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‘Our Nation is vulnerable’: Missouri elected officials react to terror attack in New Orleans

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Elected officials across Missouri are reacting to an act of terrorism in New Orleans, as the FBI continues to investigate a New Year’s Day truck attack that left at least 15 people dead, with one representative raising concerns that America is vulnerable.

Rep. Justin Sparks (R-Wildwood) expressed concern that the attack was not isolated writing in a social media post “Our Nation is vulnerable.” 

"Sadly not surprised one bit," Sparks told ABC 17 when asked about his initial reactions to the attack. "I've been talking about this for some time. I spent 15 years in law enforcement. The vast majority of that time was in special operations SWAT and on the U.S. Marshal Task Force team here in the Eastern District of Missouri. I just know from my years of experience that weak leadership in the face of evil invites violence."

Sparks also cautioned of the possibility of more attacks, pointing to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led raid that resulted in the deadliest day in Israel's history. According to Sparks, a small group of well-trained "bad guys" can do significant damage before police can respond.

"My experience shows and the data shows that there is no racial profile for an active killer event," Sparks said. "But what you do have is bad guys that say the same things, do the same things, and share some of these same extremist ideologies, whether that's school shooters or terrorists. And they usually tell other people about that and they're usually known. They like to post their videos, tell other people, and there are indicators."

Sparks urges Missourians to remain vigilant when attending public venues with large crowds.

"We should not bury our heads in the sand and say, 'This can't happen.' We should hope for the best, but plan for the worst," Sparks said. "We should certainly understand that not only is it a possibility, but it's even more, now of a probability because we are now seeing things like this occur."

Hawley's Calls For Public Testimony Led To Unclassified FBI Briefing

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley used the incident as an opportunity to call on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray to appear before Congress.

“The Senate should demand the public testimony of Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Wray immediately,” Hawley wrote on X on Wednesday. “That duo has been skipping out on hearings for months. Now there’s been a deadly attack on American soil. They need to provide answers.”

The two got into a heated exchange in October, after Hawley questioned Mayorkas during a Senate hearing on two Instagram posts shared by a DHS employee with the caption “Free Palestine.”  

Mayorkas, who is Jewish, took exception to Hawley’s line of questioning and has since refused to testify publicly despite calls from both sides of the aisle to testify in public at a Senate hearing on "worldwide threats". 

Two hours after his initial post targeting Mayorkas, Hawley demanded that Mayorkas provide answers about the deadly attack in New Orleans. 

Following Hawley's calls for Mayorkas and Wray to publicly testify, the FBI announced that it will be providing an unclassified briefing on the New Orleans attack to relevant House and Senate oversight committees Thursday morning.

False Information From President-Elect Trump Spreads

Senator Eric Schmitt called the attack “unspeakable evil” while reposting a message from President-elect Donald Trump that falsely alludes to the attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabba, who is a U.S.-born citizen from Texas, as an illegal immigrant. 

"I think one of the things that elected officials could be doing, just as you or I or any social media user, any news or information consumer could be doing is be patient and wait for the information to come out," University of Missouri Journalism professor Amy Simons said. "One of the reasons why we say to you that journalism is the first draft of history is because things change, and stories evolve. We're going to learn more about what happened today in New Orleans. We're going to learn more about what happened in Las Vegas. But we may not know everything that happened for days or weeks."

Simons believes the spread of misinformation during these types of incidents is becoming more common, which is one of the reasons people should be wary of getting their news from social media. 

"They're looking for users to click that like button or to have that quick response to the rage bait and immediately put that comment in there," Simons said. "Because when there's greater engagement in that way that leads to greater page views, it leads to greater data mining, and it leads to greater advertising revenue for the platform."

More Missouri Elected Officials React

Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas, who dealt with a similar attack after 22 people were shot at the Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, said that major cities could learn from the incident. 

He added that law enforcement alone can’t replace strong preventative infrastructure while stressing the need to assess risks until the entire crowd has dispersed. 

Governor-elect Mike Kehoe offered prayers to the victims while Rep. Jason Smith thanked law enforcement who ran into the line of fire.  Rep Mike Alford also offered prayers while asking that the person responsible be “held accountable without delay.”

The Missouri Department of Public Safety also posted a reminder to call 911 if you see an immediate threat. DPS also plugged the Missouri SafeNation app, which allows people to anonymously report any suspicious activity.

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Mitchell Kaminski

Mitchell Kaminski is from Wheaton, Illinois. He earned a degree in sports communication and journalism from Bradley University. He has done radio play-by-play and co-hosts a Chicago White Sox podcast.

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