Donald Trump‘s incoming border czar referred to the New Year’s Day New Orleans attack and Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas as ‘suicide’ missions and blamed Joe Biden.
Tom Homan argued in an interview on Fox News Thursday morning that attackers targeting the U.S. have been emboldened and shared what he expects to learn about the suspects in both New Orleans and Las Vegas.
‘I think they’re both on a suicide mission. I think both of these incidents, these men knew they weren’t going home,’ he said.
Law enforcement officials have identified the attacker who drove a truck into a crowd on busy Bourbon Street killing 15 people early New Year’s Day as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen born in Texas and Army veteran.
President Biden said that the explosion of the Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas is also being investigated for any connections to the Louisiana attack, but officials have said they have not definitively linked the two.
Homan on Thursday zeroed in on the U.S. border as investigators carry out a multi-state investigation.
‘This is just another danger this country faces because this country has been lax on national security and groups like this have been emboldened,’ Homan claimed.
He expects the investigations will reveal both were U.S. citizens with prior military experience.
‘I think you’re going to find they both have recent and foreign travel. They were both inspired by ISIS,’ he said.
Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan slammed the Biden administration over the border following the New Orleans attack and Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion
Jabbar was killed in a shootout with police after ramming his rented truck into the crowd of people out celebrating the start of the new year.
After the attack, law enforcement officials said an ISIS flag was found in the trailer of the rented pickup truck. He also had potential improvised explosive devices.
Law enforcement officials have not yet revealed whether they know if the attacker or driver of the Cybertruck in Las Vegas traveled internationally as they sift through the data.
But Homan on Thursday went off on the Biden administration over the U.S. border and argued the administration unsecured the border ‘on purpose.’
He is one of multiple people set to serve in the Trump administration as well as the president-elect who have used the deadly New Year’s Day attack to call for more border security.
‘It’s open invitation for those around the world that hate this country,’ he said of the current border.
On Thursday morning, Trump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz called for the U.S. border to be closed in the wake of the attack.
Police have identified the killer as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, an Army veteran who was born in Texas and was inspired by ISIS to conduct the vehicle attack on people out celebrating New Year’s Eve on New Orleans famed Bourbon Street
The white truck used in the attack is seen from above. President Joe Biden confirmed that the suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar was inspired by ISIS to drive through a crowd on Bourbon Street, leaving at least 15 dead on New Year’s Day
President Biden is meeting with his homeland security team on Thursday in the Situation Room of the White House.
He addressed the attack Wednesday night where he said ‘no one should jump to conclusions.’
On Thursday, the FBI said they now believe that Jabbar is likely to be a lone wolf terrorist who carried out his slaughter of people celebrating in New Orleans without accomplices.
Law enforcement officials have also identified a suspect in the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
The Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas after it exploded on Wednesday
On Thursday afternoon, officials said at a press conference that 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger is believed to have rented the Cybertruck. He was an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army.
The Cybertruck was rented in Colorado Springs where Livelsberger lived and then driven to Las Vegas. The sheriff shared on Thursday that the driver had a gunshot wound to the head before the explosion.
Officials are investigating whether the explosion was an act of terrorism. Fuel canisters and large firework mortars were found in the back of the truck after the explosion.
The FBI said on Thursday there is not definitive link between the attack in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas. Investigators in Las Vegas also said they do not believe there is an ongoing threat there.
In a second appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Homan suggested investigators will eventually find a connection between the two incidents.
‘I think both these men realized they weren’t going home after this event, but the threats aren’t over,’ he claimed. He then turned his focus once again to threats at the southern border.