The new year was barely hours old when the nation found itself grappling with the first of a series of harrowing and tragic attacks on its citizens. In New Orleans, a 42-year-old Army veteran, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, drove a rented pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street during New Year’s celebrations, resulting in 14 fatalities and as many as 35 injuries. After the collision, Jabbar exited the vehicle and engaged in a brief firefight with police before being fatally shot. An Islamic State flag was flying from the bed of the truck, leading the FBI to investigate the incident as a terrorist act.
In Las Vegas, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel, killing the driver and injuring seven bystanders. The vehicle, rented through Turo, as was Jabbar’s truck, and driven by active-duty U.S. Army soldier Matthew Livelsberger, was reportedly transporting fireworks and gas canisters. Authorities are also probing the incident as a potential act of terrorism. Reports have swirled about both Jabbar and Livelsberger renting from Turo and both allegedly being stationed at the same base though no connection between the two incidents, or men, has yet to be confirmed. But as many of my friends in law enforcement have told me before, “there are no coincidences.”
Meanwhile, in New York City, a mass shooting outside the Amazura nightclub in Queens a night later left 10 individuals between the ages of 16 and 20 injured. Four assailants fired more than 30 rounds into a crowd attending a private event. The victims, primarily teenagers, sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and the suspects remain at large. This shooting has all the marks of gang-related violence as the four suspects fired from a cream-colored car that sped away after sending the bullets flying.
These tragedies are far from the hopeful beginnings we envisioned for the new year. Notably, the perpetrators in New Orleans and Las Vegas did not rely on firearms to inflict harm; instead, they utilized vehicles and explosives to execute their attacks. This just goes to show that the absence of firearms does not equate to the absence of danger.
For responsible gun owners and self-defense adherents, these incidents actually reinforce the need to remain vigilant and prepared. While a firearm may not prevent a vehicle attack or an explosion, it can serve as a critical tool in stopping a malicious actor intent on causing harm. The swift response by armed police in New Orleans, who neutralized the attacker before he could inflict further casualties, proves that much.
As we embark on this new year, many Americans remain hopeful for a better year than what 2024 delivered. It’s important that we go forward with optimism, but at the same time, not blinded to the harsh truth of the world: danger can appear anytime, anywhere. Being trained, equipped and prepared to defend oneself and others is not merely a right but a prudent practice to ensure both personal and public safety. The new year may have brought unforeseen challenges, but with vigilance and readiness, we can strive to protect ourselves and our communities from those who seek to do harm and fulfill the promise we sought as we rang in 2025.
IF, and that is a big IF, Trump can clean the corruption out of federal level law enforcement it will mean a period of months at least when those agencies will be in confusion. A period of time when, thanks to the biden/harris admins’s corrupt leadership, we will be exposed to attacks.
And the blue cities will continue to follow the fascist left’s lead in corruption so the safety of their citizens won’t even enter into the discussion.
Regardless of your politics you had better be capable of protecting yourself and your loved ones.
“Army veteran” had diddly squat to do with the story/event. But you parrot the military hating MSM with this nonsense.
No mention that the attacker was a Mohammadian/Islamist.
That was an “EV” pickup is far more relevant to the “success” of the SOB – ideal choice for a vehicle as very high acceleration rate/torque of an electric motor/s Edison would power thru obstacles and the excessive weight of an “EV” will allow for more destruction compared to normal pickup. But no mention of his “carbon free” “greenie” vehicle. Thats protected class.
The New Orleans attack; ONCE MORE, points out the correctness of the 3Ss – Stupid People, Stupid Places, doing Stupid Things. – In New Orleans, out at 3am, in bar/hookerland. Anyone with a brain would expect stupid. Get your butt home. Nothing good happens after midnight, or in a metro area/m ncesspool.
No mention other than “An Islamic State flag was flying from the bed of the truck, leading the FBI to investigate the incident as a terrorist act.”
Apparently that wasn’t clear enough for some readers.
I read in one account that the cops had covered up that islamic state flag.
And THAT WAY, the media could say “he had a flag in his vehicle” instead of having to report that he was “displaying” or “flying” that flag. Which he was.
I heard them say “in his vehicle” on the radio. But I saw the pictures of the pole attached to the back of his truck with the flag wrapped up and tied so you couldn’t see exactly what it was. Liars. They know those pictures are readily available, yet they still blatantly lie to us.
The po-po don’t want to stigmatize a certain demographic.
virtually silent as well.
Why I live in the boonies.
A firearm that fired something that wouldn’t bounce off a windshield seems prudent. Why I carry a .357, either magnum or SIG.
Hard to tell with the Tesla windows as 45acp and slower 9mm seems to bounce off. 357 magnum should have a few options that would be effective the Sig may need a bit of careful selection. Honestly when vehicles come into play I tend to prefer to start with rifles but realistically you listed most of what may work that one can carry concealed outside of maybe 10mm or a carefully built 460 Rowland.
Brenneke 12gauge Green Lightning. When you need to blow beer can size hole in something. 🙂
Always a great start and probably the most cost effective. Been looking at a variety of dangerous game solids from the 375, 458, and 475 options but taking my time for research with load development and securing appropriate powder. Up end we do have a junk hull with intact engine block as well as some entry level rifle plates for RF3 and RF1 (level 4 and 3 but not m855) for testing purposes. Just need to find someone with a rifle in 458 win mag or lott for the extreme edges.
.416 Rigby.
Safe:
In the coming days here, when I find my notebook under the massive piles of paperwork I currently have lying about, I owe you a list.
…….and here I just got a chronograph, looking forward to it as that would save some time in baseline testing.
Remember when the Puppet Administration was installed and they couldn’t wait to tell us that the greatest threat to the country was white supremacy and MAGA Republicans (as they tried to conflate the two)? Then the DOJ proceeded to label parents that spoke out against toxic woke ideology in schools as terrorists. Then the FBI lied about labeling traditional Catholics as terrorist threats. They said it was one field office, but it turned out it was much bigger than that. Then the DOJ focused on going after political enemies. Oh, and remember that time there was an actual textbook recession that the Puppet Admin never admitted to and the media immediately lost interest in? Our institutions are run by very sick people. It’s amazing that things aren’t worse.
I watched a video which seems credible and warned us that Middle Eastern Muslim terrorists are going to unleash a coordinated large-scale terrorist attack in the U.S. akin to the terrorist attack into Israel on October 7th, 2023. The woman in the video expects that attack to happen in 2025.
My everyday carry platform up this point has been a Smith and Wesson M&P 40 with one 15-round magazine in the handgun and a second magazine on my belt. Going forward, I am going to try and carry THREE spare magazines on my belt PLUS a second full-size semi-auto handgun chambered in 9mm Luger (which would hold 17 rounds in its magazine).
If a 10-man Islamic terrorist rip crew strikes where I happen to be, I will want as much ammunition as possible and will do my best to take down as many of them with me as I can.
With the limitations of NY use of force to break contact and evade further engagement is the most likely outcome unless I have something more effective than a carry piece (or two) with reloads in my trunk. While my workplace has had several active shooters over the years they are overwhelming majority disgruntled employees (often department of corrections) and Albany isn’t exactly the terrorist attack magnet that NYC tends to be. We more have the people trying to sell stuff to terrorists that look like them if anything.
SAFEupstateFML,
I can only wonder if it would even be possible to break contact and evade. A determined terrorist rip crew with several men and long guns could easily make evasion/escape an impossibility.
Even if it would be possible to break contact and evade, there is the question of duty to my fellow countrymen and countrywomen whether I should engage anyway and hope that my counterattack element of surprise and potentially excellent tactics give me enough advantage to take out two or more attackers.
I recognize that I have zero chance of surviving an engagement with 10 determined terrorists who possess long guns and know how to use them. As I hinted above, if I can take at least two out of the fight, and the next armed defender does the same, and so on, that 10 man rip crew will not rack up anywhere near the body count that they otherwise would achieve. Furthermore, if the 10 man rip crew is engaging me, they are NOT engaging other people which would hopefully buy them more time to evade and escape.
In a perfect world, there would be no terrorists nor violent criminals. In a near-perfect world, 20% of our citizens would be carrying long guns at all times and promptly neutralize any terrorist rip crew. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world nor a near-perfect world. Thus a famous military adage becomes front-and-center: you go to war with the army you have, not the army that you might want or wish to have at a later time. If terrorists rear their ugly heads and bring the fight to me, I fight with what I have, which may be far less than ideal.
In the end we can only do what we can and the government as well as a majority of the people of NY have made it abundantly clear how much they value my life and liberty during Covid. I owe them nothing, I have a duty to my family and if breaking contact is possible that is what will happen with the paltry magazine capacity I have. Otherwise do what I can before I go.
…there is the question of duty to my fellow countrymen and countrywomen…
I have long found it sad that this concept enters the minds of so few. I was, frankly, appalled by the responses I got in this comment section to the perfect hypothetical seven or so years ago. But I will digress from that topic.
This is a topic that gets deeper than most people want to consider. Dealing death in the service of duty, within a civilian context, is a complicated matter in the kind of situation you describe.
While my workplace has had several active shooters over the years they are overwhelming majority disgruntled employees (often department of corrections)…
That’s hilarious on several rather dark levels.
*giggles and flips down NODs*
The irony is as peace officers they can (and do) have scary assault weapons (see normal firearms for the rest of the country outside of a few similar states) on their permit/badge. Of course when you realize that 95%(still getting exact figures) of the registered assault weapons in NY are to current and former law enforcement the already low numbers for compliance drop even further. And yes they do commit violent felonies more often than known gun owners.
Santa was good to me this year when he left my first AR under the tree. Went to the range and all went well til the jaded RSO made fun of my new PSA. I don’t care what that douchbag thinks I am happy with my new tool! At least I don’t feel like such a Fudd anymore.
When one adjusts the cost of a PSA AR for inflation and compares it to options from 15 years ago we are looking at less than half price for the lower end of average for ARs back then and with overall better function. Always room for improvements but much like a used Glock hard to argue with affordable utility.
I haven’t tried one of their ARs, but if they’re anything like the Dagger, they’re a perfectly fine firearm for general use.
Garand Dad torture tested them, including brutalizing the upper using a full auto lower and running it basically non stop until he ruined the barrel at somewhere over 6K IIRC. They’re perfectly acceptable quality. Maybe not what you’d truly want for infantry combat or a BBQ rifle, but they’re still perfectly serviceable. In fact, at 6K, they have a longer life expectancy than some service rifles do and keep in mind that in this instance he was TRYING to kill the barrel ASAP by ripping it FA pretty much without stopping.
At their price point, worst case, get two and roll out the NY reload when you kill the first one.
Oh yeah, and that RSO needs a swift kick in the junk followed by a moderately hard stomp on his trachea. You know, not enough to require a tracheotomy, but enough that he’ll spend a week feeling like he threw caution to the wind and deepthroated Ron Jeremy with gusto.
People like that give not just ranges but the entire gun world a bad name.
h-t-t-p-s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHGtjx_2qbQ
My ‘factory’ AR is a PSA upper, and it’s a basic, functional ‘journeyman’ rifle. I assembled the Anderson lower from a parts kit and added a Timney trigger. Nothing fancy, hopefully functional if needed…
Nothing wrong with any of that IMHO.
If it works, it works. If the takedown pins don’t fall out, it’s objectively better than some of what the USMC issues.
My first AR was a PSA too. It still works great. The $100 Sig red dot on it does the job as well. It hasn’t malfunctioned, and it puts bullets on target. I didn’t get it to receive validation.
FLASHBACK: 10 Years Before New Orleans Terror Attack, FBI Agent Told Another Islamist To ‘Tear Up Texas.
h ttps://thefederalist.com/2025/01/02/flashback-10-years-before-new-orleans-terror-attack-fbi-agent-told-another-islamist-to-tear-up-texas/
An FBI That Targets Political Opponents Instead Of Terrorists Doesn’t Deserve To Lead New Orleans Investigation.
h ttps://thefederalist.com/2025/01/02/an-fbi-that-targets-political-opponents-instead-of-terrorists-doesnt-deserve-to-lead-new-orleans-investigation/
Wild Traffic Stop in South Carolina Leads to Bomb Threat – and the Shutdown of Parts of I-85.
summary: 18-wheeler in Greenville County, South Carolina – traffic stop by South Carolina Transport Police – driver told them he had a bomb – portion of I-85 closed due to reported bomb threat – bomb team has deemed the situation safe and I-85 reopened I-85, driver of the tractor trailer is in the custody of the SC State Transport Police – no word on if a bomb was actually found.
h ttps://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2025/01/02/report-wild-traffic-stop-in-south-carolina-leads-to-bomb-threat-parts-of-i-85-shut-down-n2183882
update: no explosives were actually found for the above Greenville County, South Carolina I-85 bomb threat.
Everyone Is Going Nuts and Committing Acts of Mayhem Before Trump Takes Office.
h ttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/01/03/bomb-threat-on-i-85-in-sc-a-plane-crashes-into-a-commercial-warehouse-in-ca-n2649922
A credible threat of resistance to the establishment, the deep state, which President Trump represents, causes more people to act out in anticipation of him to assume office. With the political power of the presidency.
I know there are people who believe that President Trump is not a credible threat to the regime. But the regime certainly does believe the Trump is a credible threat to them.
another attempted terrorist attack… Suspect arrested after a pipe bomb was found attached to a train car in Idaho, Idaho Stateman reports.
h ttps://x.com/SonofHas/status/1874984553636589710
Las Vegas sheriff said at a news conference Thursday that the investigation indicates the cybertruck bomber sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head before the vehicle exploded. He said one of the guns found in the vehicle was at the driver’s feet.
note: there was an AR and a .50 cal Desert Eagle. According to the sheriff the ATF traced the guns and found they were purchased legally on 24 Nov 2024 from an FFL that is in business, a sporting goods store. This raises a question which is…if the ATF does not have a gun registry as Dettlebach claimed, and ATF does not have records from this FFL because they are still in business as such records are only transferred to the ATF after an FFL goes out of business – if there is no registry, then how did the ATF trace the serial numbers of these guns back to an FFL and person?
From manufacturer or importer to distributor to dealer to purchaser. There will be a record trail.
A tesla cyber truck is an awfully expensive vehicle to turn into a car bomb. Did the government pay for the purchase of this EV???
It seems a very strange coincidence that someone would use an extremely expensive Tesla as a car bomb. When the developer of the company has such a high political position in the United States now.
It was rented from an individual via an app that lets people rent out their vehicles. Its the same way the NO terrorist got the pickup he rented for his attack. I doubt the cybertruck bomber cared about the value of the vehicle.
He could have rented anything. I think he did care very much for the political value, of using a tesla for a car bomb. Also a u-haul truck might have attracted negative attention, before he could get his truck bomb into position.
Nola Terrorist Home: Is It Normal for the FBI to Leave This Much Evidence Behind?
“This is good journalism. It’s quite the scoop, but how is it that the FBI left so much evidence behind from the home of a person who just committed a terrorist attack? The New York Post was on scene at the residence of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, who committed the New Orleans terror attack on New Year’s Day, which killed 14 people.
The press was at his Houston home hours before the FBI, who arrived, kicked out the media, and cordoned off the area. They did take items for their investigation, but many were commenting that it’s a bit shocking they’re allowing the press to enter this crime scene so soon. Also, they left a lot of materials behind. …
…
Jabbar’s north Houston home was filled with chemical residue and chemical bottles, while an inventory of items seized by the FBI — left behind by investigators who raided his house on Wednesday — included a long list of compounds used in bomb-making.
His Quran was propped atop a bookshelf, a centerpiece in his living room, and open to a passage reading, “they fight in Allah’s cause, and slay and are slain; a promise binding…”
[…]
Numerous books about Islam were also on the shelf and around the squalid home, while a prayer rug was rolled up nearby.
FBI officials on Thursday said Jabbar posted five disturbing videos on Facebook on his drive from Houston to New Orleans just hours before he unleashed carnage on Bourbon Street, leaving 14 innocent pedestrians dead.
[…]
In the first disturbing video — posted at 1:29 a.m. — … said he had initially planned on murdering his family and friends, but changed his mind over concerns the resulting media coverage wouldn’t focus on the ‘war between the believers and disbelievers,’ FBI counterterrorism official Chris Raia said.
In other videos, he said he had joined ISIS ‘before this summer’ and showed off his last will and testament.
Investigators confirmed Jabbar, 42, was ideologically aligned with ISIS and that he specifically chose Bourbon Street as the target of his monstrous act of terror.
[…]
…”
Link for above: h ttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/01/03/ny-post-takes-you-inside-the-new-orleans-terrorists-home-n2649921