A video showing a journalist inside the Houston home of a suspected New Orleans terrorist is drawing attention from lawmakers. The New York Post recorded the footage just 37 hours after the deadly car attack on Bourbon Street.
One senator is questioning the FBI over what she calls an “unsecure perimeter” around the suspect’s home between FBI searches.
Around 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, authorities say Shamsud-Din Jabbar was the driver of a truck that plowed through a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more.
The suspect died in a shootout with police. Authorities believe ISIS inspired the attack. They found an ISIS flag, weapons and explosive devices inside Jabbar’s truck. The FBI identified Jabbar’s last known residence as a home in Houston, where agents raided the property between Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. They also reportedly discovered bomb-making materials inside the home.
However, less than eight hours after the FBI left, a New York Post reporter posted a video of herself walking through the unsecured house. She filmed items left behind by the FBI, including computers, a Quran and what she described as a “bomb-making station.”
EXCLUSIVE TOUR of the NOLA terrorists home—-
— Jennie Taer 🎗️ (@JennieSTaer) January 2, 2025
where we found a bomb-making station and a Quran open to a chilling passage about martyrdom @nyposthttps://t.co/LKV7npCOE5 pic.twitter.com/a1znIURjyM
The reporter received online backlash for entering the home, and criticism has also been directed at the FBI for leaving the site unsecured after the initial raid. Following the incident, the FBI confirmed to several news outlets on Friday, Jan. 3, that agents had returned to the house for a second search.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., criticized the FBI’s handling of the situation, posting on X, “The fact that a reporter has better intel than the FBI tells us all we need to know. The FBI has failed its core mission.”
Local Houston news outlets report that they arrived at the home on New Year’s Day before investigators. They witnessed FBI, SWAT vehicles and local sheriff’s department officers arriving at the scene. By Thursday morning, the first search had concluded, and the second search was also completed Friday morning. It is unclear why authorities returned or if they collected more evidence during the second search.
As of now, the FBI has not commented on why a journalist was inside the home between the two searches.
