Tom Homan warns US national security 'in grave danger' after New Orleans attack, Tesla Cybertruck explosion
President-elect Donald Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan issued a warning about the state of U.S. national security following the terror attack in New Orleans and the Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day.
In an interview on "America Reports" on Thursday, the former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director said the United States is in imminent danger as the southern border remains vulnerable to national security.
"We're not out of the woods," Homan said. "This country is in grave danger. We need to secure that border, and despite what's happened in the last two days in Las Vegas and in New Orleans, this administration is not stopping. They're still releasing thousands of people every week… without proper vetting."
WHO IS SHAMSUD-DIN JABBAR? WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS NEW YEAR'S TERRORIST SUSPECT
"We've got a record number of known gotaways. Over 2 million people entered this country. We don't know who they are or where they came from or what their purpose was for coming to this country," he continued.
Homan said he looked forward to President-elect Donald Trump retaking "power" to "secure this border and protect our national security."
His warning came after the suspect, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar and with ISIS flag in tow, plowed into dozens at a New Year's parade on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 30. He was killed in a shootout with police.
Jabbar, a U.S. native born in Texas, had previously served in the U.S. military. Jabbar said in Facebook videos prior to the attack that he had joined ISIS before the summer and provided a will and testament, according to the FBI.
SUSPECT BEHIND CYBERTRUCK THAT EXPLODED AT TRUMP HOTEL IDENTIFIED AS ACTIVE-DUTY US ARMY SOLDIER
Authorities had been investigating a potential military connection between Jabbar and the Las Vegas suspect, who law enforcement identified to The Associated Press as Matthew Livelsberger. He was a U.S. Army active-duty Special Forces operations sergeant on leave from Germany, where he was serving with the 10th Special Forces Group and most recently served as a Green Beret.
Livelsberger is suspected of being the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that blew up outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day. The truck contained gasoline and camp fuel containers, as well as large firework mortars, according to officials.
When pressed on the nature of the attacks, Homan said he had a "gut feeling" that both the New Orleans New Year's attack and the Las Vegas explosion were linked, despite the FBI and police finding no evidence to connect both attacks at this stage in the investigation.
"This is a gut feeling. I've done this for three-and-a-half decades. I just think there's too many similarities," Homan told Fox News anchor Sandra Smith. "Too much coincidence. I think something down the road — they're going to show there's some sort of connection… I could be wrong — it's just a gut feeling that I have."
Pointing to the military background of both individuals, Homan urged the incoming Trump administration to ramp up "insider threat analysis," which, he said, was put on the back burner by the Biden administration.
"We've got two people who served in the military that [allegedly] committed these terrorist acts. We need to really dig down into insider threats in our military and our federal service…" he warned.
The FBI on Thursday said investigators believe the New Orleans terror attack suspect acted alone, despite previously considering a possible link to the Tesla Cybertruck explosion.
Both Jabbar and Livelsberger served at Fort Liberty — formerly known as Fort Bragg — in North Carolina, but a U.S. official said there was no overlap to their assignments there. They served at the same base, but at different times, and more than 50,000 U.S. service members are currently stationed at Fort Liberty.
"As you know, there's also an FBI investigation in Las Vegas. We are following up on all potential leads and not ruling anything out. However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas," FBI Deputy Assistant Director of Counterterrorism Christopher Raia told reporters Thursday.