Former FBI Special Agent Americans are calling for caution when attending major national events after two consecutive fatal crashes on New Year's Day.
“Unfortunately, we're going to continue to see these types of events happen, whether they're inspired by ISIS or extremist Islamic terrorist events or if they're mass shootings or if the CEO of UnitedHealthcare is an individual who has just lost his or her mind,” explained Nicole Parker, a former special agent. For the FBI and a Fox News contributor, for Fox News Digital.
“With a lot of these events coming up, there's a lot of activity that's going to happen with large gatherings, large groups of people.”
Parker's warnings come after a man, named Shamsuddin Jabbar, plowed a truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year's Day, killing more than a dozen people and injuring dozens more.
Matthew Livelsperger rented a Tesla Cybertruck in Denver, Colorado, which exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day. (Alcides Antunes/via Reuters, left and Fox News, right.)
Hours after this deadly attack, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the building trump hotel las vegas, Bringing fear and chaos to the start of 2025.
Although both of these events were shocking and devastating, Parker said, there has been a looming precursor in our nation since the October 7, 2023 massacre of Hamas terrorist attacks on the Jewish state.
“There's been a lot of activity leading up to this moment. I would say for our country, starting on October 7th, from a terrorism perspective, that's when things definitely changed,” Parker said.
“I think there was a lot of activity going on in the Middle East. A lot of these terrorist groups that people thought were gone, and frankly they are. A lot of them were under the Trump administration. And then after the unrest in the Middle East, I think it reignited,” she continued. Lots of activity and conversation.”
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“I think in the United States, especially under the Biden administration, they've focused a lot on domestic terrorism of domestic violent extremists, white supremacy, saying that's the No. 1 threat. There is a lot of activity. As Christopher Ray said, “Alarms go off.”
Unfortunately, after what we saw happen in Las Vegas and New Orleans, it's not a matter of if it will happen, it's just a matter of when the next one will strike, Parker said.
“We're dealing with adversaries within our country as well. But in the next few weeks, in the next couple of months, we're going to have several major, major events that are going to happen. And these are the events where people are there and they want to cause chaos and hurt others, so they do that,” Parker explained. To get attention, they want to cause as much destruction as possible,” he said, highlighting the National Football League’s Super Bowl, which also falls on the same day. Inauguration ceremony of President-elect Trump.
The FBI and Las Vegas Police Department, along with other agencies, continue to investigate and determine what led the person of interest, 37-year-old Matthew Levelsberger, a U.S. Army Special Operations Soldier from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to commit murder. An electronic truck exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on Tuesday morning.
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Several guests who were staying at the hotel when it all happened described to Fox News Digital the chaos and mayhem that erupted in the hours following the explosion.
“I actually took my dogs out to go to the bathroom, and then I went back to my hotel. I fed them and said, 'Okay, let's go back out.' I just missed the guy at 8:48, I mean I walk through that door with my dogs multiple times a day,” Lori Barnett shared with Fox News Digital, nearly escaping the blast.
“In the morning, when I woke up, I heard something…it sounded like people were cleaning the windows. And I heard a pop. And I said, 'What the hell is that?' Then all of a sudden, I heard police sirens and everything, so I looked out the window and saw smoke coming out of the window because we were in the corner room upstairs, 23rd floor,” Carlos Reyes narrated what happened. Like inside the hotel.
One person was killed and 7 injured after a Tesla truck caught fire outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas (Getty Images/Alcides Antunes)
“It's surreal. We (Chris and his wife) walked in here, and you could still see that (the e-truck) was on fire. There was a lot of smoke coming inside… It was scary,” Chris Pietrotta, a hotel guest who was… Celebrating his anniversary.
Parker reiterated that these attacks serve as an important reminder to stay vigilant, be aware of your surroundings, and contact law enforcement if you see or hear something suspicious.
“Don't forget that the public is part of the solution because oftentimes, when these individuals, whether they're terrorists or violent offenders or mass shooters, there's usually something called leakage, where they give some sort of indication that they're out,” Parker said. We will do something before they actually do it.”
Parker said that while Americans should not live in fear, they should exercise common sense when at major events and even in everyday life.
“We can't let violent criminals win, and we can't live in fear. But you also have to be aware of your surroundings and listen to your gut. And unfortunately, I hate to say this, but it's not going to stop,” Parker said. .
“This is the society we live in unfortunately. Obviously you have to take certain measures in order to mitigate the risks.”
Investigators are looking at the contents inside the Tesla Cybertruck, which exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day. (Las Vegas City Police press conference)
She added that while she is excited, like many Americans, for Trump to take office soon, things will not change overnight until real progress is made by elected officials and even within the FBI.
“Look, I love President Trump. But unfortunately, a lot of these things will come to fruition under President Trump because these people are sitting here quietly. We never know when they're going to explode. So all these people that came across the border, I don't know when they're going to act, just like 9/11 happened, you don't know what day they're going to do it, the day they're going to do it decide that's when we're going to do it,” Parker continued.
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And still the authorities Work to determine a motive and investigate whether Levelsberger's actions were an act of terrorism.
“It did not escape our notice that it was in front of the Trump building, and that it was a Tesla, but we have no information at this point that tells us conclusively or indicates that it was because of this particular ideology,” Spencer Evans said. Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Las Vegas.
Stephenie Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Tips and story ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
