President biden and first lady jill biden attended a memorial service monday for the victims of the Terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, where they paid their respects to the 14 victims who died.
The event, which was an interfaith prayer service, was hosted at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, in the French Quarter. The church is less than a mile from the site of the attack, where terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on New Year’s Day.
Biden delivered brief remarks toward the end of the service, expressing condolences for the victims and their families.
“The shock and the pain are still so intense,” said Biden, who leaves office in exactly two weeks. “My wife Jill and I are here to stand with you, grieve with you, pray with you and let you know that you are not alone – the rest of the nation is watching you, too.”
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTIMS OF THE NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK
US President Joe Biden (R) and first lady Jill Biden (2nd from right), along with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (2nd from left) and his wife Sharon Landry (L), attend an interfaith prayer service with the families and members of the community affected by the January 1 truck attack in New Orleans, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 6, 2025. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
The president also noted that he recently met with two officers who were injured in the attack, and praised the first responders who saved lives amid the chaos.
“New Orleans defines strength and resilience,” Biden said. ‘You define it. Whether it is in the form of this attack, this attack or hurricanes or super storms, the people of this city are rising again. That is also the spirit of America.”
The service came less than a week after the terrorist attack stunned the Big Easy. Jabbar died on the spot, bringing the total number of deaths to 15 as of January 6 more than 30 injured.
Many of the deceased were in their 20s and visited New Orleans from across the U.S., including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York and New Jersey. The youngest victim to die was 18 years old, the oldest was 63 years old.
US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, along with Archbishop Gregory Aymond (R), attend an interfaith prayer service with the families and community members affected by the January 1 truck attack in New Orleans, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 6, 2025. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
The incident remains under investigation and federal and local officials continue to gather evidence about the incident terrorist attack. On Sunday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) said its National Response Team had completed its investigation into Jabbar’s Airbnb in New Orleans.
Jabbar, who rented a house on Mandeville Street and left it hours before unleashing his attack, set the rental house on fire to destroy evidence, but the fire eventually smoldered by the time authorities arrived. Accelerators that Jabbar strategically placed did not ultimately catch fire, allowing authorities to collect evidence.
Officials also found traces of the explosive RDX, or cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine, at the rental. The agency noted that Jabbar unknowingly foiled his plans by using an electric match to ignite explosive material typically ignited by a detonator.
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U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden lay flowers as they pay their respects to the victims of the January 1 truck attack at a makeshift memorial on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 6, 2025. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
“Jabbar used explosive material better suited for a detonator, but he did not have access to it, so he used an electric match to detonate the explosives,” the ATF statement said. “Jabbar’s lack of experience and the crude nature of assembling the device is why he used the wrong device to detonate the explosives.”
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
