Former Homeland Safety Secretary Jeh Johnson says the nation’s terror menace is at a “heightened level” following the automobile assault in New Orleans on New 12 months’s Day that killed greater than a dozen folks, urging the present and incoming administrations to “not take our eye off the ball.”
“Well, no matter who the president is, no matter whose administration it is, I believe there needs to be an intense focus among counterterrorism officials in multiple agencies right now on this evolving, heightened threat picture that we see right now, no matter who the president is,” Johnson, who led the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) beneath former President Obama, stated in an interview Friday morning interview on “Fox & Friends.”
“We saw a spate of these in 2014, 2015, 2016, when I was in DHS. And that threat has not gone away, and I’m concerned that it’s at a heightened level right now,” he added.
Authorities stated that Shamsud-Din Jabbar was chargeable for plowing a rented Ford pickup truck in a crowd on Wednesday, killing at the very least 14 folks and injuring dozens extra.
Jabbar, a U.S. citizen and served within the Military from 2007 to 2020, was killed by legislation enforcement within the aftermath. Authorities then stated that they discovered an Islamic State (ISIS) flag within the suspect’s automobile and posts on social media the place he expressed sympathy for the transnational terrorist group.
In the course of the interview, Johnson said that ISIS “feels emboldened” after the New Orleans automotive assault and the latest fall of Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian authorities in early December.
With extra main occasions arising, together with the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Trump and the Tremendous Bowl, Johnson stated he would advise the present DHS employees to not simply “respond to the last attack. Anticipate the next one, which may be of a very different character.”
“Now, we’ve known for some time that the possibility of an attack with a vehicle, a vehicle is a weapon, or a mass shooting, is something to anticipate and prepare for,” the previous DHS secretary stated. “We should not believe that we’ve seen the last of this type of vehicle attack.”
“…However I all the time encourage my folks, be vigilant and take into consideration what might come subsequent,” he added. “Don’t just plug the last hole.”
