President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden met Monday with families, survivors and local law enforcement affected by the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people and injured dozens more.
They met privately shortly before Biden arrived at St. Louis Cathedral, where he is scheduled to speak at an interfaith prayer service Monday night.
Upon arrival in New Orleans, Biden was greeted by Democratic Mayor LaToya Cantrell and others, including FBI special agent in charge of the investigation Lionel Myrthil and the wife of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. , Laura Cassidy.
The Bidens stopped on Bourbon Street in the afternoon. Jill Biden laid flowers at a memorial honoring the victims and both stood in silence with their heads bowed.
The White House announced Monday that the Biden administration would allocate additional federal resources to support New Orleans’ preparations for the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras after determining that the events “require broad federal cross-agency support.”
“We will use every tool available to fill local capacity gaps to ensure safe events,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“Federal assistance could include explosive detection canine teams, cyber risk assessments, field intelligence and site inspection teams, and support for tactical and air security operations, in addition to support already provided by state and local governments.” , added Jean-Pierre.
Referring to the suspect, Biden said in a national address last week that Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, an Army veteran from Texas whom federal investigators identified as the attacker, had posted videos on social media “indicating that “inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”
Jabbar drove a rented van into a crowd celebrating the dawn of the new year on Bourbon Street in the early hours of January 1. He died in a shootout with police shortly after the attack.
