Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, described the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) handling of the New Year’s Day terrorist attack that killed 14 and injured dozens more in New Orleans as “nothing short of appalling.”
After authorities said ISIS-inspired terrorist Shamsud Din Jabbar drove a vehicle through a crowd of revelers early on New Year’s Day before engaging in gunfire with law enforcement, the FBI has circulated conflicting information about the attack and suspect on multiple occasions, Pappert explained.
Pappert first noted how, hours after the attack, Althea Duncan, the FBI Special Agent leading the agency’s investigation into the incident, said the attack was “not a terrorist event” despite the FBI officially coming out shortly later confirming that it was investigated as an act of terrorism.
In addition, Pappert also noted how the FBI was conflicted about whether or not the suspect acted alone in the attack, as the agency first said there were multiple people involved to now saying that the suspect was a lone wolf.
Pappert said the conflicting information regarding the New Orleans terrorist attack is a testament to deeper troubles within the FBI.
“I had very little confidence in our wonderful FBI going into this, but their behavior throughout this has yet again been nothing short of appalling. It seems as though the FBI is operating as though they’re a boat without a sail. There is no captain aboard the ship,” Pappert said on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“Chris Wray knows he’s on his way out the door, and the agency seems to be coming apart at the seams as we approach January 20th, when hopefully we’ll quickly get some new leadership in there and get cases like this solved quickly and get information out to the public,” Pappert added.
Pappert said the “most frustrating part” of the FBI’s handling of the attack has been its reluctance to release information and respond to media requests.
“The most frustrating part of this ordeal has been the FBI’s release of information. It’s been extremely stunted and they have essentially refused to answer any questions about this attack instead referring media outlets to their public web page where they’re putting out 300,000 words about how this is a lone wolf shooter, there’s domestic terrorists, white people are just as big a threat,” Pappert explained.
Noting how the FBI has confirmed that the suspect posted multiple videos on social media leading up to the attack, Pappert said the FBI’s continued withholding of such videos “seems that they’re going to try to do everything they can to delay or keep these videos from going out.”
“It’s bizarre and it’s frankly embarrassing. Other countries would not have their law enforcement do this,” Pappert added.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
