Catherine Herridge
@C__Herridge
Based on two decades covering terrorism and intelligence:
•Not clear New Orleans threat / potential cell neutralized
•Bourbon Street may have been a target of opportunity after a larger plot was disrupted
•law enforcement seeking "range of suspects" indicates there may already be evidence of a broader conspiracy
Based on conversations with former law enforcement, there is a standard operating procedure or SOP:
Exploitation of suspect Shamsud Din Jabbar's "digital exhaust"
•Warrants for suspect's electronics including phones, computers, hard drives, thumb drives as well as bank records
•Forensic scrub suspect's social media accounts
•Link analysis of suspect's records for location data and contact with wider web of associates
Pull CCTV
Was there reconnaissance of Bourbon Street or other locations
Potential evidence premeditation
IEDs
Forensic analysis for DNA
Were IEDs made by multiple individuals
Identify components
Track points of purchase
IF multiple DNA, more evidence broader conspiracy
Shamsud Din Jabbar identified as military veteran
***If investigators find links to writings of Anwar Al-Awlaki, potentially a major tell.
Awlaki was first American targeted for death by the US government, linked to 9/11 suspects and radicalized US citizens through his writings, experts called a "digital jihad.
Awlaki was killed in a 2011 drone strike, but his influence lived on.
https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/1874554193614196803