FIRST ON FOX: Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn despatched a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Friday demanding solutions concerning the highest federal regulation enforcement company’s “radical” DEI practices following the stunning New 12 months’s Day terrorist assault in New Orleans.
“Whereas the info surrounding this unconscionable assault proceed to emerge, what we all know is deeply troubling: the suspect was in possession of weapons, improvised explosive units, and an ISIS flag. This horrific incident constitutes a blatant act of terror on the American homeland, and the individuals of our nation should know whether or not federal regulation enforcement businesses can sufficiently stop and reply to such incidents,” Blackburn wrote in her letter to Wray on Friday, which was completely obtained by Fox Information Digital.
“To that finish, I’m deeply involved that—below your management—the Bureau has prioritized Range, Fairness, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives over its core mission of defending the American individuals,” the Tennessee senator continued.
Chaos broke out on New Orleans’s famed Bourbon Street simply after 3 a.m. on New 12 months’s Day, when a truck plowed by means of crowds of revelers celebrating the vacation. At the least 14 individuals have been killed and 30 others injured.
FLASHBACK: BIDEN DOWNPLAYS ISIS THREAT TO US, REPEATEDLY SAYS WHITE SUPREMACY ‘MOST LETHAL’ DANGER
Christopher Wray testifies earlier than the Senate Judiciary Committee on his nomination to be the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation within the Dirksen Senate Workplace Constructing on Capitol Hill on July 12, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photograph by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photograph by MANDEL NGAN/AFP by way of Getty Photographs) (Getty Photographs)
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a twice-divorced Military veteran from Texas, was armed with a Glock and a .308 rifle in the course of the assault. He was killed after opening fire on police.
After the assault unfolded on Wednesday morning, Blackburn took to social media to name for the affirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s choose to guide the FBI, Kash Patel, and to admonish present management on the company for allegedly placing a better concentrate on DEI practices than “fighting criminals and terrorists.“
New Orleans police and federal brokers examine a suspected terrorist assault on Bourbon Road in New Orleans on New 12 months’s Day on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Chris Granger/The New Orleans Advocate by way of AP)
In her letter to Wray on Friday, Blackburn cited a current report from a bunch of retired FBI brokers who discovered “regulation enforcement and intelligence capabilities of the FBI are degrading as a result of the FBI is now not hiring ‘the most effective and the brightest’ candidates,” in addition to the hiring of a Chief Range Officer on the FBI in 2021, in addition to the New Orleans area workplace internet hosting a “Range Agent Recruiting Occasion” in July as proof of the agency’s heightened focus on DEI.
“Most not too long ago, in a hanging instance of tone deafness, the New Orleans FBI Discipline workplace thought it necessary to brag on X about what number of bracelets its brokers had collected. Your determination to prioritize politics, popular culture, or virtually the rest over your mission to guard the general public has put Individuals in hurt’s manner, and the January 1 terror assault was the inevitable consequence,” Blackburn wrote in her letter.
THE 6 BIGGEST FBI SCANDALS UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
“Put merely, your concentrate on woke DEI initiatives on the FBI has endangered our nationwide safety and the lives of all Individuals. Individuals now really feel more and more unsafe due to incidents just like the January 1 terror assault, and the FBI’s prioritization of variety over competence reveals that their issues are properly based. Thankfully, the American individuals have spoken, and President Trump will quickly convey regulation and order again to our nation,” Blackburn continued.
The FBI took the lead on the case Wednesday, first touchdown in sizzling water with Trump allies and voters, together with for initially reporting to the general public that the assault was not an occasion of terrorism.
Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speaks throughout a Home Judiciary Committee listening to in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)
“We’ll be taking up the investigative lead for this occasion. This isn’t a terrorist occasion,” mentioned New Orleans area workplace FBI Assistant Particular Agent in Cost Alethea Duncan throughout a Wednesday morning press convention.
Throughout that very same press convention, nevertheless, the Democratic mayor of New Orleans contradicted Duncan’s remark and minced no phrases in detailing that the town confronted an act of terror.
When requested about Duncan’s remark, the FBI directed Fox Information Digital on Thursday to a few press releases printed the day earlier than, detailing that the assault was being investigated as a terror incident. The press releases additionally detailed that an ISIS flag was discovered within the suspect’s truck.
“This morning, a person drove a automobile right into a crowd of individuals on Bourbon Road in New Orleans, killing various individuals and injuring dozens of others. The topic then engaged with native regulation enforcement and is now deceased. The FBI is the lead investigative company, and we’re working with our companions to research this as an act of terrorism,” the FBI mentioned in one in all its three statements offered to Fox Digital.
Blackburn continued in her letter to Wray with 5 questions surrounding the FBI’s DEI hiring practices, together with: What number of FBI staff have been employed based mostly on the Bureau’s DEI initiatives; how the DEI initiatives are funded and if any of the FBI’s funds have been reallocated to such initiatives; in addition to what number of people have been employed in the course of the New Orleans area workplace’s Range Agent Recruiting Occasion in July.
Army personnel stroll down Bourbon Road, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photograph/George Walker IV)
“Has the Bureau not too long ago terminated the employment of any FBI brokers who help the FBI’s Nationwide Safety Department counterterrorism and intelligence parts?” Blackburn requested in her last questions. “Within the on-line posting in regards to the July 17 occasion, FBI New Orleans Particular Agent in Cost Lyonel Myrthil is quoted as stating that “the variety of our workers is probably the most useful useful resource we’ve got in . . . maintaining Individuals secure.” Do you agree with that assertion?”
Regulation enforcement officers from a number of businesses work the scene on Bourbon Road after at the least ten individuals have been killed when an individual allegedly drove into the gang within the early morning hours of New 12 months’s Day on January 1, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dozens extra have been injured after a suspect in a rented pickup truck allegedly drove round barricades and thru a crowd of New 12 months’s revelers on Bourbon Road. The suspect then obtained out of the automobile, opened fireplace on law enforcement officials, and was subsequently killed by regulation enforcement. (Michael DeMocker/Getty Photographs)
Wray introduced that he would step down from the FBI on the finish of President Biden’s time period this month, after Trump nominated Kash Patel to the position. Wray was first nominated below the primary Trump administration and was within the midst of a 10-year time period that might not have ended till 2027.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Till the President-Elect’s nominee to lead the FBI is confirmed, the American individuals should know the complete extent to which your radical DEI agenda has compromised our nationwide safety,” Blackburn wrote to Wray, calling on him to reply her questions by Jan. 10.
Source link