MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
One week ago today, Christmas morning, I was on vacation in New Orleans, strolling the French quarter, and it was drizzling but beautiful - Bourbon Street, lit up with holiday lights; people were out, calling to friends, walking their dogs, enjoying the day.
Well, that is what it should have looked like today. Instead, New Orleans is reeling from the news that overnight, a driver plowed a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street. They were there to celebrate the new year. The FBI is calling it an act of terrorism. David Brannan is a counterterrorism expert at the Naval Postgraduate School, also vice president at The Hoffman Group. David Brannan, welcome. Happy New Year. I am sorry to be speaking with you under these circumstances.
DAVID BRANNAN: Yes, ma'am, indeed.
KELLY: Yeah. So we are still early, very early, in this investigation. I will note that this afternoon in a media briefing, the FBI named the suspect and said they do not believe he acted alone. As someone who studies these types of incidents, what stands out to you so far?
BRANNAN: Well, the pedestrian nature of what we're looking at really stands out to me. We've had...
KELLY: What do you mean?
BRANNAN: We've had close to 20 ramming attacks in - certainly since 2006. But, you know, in 2010, al-Qaida came out in Inspire Magazine and asked people to start using vehicles to ram. They, in fact, named the F-350 specifically as a heavy-duty weapon that could be used by their people. And then that was added to by the Islamic state. And so it's not something that we should be surprised by.
KELLY: I will add that the FBI has also said that the suspect had an ISIS flag attached to the trailer hitch of the truck. Still, so many more questions than answers - but based on what we know so far, would you agree with the FBI assessment that this was a terror attack?
BRANNAN: Yes, ma'am. Absolutely.
KELLY: Why?
BRANNAN: Intentional, with the ISIS flag, the political aspect of terrorism, which is essential for it to be terrorism as opposed to straight criminal - it's assumed at that point. And then it's intended to cause fear in an audience beyond those which are directly impacted by the violence. And it absolutely does this because anybody who is out running around on this holiday has to question whether or not they're next because we're an open society where vehicles are an ongoing part of everything we do.
KELLY: So you're a former police officer. I'm told that you were on a SWAT team for years. You work with cops all over the country now. How do you protect against something like this?
BRANNAN: It's such a perfect question, and it's something I'm really glad you're asking because it's something that citizens need to understand. It's - we cannot be hermetically sealed and safe at all times. You know, the famous terrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman has said repeatedly to me that terrorists are dynamic and amorphous and evolving. And so they are going to constantly adapt to our countermeasures. Those police running towards the scene of this attack show that they are desperate to protect the people they're sworn to protect, but they can't be everywhere at all times. And the pickup truck itself becomes this terrible weapon, and so they're ubiquitous everywhere.
KELLY: Yeah. I mean, that leads to a very basic question. Is there just a certain amount of risk, and it's never going to be zero when a crowd gathers in a public space outside?
BRANNAN: Yes, ma'am. And I would just say also that the fact that it's such a common weapon - you know, the vehicle itself - shows just how vulnerable we are. We are certainly much better off than we have been in the past. The relationship between the federal, state and local law enforcement is 100% - more than 100% better than it was at 9/11.
KELLY: What are the major questions on your mind as the hours and days unfold in this investigation?
BRANNAN: You started out with it. I want to know what the connections are to others because this is, you know, likely to have been facilitated by at least an online presence but possibly a physical presence. I want to know about follow-on and compatriots, confederates in this and how far they're spread across the country.
KELLY: It's David Brannan, counterterrorism expert at The Hoffman Group and at the Naval Postgraduate School. Thank you.
BRANNAN: Thank you, ma'am. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
