José Daniel Salinardi for Poder & Dinero and FinGurú
National security is once again in the spotlight as law enforcement and federal authorities investigate a pair of attacks that occurred during New Year's 2025. The connections between the two incidents are growing, and the vehicles involved in the events were rented through the car-sharing app Turo; both were EV trucks, and apparently, the perpetrators had close military ties. More information may be available soon, as the FBI has provided an unclassified briefing to the relevant oversight committees in the House and Senate at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, the content of which has yet to be disclosed.
Background: Those participating in the New Year festivities were celebrating on Bourbon Street in New Orleans when 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar crashed a Ford F-150 Lightning into the crowd, killing 15 people and injuring at least 35. He emerged from the vehicle brandishing an assault rifle, but the police shot him minutes later. An ISIS flag and homemade bombs were found in the rental truck from the U.S. Army veteran (who served as an IT specialist), while a local Airbnb rental property was raided in connection with the manufacturing of improvised explosive devices.
The FBI stated that they do not believe the terrorist acted alone, supporting this theory with surveillance footage showing several individuals placing explosives in the area and postponing the Sugar Bowl at the Caesars Superdome. Hours later, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, with a cargo platform filled with fuel, gas tanks, and fireworks. Since then, sources have identified the deceased driver as Matthew Livelsberger, who allegedly served at the same military base as Jabbar.
"We need resources," said FBI Director Christopher Wray to the House Appropriations Committee in April 2024 when discussing the 2025 budget. "There was already an increased risk of violence in the United States before October 7. Since then, we have seen a gallery of foreign terrorist organizations calling for attacks against Americans and our allies. Given those calls to action, our most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups may twistedly draw inspiration from events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home."
Homeland Security: In recent years, attention has focused on spending and investments in companies linked to the defense industry due to wars in the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine. However, there is likely to be a renewed focus on the domestic front, especially when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. This could include investing in sectors related to law enforcement, with stocks ranging from Axon Enterprise (AXON) to Palantir (PLTR), as well as prison operators like GEO Group (GEO) and CoreCivic (CXW).
José Daniel Salinardi is a Certified Public Accountant graduated from the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires.
General Producer of Poder & Dinero, and associate producer of Panorama 360, an international politics program broadcast by UCL Televisión of Uruguay for Latin America, the United States, and Spain.
Between April and June 2022, along with Sergio Berensztein, Fabián Calle, and Santiago Montoya, he created Poder & Dinero as a radio project for the United States, which aired on Radio Libre in Florida as part of the programming of Americano Media. Starting in July 2022, the program was split into morning radio and afternoon video streaming, achieving wide audience impact and recognition from American colleagues.
After the relationship with Americano Media ended, Poder & Dinero continued its activity on social media (mainly Instagram) until reaching its current state as part of the prominent presenters of FinGurú, in the area of Politics and Society.
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