Fears of extremism in military as US reels under New Year's attacks

The suspects in the two deadly New Year's Day attacks have both had a history of serving in the US military, which further underscores the continuous fear of extremism within the US armed services.

In the New Orleans attack, the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, rammed the truck into a crowd during the New Year's celebrations, killing 14 people.

Meanwhile, Matthew Livelsberger was the man suspected behind the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the International Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.

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The similarity between both the attacks is that both the suspects served in the US military. Jabbar served as an Army veteran, while, Livelsberger was active-duty army man.

The two attacks raise the question about the extent of radical and unstable veteran and active-duty troops and whether the Pentagon's efforts to identify and root out extremist beliefs are working.

Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, stressed that the unresolved problem was particularly dangerous because veterans and active duty service members can kill more efficiently.

“The military has not adequately addressed the problem, whether it’s white supremacists or Islamic extremists,” she said, adding, “These cases are a reminder of how important it is that people with the potential to become extreme aren’t trained in military tactics.”

The 42-year-old Jabbar, a US citizen from Texas, who was behind the New Orleans attack, served in the Army from 2007 to 2020. He was deployed in Afghanistan for over a year and retired as a staff sergeant.

However, it is not clear yet whether he served in combat, but he was trained as an information technology specialist.

The police said that they found an ISIS flag in his truck.

Liversberger, on the contrary, served as an active-duty Green Beret. He was posted in Germany but was on leave for the holidays, according to media reports. He was an operations master sergeant.

START reveals data

According to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), at least 721 individuals with US military backgrounds committed criminal acts in America from 1990 through April 2024.

They all had political, economic, social, or religious goals.

Moreover, the number of individuals with military backgrounds engaged in extremist attacks has risen from 11 per cent in 2018 to 18 per cent in 2022.

(With inputs from agencies)