s son Chip Carter thanked his parents for their service and sacrifice.
“The two of them together changed the world,” he said, overcome with emotion.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded the Carter Center after his presidency to improve health around the world and enhance freedom and democracy.
Carter to head to DC for services at Capitol, Washington National Cathedral
Former President Jimmy Carter’s remains will be escorted from the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday for the 39th president’s final trip to the nation’s capital.
His remains will leave the Carter Center at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The first stop in D.C. will be the U.S. Navy Memorial in honor of the former president’s service.
At 4:30 p.m. ET, members of Congress, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs and other officials will congregate at the U.S. Capitol for a lying in state ceremony. Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson are expected to deliver eulogies and lay wreaths.
Carter’s remains will lie in state at the Capitol from Tuesday evening to Thursday morning, allowing the public to pay respects.
On Thursday morning, former presidents and other dignitaries will attend a state funeral at Washington National Cathedral. President Joe Biden will deliver a eulogy.
On Thursday afternoon, Carter’s body will return to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, for a private service and private interment. Carter will be buried next to his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, who died on Nov. 19, 2023, at the age of 96.
(NEW YORK) — Excerpts of body-worn camera footage from four corrections officers were released Friday by the New York Attorney General’s Office showing the in-custody beating of 43-year-old inmate Robert Brooks, who the AG’s office says was brutalized by prison guards while handcuffed at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida, New York, earlier this month.
In the footage reviewed by ABC News, which the AG’s office says was from a Dec. 9 incident, multiple officers can be seen holding Brooks upright on an exam table, with his arms restrained, punching and kicking him in the face, torso and genitals. The beating was described in a deposition by an investigator for the New York Department of Corrections Office of Special Investigations.
Brooks had been transferred to Marcy Correctional Facility on the day of the attack from nearby Mohawk Correctional Facility.
He was pronounced dead at a local hospital the following day, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is investigating the incident.
“As attorney general, you have my word that we will use every possible tool to investigate this death thoroughly and swiftly,” James said in a press conference Friday.
Elizabeth Mazur, an attorney for the Brooks family, told ABC News, “Members of the public can now view for themselves the horrific and extreme nature of the deadly attack on Robert L. Brooks. As viewers can see, Mr. Brooks was fatally, violently beaten by a group of officers whose job was to keep him safe. He deserved to live, and everyone else living in Marcy Correctional Facility deserves to know they do not have to live in fear of violence at the hands of prison staff.”
Details of Brooks’ death were outlined in the state investigator’s deposition filed Tuesday by New York State Police.
The deposition was filed by Ryan Paparella, an investigator for the Department of Corrections and Community Services and was brought in to review this incident. In the deposition, Paparella , details his assessment of the body camera footage showing Brooks’ attack.
Paparella did not mention any apparent provocation or motive in his deposition and noted Brooks had his arms and legs restrained throughout the 15-minute assault. Paparella is a former corrections officer at the same prison where the incident took place.
Paparella’s deposition stated: “The male was on the ground [outside near a fence]… I observed correction officers pick up the male off the ground who was handcuffed with his hands behind his back. The hands of the black male were extended directly above his head as his upper torso was parallel with the ground. They continued to walk the male down the sidewalk and towards an open door of the infirmary.”
Paparella reported a corrections officer delivered a “closed fist strike to the chest” while Brooks was handcuffed, and detailed officers pushing Brooks’ body up against an interior window.
Preliminary findings of Brooks’ autopsy by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office, “show concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to actions of another,” New York State Police wrote in a court filing.
Paparella detailed that two sergeants and a nurse watched the attack and neglected to intervene. They are among the 14 prison staffers whom New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered to be terminated by the state.
“Like all New Yorkers, I was outraged and horrified after seeing footage of the senseless killing of Robert Brooks. I have been clear that it is the responsibility of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to provide appropriate care and protection for those in its custody, and I will not tolerate anyone who violates that responsibility,” Hochul said in a statement Friday. “The State of New York has zero tolerance for individuals who break the law, and I am committed to holding everyone involved fully accountable.”
One of the officers who Paparella reported participated in the incident is currently facing civil litigation for his alleged involvement in the 2020 beating of another inmate at Marcy Correctional, according to court records.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association issued a statement reading, “What we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and is certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day… This incident has the potential to make our correctional facilities even more violent, hostile, and unpredictable than ever before.”
The Correctional Association of New York (CANY), a state oversight group, said in a statement that terminating staff involved in the incident “is a good start, but Governor Kathy Hochul and the legislature must go much further.”
“They need to take bold and courageous actions to fulfill past commitments and bring about a new era of transparency and accountability in state government,” the release reads.
A 2023 CANY report on Marcy Correctional Facility found that four out of five prisoners reported witnessing or experiencing abuse and seven out of 10 prisoners reported racial discrimination from guards.
One person interviewed at Marcy correctional facility told CANY: “Physical abuse is rampant; the [correction officer] told me when I got here: ‘This is a hands-on facility, we’re going to put hands on you if we don’t like what you’re doing.'”
The New York Civil Liberties Union stated Brooks’ death “highlights a culture of violence and a lack of accountability for wrongdoing by corrections officers that puts the lives of incarcerated New Yorkers at risk.”
A 2024 review by the Department of Justice found that at least 28 incarcerated people were murdered while in custody during 2022, with 50 deaths classified as “accidental,” a term that is not defined in the report.
James, the attorney general, announced Friday that four involved officers did not turn their body-worn cameras on, which violates state policy, however, the cameras recorded in standby mode with no audio.
Department of Corrections Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III issued a memo this month, stating corrections officers’ must have their body cameras actively recording during any interaction with inmates. Martuscello wrote that employees must “immediately report any individual who intentionally or unintentionally circumvents the [body-worn camera] policy.”
“This was a killing, and people will be held accountable,” according to a statement issued by Martuscello following Brooks’ death. “No one is above the law and everyone who works here is held to the highest ethical standards. These individuals are not representative of the culture of DOCCS nor anything that DOCCS stands for. I am committed to vigorously pursuing justice for the Brooks family and ensuring that our agency takes the necessary steps to heal the community.”
Brooks was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2017 for stabbing his girlfriend in Monroe County.
Thirteen of the staffers have been suspended without pay and one resigned the day after the incident.
The investigation is still ongoing with the New York AG’s Office and the NY Dept of Corrections Office of Special Investigations.
