Houston’s Muslim community has united to denounce the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans, rejecting extremist ideologies and expressing condolences for the victims.
Muslim groups and leaders in Houston have spoken out against the attack on New Year's Day in New Orleans that killed 14 people and hurt 35 others. That night, the suspect in the attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, lived in a rented house in North Houston.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the biggest Muslim civil rights group in the country, sent its condolences to the families of the victims and strongly condemned the attack. CAIR-Houston said, "If reports of the suspect's history with domestic violence and drug abuse before being influenced by extremist propaganda are true, it shows how destructive extremist ideas are, which are consistently rejected by Muslims around the world."
The Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH), which is in charge of more than 20 mosques, also spoke out against the act. They called it "pure evil" and reiterated that they will not tolerate any kind of radicalism.
The FBI named Jabbar, a 42-year-old member of the U.S. Army, as the suspect. It is said that Jabbar posted videos pledging loyalty to ISIS before the attack. He had rented a car and drove it through a crowd on Bourbon Street. Police shot and killed him. In his car, police found items related to ISIS and explosives.
Jabbar used to be a Christian in Beaumont, but he became a Muslim many years ago. Before working for Deloitte, he was in the U.S. Army from 2007 to 2020 and was sent to Afghanistan.
Leaders of the Muslim community in Houston stressed that their community does not support terrorism and called for peace and support for the victims.
