On New Year’s Day, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, drove a rented truck into Bourbon Street, mowing down revelers which has been termed as an act of terrorism by US federal investigators. Fourteen people were killed and dozens were injured while Shamsud-Din Jabbar died in a shootout with police.
The 42-year-old New Orleans terrorist pledged allegiance to ISIS and his house in North Houston gave insights into a chaotic life. The New York Post reported that in the trailer home bomb-making materials, a Quran open to a passage glorifying violence and a workbench set up for assembling explosives were found.
The Quran was opened to Verse 9:111 which reads: “They fight in Allah’s cause, and slay and are slain; a promise binding.” Shamsud-Din Jabbar also spoke about the same in chilling videos posted online minutes before his attack in which he declared his allegiance to ISIS and issued threats, including to his own family.
When the FBI raided Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s house, they found it in disarray with the front door kicked down, cabinets flung open and furniture overturned. The bedroom held a keffiyeh in the closet and bomb-making tools on the workbench with clothes and belongings scattered about.
Chemical residues and bottles filled the property which FBI agents said were compounds commonly used in bomb-making. A rolled-up prayer rug and numerous Islamic books were also seen.
Once an Army staff sergeant, Shamsud-Din Jabbar served ten years, including deployments to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2019. He left active duty in 2015 and the reserves in 2020 and struggled in real estate and IT sector. Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s younger brother Abdur Jabbar said, This is more some type of radicalization, not religion. He was a sweetheart really, a nice guy, a friend, really smart, caring.”
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