Billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday (Jan 2) sparked yet another controversy as he called out FBI's New Orleans division over a social media post where the agents can be seen wearing Taylor Swift-themed friendship bracelets.

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The Tesla CEO took to his official X handle and reshared a post by Senator Marsha Blackburn in which she wrote, "This is what the FBI New Orleans has been doing," alongside the image of the agents donning bracelets.

"Return the FBI to its mission of investigating criminals and terrorists," she added.

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The contentious post was originally shared on the authorities' official Facebook page on October 27, 2024.

This comes in the wake of a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day, where a man drove his pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street at approximately 3:15 am on Wednesday (Jan 1), killing 15 people.

New Orleans Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick described the driver as being “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.” She further added that the driver’s intention appeared to be to “run over as many people as he could.” Additionally, two police officers were shot by the suspect, but both are now in stable condition.

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The FBI said that the suspect died following a gunfight with the police. After the truck came to a stop, the driver opened fire on officers, who returned fire, leading to his death.

Also read: Tesla Cybertruck explodes outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas, incident being probed as possible terror act

'Attacker inspired by ISIS'

The driver has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar who reportedly was inspired by Islamic State as an ISIS flag was found in his vehicle and he also posted some videos on social media expressing a desire to kill hours before the incident took place.

United States President Joe Biden said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found ISIS-inspired videos that Jabbar posted on social media where he expressed a desire to kill

"The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill. The ISIS flag was found in his vehicle which he rented to conduct this attack. Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well, and more explosives were found nearby...The investigation is continuing to be active and no one should jump to conclusions," Biden said.

(With inputs from agencies)