(The Center Square) – In the wake of a New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans committed by a Houston resident, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to surge Texas Anti-Terrorism Task Force resources “to aggressively combat radical jihadist terrorism.”
Jabbar was reportedly inspired by the Islamic terrorist organization, ISIS, to drive into a crowd of people on Jan. 1, killing 14 and injuring at least 35.
“Terrorism has no place in Texas,” Abbott said. “Law enforcement at all levels must aggressively collaborate to eliminate radicalization that can lead to terrorist attacks.”
He said Texas is expanding preventative efforts, including DPS working with FBI field offices to increase anti-terrorism operations statewide and “the number of intelligence analysts assigned to investigate terrorism and mass attack threats and to provide analytical assistance to local jurisdictions.”
DPS will work with federal agencies to identify, locate and assess potential threats from Special Interest Aliens (SIAs). DPS officers working through Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, continue to arrest SIAs illegally entering the country, The Center Square reported . Under the Biden administration, Border Patrol agents identified “an exponential increase” in SIAs … with significant ties to terrorism,” a retired sector chief told Congress, saying he was instructed not to publicize their arrests.