President Joe Biden confirmed in a statement Wednesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigations is investigating the fatal attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day as an act of terrorism.
“The FBI is taking the lead in the investigation and is investigating this incident as an act of terrorism. I am grateful for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury,” he said. “I have directed my team to ensure every resource is available as federal, state, and local law enforcement work assiduously to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no remaining threat of any kind.”
Biden said he has been briefed “continually” since early morning by federal law enforcement leadership and his homeland security team, “including Secretary of Homeland Security Ali Mayorkas, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and the Mayor of New Orleans.”
Biden’s statement said:
I will continue to receive updates throughout the day, and I will have more to say as we have further information to share. In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.
His statement came shortly after President-Elect Donald Trump issued a statement in which he called the attack an act of “pure evil,” and suggested the attacker came from outside the country.
Trump said in his statement posted on Truth Social:
When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!
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