Have extremists infiltrated US armed forces? New Orleans, Las Vegas attacks fuel fears

One of the common aspects of the devastating incidents in New Orleans and Los Angeles was the fact that the primary suspects of the New Year’s Day attacks were US military men. This raised questions and concerns about the rising trend of extremism within the US armed forces.

The suspect behind the truck that caused a rampage and killed 14 in New Orleans was a man named Shamsud-Din Jabbar who was a US Army Veteran. Meanwhile, the man who was allegedly behind the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside of the International Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Matthew Livelsberger, was an active-duty service member in the Army.

While this is not the first instance of military extremism, America witnessed in recent years, the two deadly attacks amplified the question about the number of radical veterans and active duty that are present in the US military and whether the Pentagon should do something to deal with the situation.

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At the heart of the issue

Heidi Beirich, a co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism told The Hill that this unresolved problem should be concerning for the US since military men are trained to kill more efficiently. “The military has not adequately addressed the problem, whether it’s white supremacists or Islamic extremists,” she said. “These cases are a reminder of how important it is that people with the potential to become extreme aren’t trained in military tactics.”

42-year-old Jabbar served in the US Army from 2007 to 2020, including a year of deployment in Afghanistan, and retired as a staff sergeant. While sharing more details about Jabbar, Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said in a Thursday press conference that the US vet shared at least five videos propagating the ideology of ISIS, which the suspect claimed to have joined last year.

In the presser, Raia made it clear that there is no apparent connection between the two attacks and the FBI is investigating how Jabbar became radicalised. “A lot of questions we are still asking ourselves,” he said. “That’s the stuff that in the coming days, as far as that path to radicalization, that we’re really going to be digging into and make it a priority.”

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Meanwhile, less is known about the motivation of Livelsberger who police have identified as the suspect behind the Cybertruck explosion in from of the Trump International Hotel in LA. According to the FBI, Livelsberger was an active-duty Green Beret stationed in Germany but was on leave for the holidays. He was serving as his mater Sargent, during his deployment.

While speaking on the matter, Todd Helmus, a senior behavioural scientist at RAND Corporation and a violent extremist expert told The Hill that he was surprised to learn about Livelsberger since he claimed that extremism is more prominent among veterans who often struggle with a range of factors once leaving service. This includes issues like mental health issues, finding work leaving behind comrades, etc.

“All these issues can be complicating challenges for veterans,” he said. “These life challenges that can happen when people leave military services in the close-knit communities, they might be more at risk of radicalization or recruitment," he added.

Instances of military extremism

It is pertinent to note that this is not the first case in recent history that an active military member engaged in such sort of violent attack. In 2023, a man named Robert Card carried out the devastating mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, that led to the death of 18 people. The card was part of the US Army reservist. Back in 2020, Steven Carrillo, an active-duty airman at the time, killed two police officers after expressing antigovernment beliefs. He is currently serving 41 years of prison sentence.

Nidal Hasan, an Army major and psychiatrist was the main culprit of one of the deadliest shootings ever on a US military base. The incident led to the death of 13 people and injured 30 others. Later investigations found that Hasan’s colleagues had been aware of signs of his radicalization.

Interestingly, several US veterans and active-duty military personnel were charged with or convicted for their involvement in the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill. The main perpetrators of the riots were US President-elect Trump’s supporters who attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election in which current US President Joe Biden won.

Last year, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland found that at least 721 individuals belonging to the US military committed criminal acts from 1990 through April 2024. While the number did not hit four figures, it is still concerning.