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The F.B.I. defines international terrorism as violence inspired by foreign terrorist groups. Domestic terrorism is defined as violence meant to further ideological goals or intimidate civilians.
- Jan. 1, 2025, 12:48 p.m. ET
The F.B.I. has a broad definition of two kinds of terrorism: International terrorism is violent crime committed by people inspired by foreign terrorist organizations or nations, while domestic terrorism is any violent act meant to further ideological goals.
In the immediate aftermath of the New Orleans attack that killed at least 10 people and injured dozens more, there was some public confusion over whether it was a terror attack. The mayor of New Orleans at first said it was, but a local F.B.I. official countered that it was not. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and F.B.I. officials in Washington then said they were in fact investigating the incident as terrorism.
In the attack, a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday. Multiple officials on Wednesday identified the suspect as Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42.
F.B.I. officials, who are typically cautious in public statements until investigators can gather more evidence about a suspect’s intentions, said on Wednesday that as law enforcement officials learned more — particularly about the discovery of a cooler containing an improvised bomb next to the suspect’s vehicle — they became more certain it was a terror attack. The combination of a truck used as a weapon, along with the bomb, led investigators to believe that the perpetrator’s goal was to cause additional casualties on civilians.
Many elected officials and member of the public think of terrorism primarily as a method of violence, such as using a vehicle, gun, or bomb to kill random civilians on a street. To investigators and prosecutors, however, motive or ideology is an important part of defining terrorism.
