The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Thursday condemned an attack early New Year's Day that killed at least 15 people and injured dozens in the state of Louisiana.
"We strongly denounce this crime, we stand in solidarity with the people of New Orleans, we encourage anyone with relevant information to come forward immediately, and we pray for a full recovery of those impacted by this crime," CAIR said in a statement.
The denunciation came after a man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The suspect was identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a native of the state of Texas, according to the FBI. The attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
"If reports that the perpetrator was a man with a history of drunk driving and spousal abuse who embraced Daesh are true, then his crime is the latest example of why cruel, merciless, bottom-feeding extremist groups have been rejected by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world-from Islamic scholars, to mosques, to organizations, and to individual Muslims," said CAIR.
The group extended condolences to the families of those killed in the "horrific, senseless and infuriating" attack.
