McCaul says New Orleans attack reminds him of Boston Marathon bombing
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the former Homeland Security Committee chair, said the recent terror attack in New Orleans reminds him of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
McCaul joined ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, where he was asked about the threat environment after the New Year’s Day attack, where a man drove a pickup truck down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring many more.
More information has been released about the suspect, 42-year-old, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who was carrying an ISIS flag and explosives. Jabbar's online activity indicated he became interested in the extremist group.
“I would say the New Orleans case was radicalization online,” McCaul said.
McCaul said he was concerned about Jabbar’s international travel and the rare bomb-making material that is “not available in the United States.” Jabbar's half-brother told ABC News that the suspect had traveled to Egypt in 2023 for about a month, which is currently being investigated, the outlet reported.
“So, I know that they’re saying this is kind of a lone wolf type situation, but there seem to be some real ISIS connections here that need to be followed up,” McCaul said.
He noted that law enforcement is working hard to find more information, but the situation reminds him of the Islamist domestic terrorist attack where brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev planted homemade bombs near the Boston Marathon finish line in 2013.
“It reminds me so much of the Boston bomber who traveled to Dagestan, came back and then built this pressure cooker bomb that led to the deaths of so many people in that marathon,” McCaul said.
Three people were killed in the marathon bombing and hundreds were injured. The suspects killed a police officer and injured others in a shootout. One of the brothers died in a chase and the other hid during a manhunt before being arrested.