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CNN, MSNBC Analysts Quickly Piled On New Orleans Mayor For Calling Attack Terrorism Despite Obvious Signs It Was

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CNN and MSNBC analysts on Wednesday were quick to question why Democratic New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell referred to Wednesday’s attack in New Orleans as an act of terrorism, seemingly downplaying obvious parallels to past terrorist acts.

Authorities say 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar drove a Ford pickup truck into revelers in New Orleans early Wednesday morning before being killed in a shootout with police. After Cantrell called the attack terrorism, MSNBC analysts Barbara McQuade and Frank Figliuzzi as well as CNN analysts Juliette Kayyem and Paula Reid all questioned why the term was used, despite reports of an ISIS flag being found in the suspect’s vehicle and social media posts declaring his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“We know that he used a truck ramming, which is sometimes used by violent extremists, but it could also be somebody who is disgruntled. You know, in a school shooting, nobody jumps immediately to a terrorist act,” McQuade told MSNBC host Ana Cabrera. “And so here, certainly it’s not simply his name that caused people to say this is a terrorist act. And so my hunch is, what I would be asking if I were a reporter is what are the factors that have caused you to label this a terrorist act?”

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CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem, a former Obama administration official, went further, calling Cantrell’s comments “a mistake.”

“Yeah, I just think the mayor made a mistake. Let’s just, you know, in some ways move on. It has to be clarified. I do not think she should have come out,” Kayyem told “CNN Newsroom” host Pamela Brown. “You actually saw the people behind her sort of flinch. She was speaking as a politician and someone who governs the city that this was terrorizing. It was terrible. It was terror for those there. But we are now in the investigation and prosecution stage.”

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Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Alethea Duncan contradicted Cantrell’s characterization of the attack as a terrorist act shortly after Cantrell called it terrorism at a Wednesday press conference. The FBI later said it was investigating the attack as an act of terrorism in a statement.

President Joe Biden said in remarks that the suspect in the New Orleans attack posted videos hours before the attack saying he was “inspired” by ISIS.

A similar attack on a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, left 84 people dead in 2016. In December, a Saudi man drove a car into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing at least two people.

Former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi said while on MSNBC Wednesday morning that reports of an ISIS flag had being found could be “a distraction.”

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“We should be careful on whether there was terrorist-affiliated insignia flag on the back of the truck. We should be careful. It could be a distraction,” Figliuzzi told Cabrera. “It could be a distraction.”

CNN legal analyst Paula Reid also criticized Cantrell over “confusing” messages, citing a legal definition of terrorism in federal law.

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“I think it’s a little confusing, holiday conflicting messaging here. But this is not good to have come out and give these kind of confusing messages,” Reid told Brown. “People need to understand, especially at the federal level, that terrorism actually has a legal definition and it’s much more narrow than people realize.”

Jabbar, an Army veteran, was born in Texas and served for 13 years in the Army and Army Reserve. The attack left at least 14 people dead and wounded dozens of others.