Editorial: Terror attacks demonstrate the importance of FBI, DHS leadership

The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press Editorial Board, The Virginian-Pilot on Jan 7, 2025

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Federal authorities announced Thursday that they do not believe that deadly New Year’s Day attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas are linked, though they are investigating both as acts of terror. Similarities between the two raise numerous questions, and Americans should hope that officials can provide answers soon.

This much is clear: The two incidents, along with a recent arrest made in Hampton Roads, underscore the enormous challenge of protecting the public from an array of sinister threats. And they demonstrate the need to have serious, experienced people in key positions to lead the nation’s counterterrorism efforts.

As much of the nation awoke to the dreams of a new year, residents of New Orleans were waking up to a nightmare. In the early hours on Wednesday, a man driving a rented Ford F-150 Lightning sped around a police barrier into celebrating crowds in the popular French Quarter. At least 15 people died and 35 were injured; the driver was killed by police in a shootout.

This was an unmitigated tragedy and the deadliest attack on U.S. soil since a gunman killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket in 2022. And even though authorities were initially reluctant to use the term, it bore all the hallmarks of terrorism: Islamic radicals have used cars as weapons for years, and early reports said the driver was heavily armed, including with improvised explosives, and wearing body armor.

Wednesday was a moment for sorrow, empathy and restraint. The facts were initially sketchy, as they tend to be around breaking news events, but that didn’t stop some opportunists — notably President-elect Donald Trump — from offering baseless assertions about the attacker, his history and his motives.

Trump claimed the suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was a migrant who illegally entered the United States, and argued the attack was an indictment of the Biden administration’s border policies. This followed a Fox News report that the truck had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico two days earlier.

None of that appears to be true. Jabbar was born in Texas and served in the U.S. Army before receiving an honorable discharge. It emerged Wednesday that he had grown increasingly radical and pledged fealty to ISIS before launching the attack; the truck he used had an ISIS flag on it.

Less is known about what happened in Las Vegas, where a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks exploded Wednesday morning in front of the Trump International Hotel, killing the driver and injuring seven others. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has an influential relationship with Trump, so there was reason for authorities to suspect a political motive.

The truck was rented using the same platform as the one used in New Orleans, and local authorities told Las Vegas media that 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty Army Green Beret, was both the suspect and the deceased.

This week also saw the FBI announce the December arrest of an Isle of Wight man who had what the agency called the largest cache of “finished explosive devices” it had ever seized. Court records allege that Brad Spafford spoke favorably about political assassinations and used a photo of President Joe Biden for target practice while assembling an explosives arsenal on his 20-acre farm.

Officials have warned for years about the threat of homegrown extremists, only to have those conclusions ridiculed or dismissed. But these are the sort of cases that keep authorities awake at night.

They are also why Americans need experienced hands with sober judgment — not unqualified hacks — leading the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Those agencies may not neutralize every threat, but those roles are too important to be left to anyone more interested in pursuing political retribution than the safety of the public.

The Constitution empowers the Senate to provide advice and consent over presidential appointments to those roles, and it is a duty each member of that chamber must take seriously in the coming weeks. The defense of our homeland, and the protection of the public, shouldn’t be left to chance.

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