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Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Tesla Cybertruck explosion at Trump hotel in Las Vegas probed as potential act of terror-2-

Authorities are investigating the Tesla Cybertruck explosion that occurred outside Trump Las Vegas hotel Wednesday as a possible act of terror, The Post has learned.

Wild video taken by a hotel guest shows the Tesla electric pickup truck suddenly burst into flames as it is parked just outside the hotel, emitting giant plumes of smoke across the Strip.

The blast occurred just hours after a US military vet flying an ISIS flag rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers ringing in the New Year on the famed Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15. The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.

Tesla Cyber Truck fire after a large explosion at Vegas Trump Tower

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Officials have not yet confirmed the identity of the driver in the Cybertruck but have insisted that there is no evidence the two incidents are linked.

Investigators did, however, determine that the Tesla truck was rented through the Turo app, the same one used to rent the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack, law enforcement sources told The Post.

It is unclear what caused the blast at Trump Las Vegas hotel but the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is mounting a criminal investigation into whether it was intentionally detonated and are treating it as a possible act of terror.

Investigators are also working to uncover a possible motive.

Smoke spotted outside of Trump hotel in Las Vegas, people seen evacuating

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Investigators are also working to uncover a possible motive.

Police also confirmed that the Cybertruck was filled with fireworks-style mortars and are trying to determine whether they were set off deliberately, according to ABC.

While the probe is underway, police are encouraging the public to steer clear of the area, despite the fire having been put out.

Telsa boss Elon Musk remarked that the company is not aware of any similar explosions of Cybertrucks like the one that took place Wednesday.

“The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now. Will post more information as soon as we learn anything. We’ve never seen anything like this,” he wrote on X.

Trump Las Vegas hotel thanked law enforcement for responding to the explosion.

“Earlier today a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas. The safety & well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority,” the hotel said in a statement.

Given its ties to President-elect Donald Trump, the hotel has faced security concerns in the past, including threats.

“The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response and professionalism,” Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, wrote on social media about the incident.

The Post has reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Trump transition team for additional information or comment.

Prior to the New Orleans attack, the FBI had put out a public warning that ISIS was encouraging its followers to carry out terrorist attacks during holiday gatherings.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/01/us-news/tesla-cybertruck-explosion-at-trump-hotel-in-las-vegas-being-investigated-as-potential-act-of-terror-report/

La. Sen. Kennedy: ‘chase’ feds ‘like they stole Christmas’ if they won’t tell ‘truth’ about attack

Sen. John Kennedy cryptically threatened to “chase” federal officials “like they stole Christmas” if they won’t tell the “truth” about the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans.

The Louisiana Republican said he heard alarming non-public information about Army veteran Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, who brandished an Islamic State flag during his vehicular murder of at least 10 people on Bourbon Street before dying in a gunfight with police.

“There’s a lot of information going around. Some of it is actually true. Some of it isn’t,” Kennedy said at a press conference with law enforcement Wednesday afternoon.

“Here’s what I want to ask from the federal government: Catch these people and then tell the American people the truth. Now, I don’t want you to tell us yet anything is going to interfere with the investigation. And there are things that I’ve been told that I think are true that I’m not sharing with you today because it could interfere with their investigation,” he went on.

“But after we get to the bottom of this, they need to tell the American people the truth, and the people in New Orleans the truth, and the people of America the truth.”

Kennedy also warned: “I will promise you this: I will, when it is appropriate in this investigation is complete, you will find out what happened and who was responsible, or I will raise fresh hell and I will chase those in the federal government who are responsible for telling us what happened like they stole Christmas.”

The vehicle seems to have been rented by Din Jabbar from its owner, the FBI said.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/01/us-news/louisiana-senator-john-kennedy-threatens-to-chase-feds-like-they-stole-christmas-if-they-wont-tell-truth-about-new-orleans-attack/

Inside Shamsud Din Jabbar’s squalid home where sheep, goats roam yard after financial ruin

The terrorist who killed at least 10 people when he plowed his truck down crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans was an American-born military veteran who was living in a run-down trailer park where he kept sheep and goats in the yard — just blocks away from the local mosque.

Authorities say Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, from Houston, had an ISIS flag strapped to the rented Ford F-150 Lightning EV truck he used to carry out an act of premeditated terror on New Year’s Day.

In a YouTube video he posted in 2020 for his real estate business, a clean-cut Jabbar described himself as a reliable, trustworthy native Texan who spent 10 years in the military, which taught him “the meaning of great service.”

Geese, chickens, and sheep roamed freely in Jabbar’s yard when The Post visited hours after the attack.

One neighbor told The Post she spoke only Urdu, Pakistan’s national language.

The neighborhood is also within walking distance of the local mosque, Masjid Bilal — where no one answered the telephone on Wednesday.

Law enforcement sources told The Post that they found videos Jabbar made where he referenced the Quran — Islam’s holy text.

By mid-afternoon the feds swooped in — kicking The Post and other journalists out of the area and cordoning it off.

His neighbors seemed to know little about him.

Francois Venegas described Jabbar as a “simple person” who kept to himself, though they would occasionally exchange words on the street.

“[He was] pretty quiet…Just walking, [he would say] ‘hello,’ ‘hola,’ and that was it,” Venegas said.

Jabbar had been arrested twice: Once in Katy, Texas, for theft in 2002, court records show, and again three years later for driving without a valid license, the New York Times reported.

He had also been divorced twice, and the failed marriages apparently left him in financial ruin.

Amid his second divorce in 2022, he said he had racked up more than $16,000 in credit card debt paying court fees and expenses for a second home, according to an email to his ex-wife’s lawyer viewed by the Times.

“I cannot afford the house payment,” he wrote.

He added that his real estate business suffered more than $28,000 in losses the previous year.

His first wife, Nakedra Jabbar, has since remarried, and she and her new husband were cooperating with investigators, her husband’s father, Nelson Marsh Sr., told the New York Post.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/01/us-news/inside-shamsud-din-jabbar-jabbars-squalid-home-where-sheep-and-goats-roam/

Explosions heard in French Quarter after deadly terror attack

Explosions were heard early Wednesday morning in the French Quarter after a terror attack on Bourbon Street left 10 dead and dozens injured.

In the video above, the blasts can be heard.

"Woah, they just detonated something," WDSU Reporter Fletcher Mackel says as explosions are heard. "There it is again, they just blew something else."

This comes as agents responded to what was believed to be "suspicious devices" found in the area.

https://www.wdsu.com/article/new-orleans-attack-explosion-video/63316165

Moscow Fumes, Vows Response, After State Media Telegram Channels Blocked In EU

Moscow is fuming after at the start of this week several Russian state media outlets were blocked for EU-based users of the messaging app Telegram. Starting Sunday the channels of RIA Novosti, Rossiya 1, Channel One, NTV, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta were inaccessible in the European Union.

Kremlin officials slammed the "act of censorship" - with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova describing "the systematic cleansing of all undesirable sources of information from the information space" as ongoing in the West.

She further condemned the "constant campaign of repression against Russian media in nearly all European Union countries," adding that "these attacks and similar ones against our media will not go unanswered."

"We reserve the right to respond in the same manner," she said, but without specifying what form the retaliation will take. The EU had already since the Ukraine war's start cracked down on the major Russian state television international networks.

More recently the EU moved against RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, accusing the outlets of spreading propaganda on behalf of the Kremlin.

It remains unclear the degree to which Telegram and EU authorities are acting in coordination on this:

The messaging app Telegram has blocked access to channels belonging to major Russian state-owned news outlets across much of Europe, including Poland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, and Latvia.
When users based in the affected European countries attempt to access these channels, they see a notice saying the content is unavailable because it “violated local laws.”
Neither Telegram nor European officials have publicly acknowledged the restrictions but Russian media outlets including RIA Novosti, Izvestia, NTV, Rossiya 1, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta all confirmed they had been blocked.

Late last summer Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was indicted in France for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the app. France's arrest of him at a Paris airport when his private jet arrived was highly unusual, given they went straight after the CEO and founder.

He has since vowed to cooperate on cracking down on criminal activity on the app, and be more responsive in providing data to law enforcement authorities.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/moscow-fumes-vows-response-after-state-media-telegram-channels-blocked-eu