In the wake of an attack in New Orleans and the explosion of a Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day 2025, US president Joe Biden has said that the Law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating whether there is any possible connection between the incidents.

A pickup truck ploughed into revelers at around 3:15 am at the Bourbon Street in New Orleans killing 15 people and injuring around 30. Hours later, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel at Las Vegas, killing one and injuring several others.

Biden informed media persons that the FBI has reported that the man behind the New Orleans attack was a veteran born in Texas and that “mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.” The FBI found the ISIS flag in the rented vehicle which he used in the attack. “Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well, and more explosives were found nearby,” Biden added.

In a statement, the FBI disclosed the attacker of the New Orleans attack as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar. The Agency said that after hitting the crowd, the attacker exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement and was killed during the exchange of fire.

It confirmed that an ISIS flag as well as weapons and a potential IED were located in the vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter, it added. Further, the FBI affirmed that it is aggressively working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, posted on X platform 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.” In another post, Musk claimed that the events at New Orleans and at Las Vegas may be linked as both vehicles were rented from Turo, a peer-to-peer car rental marketplace.