USA: car-ramming attack treated as an “act of terrorism”

At least 10 people were killed and around 30 injured in a vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans, Louisiana, during New Year’s celebrations. The FBI confirmed it was investigating for “act of terrorism”.

A little after 3 a.m. Wednesday night, a man was driving a pickup truck on Bourbon Street at a very fast speedsaid the superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, Anne Kirkpatrick, at a press conference.

He then bypassed the police barricades at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon streets and grabbed people gathered to celebrate the arrival of the new year.

This was intentional behavior. This man was trying to grab as many people as he could.

Ms. Kirkpatrick reiterated that this was not a case of impaired driving. He went around our barricades in order to [passer à l’acte]. He was relentless in creating the carnage and damage he did.

The suspected assailant is dead, authorities confirmed. A law enforcement official told L’Associated Press on condition of anonymity that he had been shot during a shootout with the police.

The number of injured is, for the moment, at least 35 people, she continued. Most of the victims are believed to be residents of the region.

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Two police officers injured by gunfire

The suspect also opened fire on the police from his vehicle, after crashing it. Two officers were hit by the gunfire and are in stable condition, Kirkpatrick said.

Home-made explosive devices were reportedly found in the vehicle and are currently being analyzed to determine whether they were indeed functional.

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More than 300 agents had been deployed on the ground in anticipation of the New Year festivities.

This tragedy occurred a few hours before the holding of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, an NCAA football championship game between the universities of Georgia and Notre Dame.

“Terrorist” act

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell asked people to pray for those who lost their lives in this tragedy.

She also described the attack as terrorist during a press conference to provide an update on the situation to the media. The FBI spokesperson at his side, Alethea Duncan, then quickly corrected the situation by specifying that it was not a matter of terrorist event.

Then, a few hours later, the FBI finally indicated that it was conducting an investigation to act of terrorism.

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The authorities’ next press briefing will be held at 12 p.m.

Trump links illegal immigration

When I said that the criminals coming into our country were far worse than those inside, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the “Fake News Media,” but it was proven to be truereacted President-elect Donald Trump on the Truth Social platform.

The crime rate in our country has reached an unprecedented level.

Our hearts go out to the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave New Orleans police officers. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans in its investigation and recovery from this act of pure evil! a conclu M. Trump.

Outgoing United States President Joe Biden said grateful to local law enforcement for their courageous and rapid response, which prevented even more deaths and injuries. The Democratic president claims, in a statement sent by the White House, to have been informed of l’horrible incident early this morning.

Mr. Biden said to himself with all my heart with the victims and their families and believes that nothing justifies violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate attacks on our country’s communities.

Another car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killed five people and injured 200 others on December 20.

With information from the Associated Press