On Jan. 1, 2025, after a man rammed a pickup into a crowd of New Year's revelers in New Orleans, killing more than a dozen people, a rumor about his origins spread. According to a Fox News report, law enforcement said the man drove the truck into the U.S. from the Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, just days before the attack.
The claim spread across social media and was amplified by Texas lawmakers, conservative social media influencers and Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, who wrote on X, "New Orleans terrorist attacker is said to have come across the border in Eagle Pass TWO DAYS AGO!!! Shut the border down!!! Who did our government bomb lately that is taking it out on innocent Americans?"
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump also spread the rumor on his social media website, TruthSocial, suggesting that the suspect was an immigrant:
When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!
An early Fox News report did state the truck had been found to cross the U.S.-Mexico border two days before the attack. However, as more information came to light, the attacker was confirmed to be a U.S. citizen, and the truck was confirmed to be a rental that reentered the country on a different date with a different driver, leading to Fox News retracting the claim. Here is what we know about the rumor and how it spread:
Fox News' claims
Earlier on New Year's Day, a Fox News host said that, according to "federal sources," the truck, which had a Texas license plate, came through Eagle Pass two days before the attack. Eagle Pass is on the U.S.-Mexico border and has bridges that connect to the Mexican city of Piedras Negras.
Fox News reporter David Spunt said on air:
We're hearing that the vehicle was traced to coming across from Mexico into the United States at Eagle Pass, Texas, two days ago. To be clear, we don't 100% know that this man […] was the person driving that crossed the border. […] This is per two federal law enforcement sources.
Aishah Hasnie, another Fox News correspondent, added to the claim on X, "The suspect's citizenship status is not yet confirmed."
Soon after the claim went viral, Hasnie edited the original post on X: "Clarifying - the TRUCK came across the border 2 days ago. We don't know if this suspect was inside this truck. Working to confirm ID of suspect."
Just hours later, the network corrected the report and said the truck entered the country in November 2024, earlier than was previously reported, and that the driver of the truck at that time was not suspected in the attack. At some point the truck "changed hands," according to one host. Fox News shared the following update:
Federal law enforcement sources told Fox News the truck used by the driver to kill 10 people and injure dozens more crossed over the border into Eagle Pass, Texas, on November 16. The identification of the driver who crossed the border does not appear to be the suspect, sources said.
The pickup truck used in the Bourbon Street attack had a Texas license plate.
An editor's note on Fox News' webpage with the live updates on the situation stated: "An earlier version of this blog post stated the truck had crossed into Eagle Pass two days ago. Sources tell FOX there was some initial confusion on their end about the date."
Attacker rented truck
The FBI identified the attacker as a U.S. citizen from Texas. According to an official statement:
Today, at approximately 3:15 a.m. CST, an individual drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 10 and injuring dozens of others. After hitting the crowd, he exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement. Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. Two law enforcement officers were injured and transported to a local hospital.
The subject has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. He was driving a Ford pickup truck, which appears to have been rented, and we are working to confirm how the subject came into possession of the vehicle.
An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.
The vehicle, according to The New York Times, was rented via Turo, a peer-to-peer rental app that allows car owners to rent out their vehicles online. The owner recognized his vehicle when he saw it on the news. According to the Times, the truck's owner, who did not want his name used, said he had been renting five cars on the app as a second income stream. He added that he would not use the platform again after the attack.
Turo released a statement confirming the vehicle was rented on the site. The company referred to both the attack in New Orleans and a Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas that occurred on the same day:
It is with a heavy heart that we confirm that this morning's horrific attack in New Orleans and this afternoon's Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas both involved vehicles rented on Turo. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
Our trust and safety team is actively partnering with law enforcement authorities to share any information that could be helpful in their investigations. We do not believe that either renter had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related.
The FBI also gave a timeline of the New Orleans attacker's actions, including when he picked up the truck. Chris Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, said at a news conference:
Investigators believe Jabbar picked up the rented F-150 in Houston, Texas, on Dec.30. He then drove from Houston to New Orleans the evening of the 31st and posted several videos to an online platform proclaiming his support for ISIS.
There were five videos posted on Jabbar's Facebook account, which were time-stamped beginning at 1:29 a.m. and the last at 3:02 a.m. In the first video, Jabbar explained he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the "war between the believers and the disbelievers." Additionally, he stated he had joined ISIS before this summer. He also provided a will and testament.
Raia added that the man was believed to have acted alone, telling reporters: "We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar."
According to The Associated Press, Jabbar was a U.S. Army veteran who deployed to Afghanistan for almost a year in February 2009. He left the military in 2020 with a staff sergeant rank. He also had deteriorating finances in 2022 when separating from his then-wife, according to court records.
U.S. President Joe Biden said the attacker was "inspired by" ISIS, a militant Islamist group that gained prominence in 2014.