A terror attack in New Orleans on Wednesday left 15 people dead and 30 others injured when a man drove a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street during New Year’s celebrations.
Hours later in Las Vegas, a man set off an explosion in a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel, injuring seven people, CNN reported. He was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
Both men had military ties. The perpetrator in the New Orleans attack was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran from Texas who served on active duty from 2006 to 2015. He later joined the Army Reserve, serving from 2015 to 2020, according to NBC News. An ISIS flag was found inside his truck, according to a statement from the F.B.I.
The driver of the Cybertruck, identified by the authorities as Matthew Alan Livelsberger, was an active duty U.S. Army Green Beret.
Livelsberger was stationed in Germany with the 10th Special Forces Group and was on leave, three people with knowledge of his service told CNN.
While the authorities are investigating any connection between the attacks, they have repeatedly described the Vegas explosion as an “isolated incident,” according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, CBS reported. In this episode of “Extremism in America,” we explore how a common thread in these attacks — military service — was also thought to be a contributing factor in the radicalization of Timothy McVeigh, who was responsible for the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others.
McVeigh started to become disillusioned with the government while fighting in the 1991 Gulf War.
Extremism in America: The Oklahoma City Bombing (Retro report)
The “Oklahoma City Bombing” episode is the second in a five-part series produced with The WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate, which examines the roots and rise of hate in America and across the globe. Leadership support for Exploring Hate is provided by the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Antisemitism. To learn more about Exploring Hate and view a full list of funders, visit pbs.org/exploringhate.
CAROLINE WATKINS is Retro Report’s Audience Engagement Manager.
