Wednesday’s truck attack in New Orleans follows a long history of assailants turning cars and trucks into weapons. More than a dozen high-profile vehicle attacks on crowds have taken place in the past decade — many of them terror attacks. But other motives have also played a role.
Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen published a 2010 article called “The Ultimate Mowing Machine,” encouraging followers to “mow down the enemies of Allah.” It promoted the use of four-wheel-drive pickup trucks because “the stronger the better.”
“To achieve maximum carnage, you need to pick up as much speed as you can while still retaining good control of your vehicle in order to maximize your inertia and be able to strike as many people as possible in your first run,” the article said.
And in 2014, an ISIS spokesman called for followers to attack a “disbelieving American, Frenchman or any of their allies” and “run him over with your car” if needed.
The FBI is investigating Wednesday’s attack in New Orleans as “an act of terrorism,” and the suspect had an ISIS flag at the time of the incident. The FBI said it “is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.”
Here are a few of the high-profile vehicle attacks in recent years:
Nice, France: Authorities said Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel used a 20-ton truck to strike hundreds of people in Nice, where large crowds gathered to watch Bastille Day fireworks in July 2016. The attack killed 84 people and wounded more than 200 others.
ISIS said the attack was retaliation for France’s role in the fight against the terror group.
But then-French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Bouhlel had no record of making militant statements and was not believed to be a member of ISIS. “It seems he became radicalized very quickly,” Cazeneuve said.
Berlin, Germany: A tractor-trailer slammed into a crowd at a bustling Christmas market in December 2016, killing 12 people and injuring 48 others. The suspect, Anis Amri, was later killed in a shootout with police in Italy.
A video surfaced showing Amri pledging allegiance to ISIS, and the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said the attack was carried out by “a soldier of the Islamic State” to target citizens of countries fighting ISIS.
Charlottesville, Virginia: A driver plowed into a group of demonstrators protesting against white nationalists and other far-right activists at the “Unite the Right” rally in August 2017. The attack killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured 19 other people.
The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., was convicted by a Virginia jury of first-degree murder and nine other charges and pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes. He was sentenced to life in prison by both a Virginia state judge and a federal judge, with the two sentences running consecutively.
Manhattan, New York: The driver of a rental truck jumped a curb and drove down the bicycle path along West Side Highway, killing eight people and injuring about a dozen others in October 2017.
Authorities found a note near the truck claiming the attack was made in the name of ISIS, a senior law enforcement official said. The suspect, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, told investigators he was inspired by ISIS videos to use a truck “to inflict maximum damage against civilians,” according to court documents. He was convicted on 28 counts and was sentenced to life in prison.