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| Biden arrives in New Orleans to console families of victims: ‘You got to hang on’ | Biden arrives in New Orleans to console families of victims: ‘You got to hang on’ |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| President flew into city where US army veteran drove truck into crowd, killing 14 and injuring 30 others | President flew into city where US army veteran drove truck into crowd, killing 14 and injuring 30 others |
| Joe Biden arrived in New Orleans late on Monday afternoon with a message to the grieving families of victims in the deadly new year’s attack during celebrations in the city’s famed French Quarter: “It takes time. You got to hang on.” | Joe Biden arrived in New Orleans late on Monday afternoon with a message to the grieving families of victims in the deadly new year’s attack during celebrations in the city’s famed French Quarter: “It takes time. You got to hang on.” |
| The US president flew into the city where an army veteran drove a truck into revelers on Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring 30 more. It could be the last time Biden travels to the scene of a horrific crime as president, with less than two weeks left in office. | The US president flew into the city where an army veteran drove a truck into revelers on Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring 30 more. It could be the last time Biden travels to the scene of a horrific crime as president, with less than two weeks left in office. |
| Biden and first lady Jill Biden attended an interfaith prayer service at the historic St Louis Cathedral blocks away from the attack and planned to meet privately with families. | |
| “To the families and loved ones of those we lost in this horrific act of terrorism last Wednesday, I know events like this are hard and the shock and pain is still so very raw,” Biden said during the prayer service. “My wife Jill and I are here to stand with you, to grieve with you, to pray with you, to let you know you are not alone.” | |
| He offered comfort to the families of the victims: “The day will come when the memory of your loved one … will bring a smile to your lips before a tear to your eye. It will take time, but I promise you, I promise you it will come. And when it does, you may find purpose in your pain.” | |
| Earlier Monday, aboard Air Force One on the way to Louisiana, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke to reporters about Biden’s own understanding of loss, saying: “He believes this is also an important part of the job that he believes he needs to do as president.” | |
| It’s a grim task that presidents perform, though not every leader has embraced the role with such intimacy as the 82-year-old Biden, who has experienced a lot of personal tragedy in his own life. His first wife and baby daughter died in a car accident in the early 1970s, and his eldest son, Beau, died of cancer in 2015. | It’s a grim task that presidents perform, though not every leader has embraced the role with such intimacy as the 82-year-old Biden, who has experienced a lot of personal tragedy in his own life. His first wife and baby daughter died in a car accident in the early 1970s, and his eldest son, Beau, died of cancer in 2015. |
| “I’ve been there. There’s nothing you can really say to somebody that’s just had such a tragic loss,” Biden told reporters Sunday in a preview of his visit. “My message is going to be personal if I get to get them alone.” | “I’ve been there. There’s nothing you can really say to somebody that’s just had such a tragic loss,” Biden told reporters Sunday in a preview of his visit. “My message is going to be personal if I get to get them alone.” |
| Biden often takes the opportunity at such bleak occasions to speak behind closed doors with the families, offer up his personal phone number in case people want to talk later on and talk about grief in stark, personal terms. | Biden often takes the opportunity at such bleak occasions to speak behind closed doors with the families, offer up his personal phone number in case people want to talk later on and talk about grief in stark, personal terms. |
| In addition to the meeting with families, Biden hoped to visit with first responders in New Orleans, according to Jean-Pierre. | In addition to the meeting with families, Biden hoped to visit with first responders in New Orleans, according to Jean-Pierre. |
| The Democratic president will go on to California after his stop in New Orleans. The White House was moving forward with plans for the trip even as a snowstorm was hitting the Washington region. | The Democratic president will go on to California after his stop in New Orleans. The White House was moving forward with plans for the trip even as a snowstorm was hitting the Washington region. |
| In New Orleans, the driver plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street at 3.15am. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who steered his speeding truck around a barricade and drove into the crowd, later was fatally shot in a firefight with police. | In New Orleans, the driver plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street at 3.15am. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who steered his speeding truck around a barricade and drove into the crowd, later was fatally shot in a firefight with police. |
| Jabbar, an American citizen from Texas, had posted five videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State militant group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the French Quarter. | Jabbar, an American citizen from Texas, had posted five videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State militant group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the French Quarter. |
| Biden on Sunday pushed back against conspiracy theories surrounding the attack, and he urged New Orleans residents to ignore them. | Biden on Sunday pushed back against conspiracy theories surrounding the attack, and he urged New Orleans residents to ignore them. |
| “I spent literally 17, 18 hours with the intelligence community from the time this happened to establish exactly what happened, to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that New Orleans was the act of a single man who acted alone,” he said. “All this talk about conspiracies with other people, there’s not evidence of that – zero.” | “I spent literally 17, 18 hours with the intelligence community from the time this happened to establish exactly what happened, to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that New Orleans was the act of a single man who acted alone,” he said. “All this talk about conspiracies with other people, there’s not evidence of that – zero.” |
| The youngest victim was 18 years old, and the oldest was 63. Most victims were in their 20s. They came from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey and Great Britain. | The youngest victim was 18 years old, and the oldest was 63. Most victims were in their 20s. They came from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey and Great Britain. |