A screenshot of a message issued by a Houston-area mosque has gone viral claiming that the mosque ordered its members not to give out any information about Shamsud Din Jabbar to the media or the FBI. The message was issued on New Year’s Day, hours after Jabbar crashed his truck into a celebrating crowd on New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street.
The message did not ask its members not to cooperate with the investigation, but asked all members to remain vigilant. “If the media contacts someone, it is very important that they do not respond. If the FBI approaches and a response is necessary, consult CAIR and ISGH,” it said. CAIR is the Council on American-Islamic Relations and ISGH is the Islamic Society of Greater Houston.
The New York Submit reported that it was not known whether Jabbar ever attended the mosque.
Jabbar’s brother revealed that although they were born Christians, Shamsud Din converted to Islam at a young age, although it was not because of religion but because of radicalization.
A spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations told Newsweek that they were aware of the post made by the local mosque, but did not speak to mosque officials about its authenticity.
The White House severed ties with CAIR last year after the group’s co-founder said he was “happy” to see the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed. In November, a judge also ordered CAIR to open its books and reveal its funding sources after a defamation lawsuit it filed against a former worker backfired.
Shamsud Din Jabbar’s Houston Community
Shamsud Din Jabbar lived in a run-down mobile home in a Muslim-majority area of Houston. He had a bomb-making workbench in his mobile home, where a Quran was open to a page about “killing” in the name of Allah. His house was filled with chemical waste and chemical bottles, while an inventory of items seized by the FBI included a long list of compounds used in bomb manufacturing. His neighbor said Jabbar told him he was moving to New Orleans and the neighbor thought the truck used in the rampage was intended for that purpose.
