By Jeff Mason
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday visited the scene of the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans that left 14 people dead and dozens of others injured when a U.S. Army veteran rammed a truck into a crowd of revelers.
Biden and his wife, Jill, made a stop at Bourbon Street to pay respects to those who died there before making their way to a church for a memorial service. The first lady laid a bouquet of flowers in front of a makeshift memorial. The president stood with his wife and crossed himself.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the Texas man who drove the truck and who was killed in a shootout with police, was an Army veteran struggling to get past a recent divorce but who showed no signs of anger in the weeks before the attack, according to his half-brother.
The FBI said the 42-year-old, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group, acted on his own.
Biden, a Democrat who leaves office on Jan. 20, met with families, survivors and local law enforcement impacted by the attack and then spoke at a service at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis, King of France.
“I know events like this are hard, the shock and pain is still so very raw… It’s not the same. We know what it’s like to lose a piece of our soul,” Biden told those in attendance.
Biden, like other presidents before him, has made multiple trips during his time in office to comfort communities after natural disasters or acts of violence.
The president’s first wife and infant daughter died in a car crash, and one of his adult sons died of cancer.
“If there’s one thing we know, New Orleans defines strength and resilience,” he said.
