FBI Agent In Charge Who Said New Orleans Attack Was ‘Not A Terrorist Event’ Reportedly Reassigned

The FBI Assistant Special Agent who insisted that the attack in New Orleans on New Years’ Day — in which Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, rammed his truck into a group of celebrants, killing 15 and injuring dozens of people — was not a terrorist attack, has reportedly been reassigned.

“The city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack,” New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell said. But Duncan, who was in charge of the investigation, initially stated, “We’ll be taking over the investigative lead for this event. This is not a terrorist event. What it is right now is there are improvised explosives devices that was found and we are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not.”

NEWS: FOX News has learned per multiple sources that Assistant Special in Charge Alethea Duncan from FBI New Orleans has been temporarily reassigned following her initial press conference in which she stated: “This is not a terrorist event.”

It was terrorism. After the original…

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) January 17, 2025

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge of New Orleans, Alethea Duncan, has been "temporarily reassigned" after she contradicted the city's mayor by stating the terror attack was NOT terrorism. It was.

In other news, the FBI has shuttered its DEI offices. https://t.co/cfc37Fe8ac pic.twitter.com/vUBAXVHV9t

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 17, 2025

A black and white ISIS flag was found on Jabbar’s truck.

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The FBI released a statement on New Years’ Day saying:

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. …

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. Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We are aggressively running down all leads to identify any possible associates of the subject.

Two bombs in Jabbar’s truck, which did not go off, contained a very rare explosive compound, NBC News reported, adding, “The compound, called R-Salt, has never been used in a U.S. or European terrorist attack or incident.”