Do not fall for simplistic portrayals of the New Orleans attacker

In the Louisiana city of New Orleans, the new year began with a horrible tragedy after a man ploughed his truck into a crowd of revellers in the early hours of January 1, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens of others.

The attacker was soon formally identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old United States citizen from the neighbouring state of Texas. As the story unfolded, news outlets zeroed in on two key details mentioned in the FBI’s preliminary statement on the incident: an ISIL (ISIS) flag was found in Jabbar’s vehicle, and his social media accounts contained posts that suggest he may have been “inspired” by the group. For many, this was enough to frame Jabbar, who was killed at the scene by police gunfire, as a terrorist “linked” to ISIL.

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