CNN
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In a series of videos, the man responsible for the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans discussed planning to kill his family and having dreams that helped inspire him to join ISIS, according to multiple officials briefed on the investigation.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more, posted five videos on Facebook in the hours and minutes leading up to the attack, Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, said at a news conference Thursday.
Jabbar, a Texas-born US citizen and Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, made reference in the videos to his divorce and how he had at first planned to gather his family for a “celebration” with the intention of killing them, two officials who had been briefed on the recordings said.
But Jabbar said in the videos he changed his plans because he wanted news headlines to focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers,” Raia said. Jabbar stated he had joined ISIS before this summer, Raia added.
The videos, which CNN has not reviewed, were posted on Jabbar’s Facebook page Wednesday between 1:29 a.m. and 3:02 a.m., Raia said. Jabbar also planted two improvised explosive devices in the hours before…
