Just two days into the new year, and America is already facing a series of dire circumstances. Around 3:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day, New Orleans was hit with what many believe is a terrorist attack after a man rammed through a crowd in a truck bearing an ISIS flag. He killed multiple people and injured dozens of others. However, later that same day, a Tesla Cybertruck outside of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas exploded in what appears to be another alleged terror strike. The only person killed was the man inside the vehicle at the time of the explosion. However, at least seven people were injured.
Whether these two attacks are connected has yet to be determined. But perhaps just as notable as the tragedies themselves are the different reactions to them. The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), for instance, seemed to respond to the attack in New Orleans by organizing a protest in which hundreds of anti-Israel protesters flooded New York City’s Times Square on Wednesday. Part of the protest included the crowd chanting, “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution.”
Later that evening, President Joe Biden shared his thoughts on what happened during a press conference. He stated that “no one should jump to conclusions” as to whether it was a terrorist attack. Notably, this was after he acknowledged that there was an “ISIS flag … in his vehicle” as well as “possible explosives … found in the vehicle … and more explosives … found nearby.” Initially, an FBI spokesperson had said it was “not a terrorist act.” However, the FBI has since confirmed that they are investigating the attack as an “act of terrorism.” They have also reported to the president that the attacker “was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”
President-elect Donald Trump shared this in a //truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113753883210775585">post on Truth Social: “The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also addressed the tragedy in a post on X. He wrote, “The vicious attack on innocent people celebrating the New Year in New Orleans early this morning was an act of pure evil, and justice must be swift for anyone who was involved.” Johnson added a call for prayer concerning “the victims, their families, and the first responders and investigators on the scene.”
Anne Kirkpatrick, New Orleans police superintendent, shared in a news conference on Wednesday that the act “was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” and “he was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.” Jason Williams, a district attorney representing New Orleans, added to the conversation by saying his city “is incredibly resilient.” And yet, “our hearts break for the innocent lives devastated by this hateful act.”
Concerning the explosion outside the Trump hotel, Jeremy Schwarz, the FBI’s acting special agent-in-charge in Las Vegas, explained that, “right now, we just don’t have a lot of answers.” Tesla CEO Elon Musk also responded by clarifying “that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.” He added, “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
Analyzing the circumstances from a biblical worldview, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins shared on Thursday’s episode of “Washington Watch” that “there is evil in this world. A form of evil that, quite frankly, we’re unable to contain.” However, he added, “Could it be that there is a vacuum that we’ve created in our society that’s being filled by this radical ideology of Islam? Have we driven Christianity with its morality from our nation, paving the way for heinous acts like [what happened on Wednesday]?”
Perkins acknowledged that there is a lot of information yet to be released about these two alleged terrorist attacks. “There are days ahead where there are going to be challenges when the next administration comes in,” he stated. “This nation is going to continue to be a target for evil and for acts like this. And so, we need to pray.” Prayer is necessary, Perkins contended, “not just for Louisiana, [but] for the nation. … [W]e need the hand of God’s protection on our cities and on our state, and that only comes when we pray and we seek God. We turn to him. We obey his word.”
Regarding Wednesday’s attacks, Perkins urged, “We need to pray for the families and the victims. Pray for healing and comfort and support for all of those who were directly affected by this attack. … Pray for law enforcement and first responders. … [P]ray for wisdom and protection and success in preventing further acts of terror. Pray for our state and our national leaders. Pray that God would guide them to make wise decisions, to ensure peace and security and not push out the very thing we need — and that is God. … [P]ray for spiritual renewal. Pray for hearts to turn toward the Lord, seeking his guidance and his presence in our communities. … And pray … for the nation to stand together against evil, finding hope and solidarity through faith in God and compassion for others.”
Ultimately, Perkins concluded, “[W]e can sit back and we can watch the news and we can become anxious and fearful, or we can pray and we can turn to God.”
