Sen. Kelly says intel committee will get briefed this week on New Orleans attack
Jan 05, 2025
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said on Sunday that the Intelligence Committee will get briefed on the New Orleans attack this coming week.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Kelly, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he does not think the intelligence community had on their radar Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who was identified as the man shot and killed by police after the deadly New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
Kelly said he hopes to learn more at this week’s briefing.
“We often track individuals like this one. I wasn't aware of him. I don't think the committee was. The intelligence community seemed to not have this person on their radar, probably because there wasn't a lot of communications overseas. Or, I think, as far as we know, there wasn't any,” Kelly said.
“We're going to get briefed on this this week,” he added.
Kelly said it’s important to evaluate whether the proper steps are in place to prevent similar attacks in the future.
“Whenever something like this happens, we've got to reevaluate: Are we doing the right things? Are we looking in the right places?” Kelly said. “This individual, you know, certainly had some personal problems, as well. The guy in Vegas as well, had some mental health issues. So we've got, we've got to learn more. We've got to work with law enforcement.”
“I applaud law enforcement who has such a hard job, you know, keeping us safe. But after an incident like this, we're going to have to take a close look at it, make sure the next one doesn't happen,” he added.