On Monday evening, President Joe Biden met with the families of the victims of the New Year’s Day truck attack in New Orleans, attended a prayer service, and visited a temporary memorial monument to mourn the victims of the attack.
In the early hours of New Year’s Day, a military veteran from Texas drove a truck into a crowd of revelers, resulting in the death of 14 people and over 30 injuries. The youngest victim was 18 years old, while the oldest was 63. Most of the victims were in their twenties and hailed from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey, and the UK.
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden first laid white flowers at a temporary memorial monument on Bourbon Street in the city and then observed a moment of silence together.
Fourteen crosses were erected on the nearby sidewalk, and people placed flowers and left messages at the base of the crosses.
Biden made the sign of the cross on his chest before accompanying the First Lady to the nearby historic St. Louis Cathedral, where they met with the families of the victims, survivors, and local law enforcement officers. They later participated in an interfaith prayer service where the song “Amazing Grace” was performed with New Orleans jazz.
During his presidency, Biden has visited the scenes of violence, natural disasters, and other tragedies numerous times. This trip to New Orleans may be one of his last such journeys.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, on the way to Louisiana aboard Air Force One, told the media, “I think what the president wants to do today is show up in the community, be there with them in their toughest times.”
She added, “He believes that this is a very important part of his presidential duties, and he needs to fulfill this duty.”
Life is full of tragedies. President Biden’s first wife and young daughter died in a car accident in the early 1970s, and his son Beau passed away from cancer in 2015.
In an interview on Sunday, Biden expressed, “When you’re dealing with someone who has just suffered an incredible loss, you really don’t know what to say. If I could speak to them privately, I’d like to convey some heartfelt words.”
Biden usually provides his personal phone number in such situations so people can reach out to him in the future to express their grief without hesitation.
Due to a snowstorm hitting the Washington area on Monday, Joint Base Andrews had heavy snow on the ground, with snowplows clearing the runway. Biden’s Air Force One had to take off from a large hangar instead of the tarmac.
Following his visit to New Orleans, the Democratic president will continue on to California.
In the early hours of January 1st, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American citizen from Texas, drove a speeding truck past barriers and into a crowd, later being killed in a firefight with authorities.
Jabbar had posted five videos on his own Facebook account in the hours leading up to the attack, expressing support for radical organizations linked to the Islamic State and stating his intention to carry out a violent attack in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
On Sunday, Biden refuted conspiracy theories surrounding the attack and urged residents of New Orleans not to pay attention to them.
He said, “From the time of the incident until now, I’ve almost worked 17 or 18 hours with the intelligence community to figure out what has happened and to determine that what happened in New Orleans was one person acting alone… There is zero evidence, no evidence of any conspiracy with others… I think he has real mental health problems, and he was acting alone.”
Jean-Pierre stated on Monday that Biden is mobilizing additional resources to assist New Orleans in hosting the upcoming Mardi Gras festivities and the Super Bowl, with both events receiving the highest level of federal government security support.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry declared a statewide mourning for the victims of the New Orleans New Year’s terror attack.
In a public speech, he said, “Louisiana will never forget the 14 innocent lives lost on January 1st and the horrific scene. However, Louisiana and its people will never cower in fear. Instead, we will stand united, grow stronger, and remember every life lost that day.”
(This article is based on reports from the Associated Press)