New Orleans attack came as officials warned of growing threat of international-inspired terrorism

The pickup truck that a U.S. citizen drove into a New Orleans crowd held an Islamic State group flag, the FBI said. Following these months of warnings about a resurgent terrorism threat, a U.S. Army veteran inspired by Islamic State slammed a pickup truck into crowds celebrating New Year’s Day in New Orleans. “Now it includes Oct. 7, it includes IS — and why IS is so important right now is because it is resurging as a result of what IS could perceive as a victory in Syria.” The New Orleans attack that killed 14 is thought to be the deadliest Islamic State-inspired assault on U.S. soil since a 2016 massacre of 49 people inside the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., by a gunman who professed allegiance to the group’s then-leader, Abu Bakr Baghdadi. The threat never abated, as evidenced by the FBI’s October arrest of an Afghan man in Oklahoma who authorities say was inspired by the Islamic State group to plot an election day attack. Though officials say he wasn’t aided by conspirators, Jabbar’s method — ramming a truck into bystanders — is a favored option for Islamic State followers, and a pro-Islamic State media unit on Monday encouraged attacks at New Year’s Eve celebrations in the U.S. and other countries, according to an intelligence bulletin from the FBI and Homeland Security seen by the Associated Press.