Biden: No connection found between New Orleans, Vegas attacks

President Biden on Thursday said that there is no evidence of a connection between the New Orleans and Las Vegas incidents and said that the New Orleans attacker acted alone, providing an update after meeting with his Homeland Security team.

“As of now … they have not found any evidence of such a connection thus far,” Biden said, adding that he directed his team to keep looking for connections.

The man who plowed a pickup truck into a crowd in New Orleans has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar — a U.S. citizen from Texas who was carrying an ISIS extremist group flag on the trailer hitch of the truck he rented for the attack. He served in active duty in the U.S. Army.

The man who died in a Cybertruck explosion Wednesday outside the Las Vegas Trump International Hotel has been identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, who also served in active duty in the Army.

Biden noted that both men were active-duty U.S. Army service members, and the FBI and Department of Defense are looking into motives and talking to those who served with the Las Vegas suspect in particular.

Biden said that the people killed in the New Orleans attack has risen to 15, including the attacker, and 35 people have been injured.

He reiterated information from the FBI earlier Thursday that Jabbar planted explosives in nearby locations in New Orleans and had a remote detonator in his vehicle.

“The attacker posted several videos just several hours before the attack indicating his strong support for ISIS,” Biden said, adding that investigators are looking into foreign or domestic communications he had.

The president also acknowledged that the college football Sugar Bowl, which was postponed from Wednesday to Thursday, is set to start shortly and that Bourbon Street in New Orleans is reopening for business.

“New Orleans is a city of tremendous spirit, you can’t keep it down, you really can’t. And we’re seeing that today, the Sugar Bowl is back on, kickoff is going to take off very shortly,” Biden said.

Ahead of his remarks, Biden convened a meeting with Vice President Harris and his Homeland Security team to discuss the latest developments in the New Orleans investigation and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.

Biden directed his team to continue to make every resource available to federal, state and local law enforcement so they can complete their investigations as quickly as possible, according to the White House.

President-elect Trump earlier on Thursday railed on Truth Social that the border under Biden has led to violent crime and blamed the immigration situation in the U.S. on the recent attacks in New Orleans, as well as in Las Vegas.

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