The Senate Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into the New Orleans terrorist attack that occurred on New Year’s Day, which left 15 people dead, as well as the explosion outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas that occurred on the same day.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson have sent letters to the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and the FBI requesting more information about the background and motives of the attackers.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the man who carried out the New Orleans attack, posted five videos to his Facebook page hours before he drove a truck through New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street. The FBI has confirmed that Jabbar was motivated by ISIS extremism.
The committee is also requesting information about the background and motive of Matthew Alan Livelsberger, the man behind the explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, which occurred on the same day.
Livelsberger, a former Army master sergeant, served in the U.S. Army between 2006 and 2012, and was on leave from his duty station in Germany at the time of his death.
Both Jabbar and Livelsberger served in the U.S. Army during the same period and overlapped during their military service at Fort Bragg and in Afghanistan. The FBI has confirmed that there is no connection between the two incidents.
The committee is seeking more information about Jabbar’s Facebook activity leading up to the attack, as well as his military service and background. The committee is also requesting information about Livelsberger’s military service and background.
The investigation is ongoing, and the committee is urging the agencies involved to be forthcoming and responsive to their oversight requests.
