by Sharon Rondeau
(Jan. 1, 2025) — At approximately 3:15 a.m. local time Wednesday, a pickup truck was driven at high speed down New Orleans’s Bourbon Street, a major thoroughfare, where it crosses Canal Street, slamming into a crowd celebrating the new year, killing ten and injuring more than 30.
Several hours later, the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) held a press conference with contradictory statements. At the outset, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell declared the incident a “terrorist attack,” and Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick described it as “intentional.”
However, an on-scene FBI agent would not confirm it was an act of terrorism and in fact, flatly contradicted the claim.
Former FBI agent Nicole Parker, who said she was called to provide commentary while on her morning run, strongly suggested to the three “Fox & Friends” co-hosts that “terrorism” was the motive, infused with a “foreign” element.
Parker spoke haltingly, stressing she is not an FBI spokesman of any kind, citing unnamed “sources” on the ground, her experience with the Bureau and recent incidents occurring in Europe.
She added the FBI would not have taken the lead on the investigation if terrorism were not suspected.
On December 20, a vehicle plowed into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing five and injuring “at least 200.” The suspect was arraigned and is a 50-year-old physician from Saudi Arabia, multiple news reports said.
“This is the real deal,” Parker told “Fox & Friends” of the New Orleans incident.
Kirkpatrick urged new year’s revelers and those attending the Sugar Bowl football game to enjoy themselves without saying whether the perpetrator(s) had been apprehended.
She nevertheless said the perpetrator was “hell-bent” on inflicting “carnage” and “damage” and fired on two police officers, she said. “This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” she said. “It was not a DUI situation…”
A second presser will take place at 11:00 a.m. CT, Kirkpatrick said.
The officers were injured but are in “stable condition” in a local hospital, “Fox & Friends” co-host Dr. Nicole Saphier reported at 8:43 a.m. EST.
An improvised explosive device (IED) was found in the perpetrator’s vehicle, Special Assistant FBI Agent Aletha Duncan said, although she denied the incident was a “terrorist event.”
“Additional information” would be provided at 11:00 a.m., Duncan said.
Kirkpatrick has worked for and/or led the Memphis, TN; Oakland, CA; Spokane, WA and Chicago police departments. She was terminated from Oakland for allegedly making “false statements” but sued and won a settlement of approximately $1.5 million.
She has been superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) for just over a year. According to Wikipedia, “In August 2024, she struck two pedestrians with her car while on duty.[13]“
At 8:28 a.m. EST, Fox News’s Alexis McAdams reported the perpetrator to be “dead” after a confrontation with police involving firearms.
“What I am asking at this time is prayers for those who have lost their lives in the city of New Orleans due to this tragedy,” Cantrell said at the presser. “In addition to that, I’m asking the public to stay clear of eight blocks around Bourbon Street…very active and again, a unified command is in place right now.”
Absolutely, positively, no doubt about it this was an act of terrorism. By a home-grown, WOKE educational system and U.S. Army indoctrinated, ISLAMIC (Muslim) terrorist.