New Orleans’ FBI office, police department are all about DEI

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) and the city’s FBI field office are staunch advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) — and those same agencies are investigating the terrorist attack that killed at least 15 people early Wednesday morning.

The New Orleans FBI Field Office has aggressively promoted diversity initiatives on social media, especially in its recruitment efforts. A press release from May 20, 2024, stated the bureau would hold a “Diversity Agent Recruitment (DAR) event” to aid in their search for applicants with “diverse backgrounds, skills, opinions, and perspectives.”

The division’s social media accounts are rife with advertisements for diversity recruitment, with one post encouraging “minorities and women who qualify” to attend the DAR event.

Another post from June 2024 says the agency is “committed to fostering diversity and inclusion by hiring special agents from a variety of unexpected backgrounds.”

A July 2021 post captioned “The Value of Diversity” celebrates “Near and Middle East Heritage Month.”

Several other posts celebrate black history, women’s history and LGBT pride months.

Additionally, NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick serves as an instructor for the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Association’s Leadership Training Program, where she instructs officers on subjects “including, but not limited to, Bias and Diversity, Emotional Intelligence and Leading Generations,” according to the department’s website.

Kirkland also served as chief of the Oakland Police Department, where she “[implemented] equity-based decision-making.” The city’s police commission voted unanimously to fire Kirkpatrick “without cause” in 2020 after three years leading the department, according to NBC Bay Area.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, drove a pickup truck through a crowd on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 and injuring several more, according to the FBI’s statement. Federal agents said they found an ISIS flag, weapons and a potential IED in his vehicle.

Jabbar, now deceased, was a U.S. citizen from Texas. He also served in the U.S. Army, Fox13 News reported.

At least 15 people were killed and at least 35 were injured, according to the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office.

“The FBI continues investigating the horrific attack on innocent victims on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the early morning hours of January 1, 2025,” an updated FBI statement said.