We’re only on the third day of the new year and 2025 has already shown signs of being just as volatile as last year. On New Year’s Day, an apparent act of terrorism in New Orleans left at least 15 dead and a separate incident in Las Vegas left one dead and seven injured.
The FBI has identified Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar — who was also briefly in the Navy’s delayed entry program — as the suspect in the attack on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street. Separately, the Army released the service record of Special Forces soldier Matthew Livelsberger, whom investigators believe was the driver of a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Livelsberger shot himself before the truck exploded.
The deadly incidents immediately prompted speculation online about the alleged perpetrators’ shared service. Social media was flooded with unsupported claims that the two incidents were linked due to Jabbar and Livelsberger both having served at Fort Bragg, now Fort Liberty, North Carolina. (The Associated Press is reporting the two were not there at the same time and the FBI has said there is no link between the two events.)
Still, Elon Musk, the owner of X, has thrown more fuel on the fire by sharing a post from another user who claimed that Ryan Routh, who is charged with trying to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, allegedly visited Fort Liberty “over 100 times” prior to being arrested on Sept. 15. This claim — repeated by Musk as a “good question” — is unsupported by existing reporting and appears to be based on unsubstantiated posts on X. Another X user speculated that Jabbar had been “radicalized by the army bombing civilians.” Once again, social media has proven to be a breeding ground for rumor and innuendo.
Two important points: Investigators have yet to determine what the motives for both incidents were; and if law enforcement agencies determine that Jabbar and Livelsberger were responsible, their military service may not have been a factor in their decision-making. Task & Purpose will always be careful to put crime stories involving veterans into proper context and to also highlight stories about service members and veterans who have risked their own lives to help others.
Normally the week between Christmas and New Year’s is a slow time for news. Not so this time. Here is your weekly rundown:
- Best of frenemies. On Dec. 24, Pakistan launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan against the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or T.T.P. The group has an estimated 6,000 fighters and has been carrying out increasing attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban have denied that they are providing the T.T.P. safe haven on their soil and claim they launched attacks inside Pakistan in retaliation for the airstrikes. In all, Pakistan may be realizing that backing the Taliban for many years may not have been the wisest decision. In other words: Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
- Judges uphold Sept. 11 plea deals. An appeals panel has found that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not have the authority to reject plea agreements for three terrorism suspects accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Defense officials announced on July 31 that the three men had agreed to plead guilty so that they would be sentenced to life in prison rather than the death penalty. But Austin revoked the plea agreements days later, writing in an Aug. 2 memo that he reserved the authority to approve such deals. The United States Court of Military Commission Review overruled Austin on Dec. 30.
- Army THAAD makes its combat debut. A U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery, or THAAD, deployed to Israel successfully intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen on Dec. 26, marking the first time an American THAAD battery has been used in combat. The THAAD battery has about 100 soldiers and was sent to Israel in October. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George described air defense soldiers last year as “our most deployed formation,” adding, “Everybody wants U.S. Army air defense forces.”
- “MARSOC 3” convictions overturned. An appeals court has overturned a felony conviction for drinking alcohol downrange against two members of the “MARSOC 3.” Two Marine Raiders and a Navy corpsman had initially faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, and other offenses in connection with the 2019 death of a former Green Beret who was working as a security contractor in Iraq. The most recent decision is the latest legal twist over the past six years.
- Fair winds and following seas. Former President Jimmy Carter, a Navy veteran who was heavily involved in the development of nuclear submarines, died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100. You can read our tribute to Carter here. President Joe Biden has declared Jan. 9 a national day of mourning in honor of Carter.
Thank you for reading this week’s edition of the Pentagon Rundown! We hope things calm down soon. Dry January hasn’t ended this early since a drone strike killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, then head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, five years ago.
Jeff Schogol