Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Texas, drove to New Orleans and deliberately plowed into New Year’s revelers, killing 14 people. Before the attack, he recorded videos addressed to his family, in which he talked about plans to kill them and told them he had joined ISIS.
In the videos, Jabbar said he wanted to record a message for his family to let them know he had joined ISIS and that he did not want them to think he spared them willingly. He also mentioned that he had first wanted to organize a “celebration” for them and make everyone “witness the killing of the apostates.”
Jabbar’s family and friends described him as kind and unassuming, and it came as a shock to them that he was capable of such a violent act. His half brother, Abdur-Rahim Jabbar IV, said that their father was Muslim and Jabbar’s mother was Christian, and that Jabbar was open about his Muslim faith but didn’t discuss it in a forceful way.
In the years leading up to the attack, Jabbar experienced personal struggles, including his third divorce, significant debt, and loss of his corporate job. Experts said that Jabbar’s radicalization to violence aligns with the typical pattern of how a veteran can be radicalized, and that his personal struggles may have contributed to his descent into extremism.
Jabbar’s attack has raised concerns about the potential for radicalization among veterans and the importance of addressing mental health and personal struggles. The FBI is still investigating the motives behind Jabbar’s attack and the extent of his involvement with ISIS.
