An ex-FBI agent advises Americans to ‘remain watchful’ after recent incidents in Las Vegas and New Orleans

A cautionary message is being relayed by a former FBI special agent to the American public regarding the importance of being vigilant during major national events. This plea comes in the wake of two tragic incidents that occurred consecutively on New Year’s Day.

Expressing her concerns, Nicole Parker, a former FBI special agent and Fox News Contributor, highlighted the likelihood of such events continuing to take place. These incidents could be driven by various factors, including inspiration from ISIS, radical Islamic terrorism, mass shootings, or even isolated individuals experiencing mental health issues.

“With a lot of these events coming up, there’s just a lot of activity that’s going to be happening with large gatherings, large groups of people.” 

Parker’s words of caution follow an alarming event where a man, later identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, deliberately drove a truck into a crowd gathered on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during the New Year celebrations. This horrendous act resulted in the loss of more than a dozen lives and left numerous others wounded.

Matthew Livelsberger rented a Tesla Cybertruck in Denver, Colorado, which blew up in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. (Alcides Antunes/via REUTERS, left and Fox News, right.)

Hours after that deadly attack, a Tesla Cybertruck was blown up in front of the Trump Hotel Las Vegas, prompting fear and chaos to begin 2025. 

Parker said while these two events have been shocking and devastating, there has been a looming lead-up in our nation since the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre of the Hamas terror attacks on the Jewish State. 

“There has been a lot of activity leading up to this moment. I would say for our country, beginning October 7th, from a terrorism perspective, that’s when things definitely changed,” Parker said.

“I think there was a lot of activity going on in the Middle East. A lot of these terrorist groups that people thought were gone, which frankly, they were. A lot of them were under the Trump administration. And then after the upheaval in the Middle East, I think it almost reignited a lot of activity and chatter,” she continued.

1 dead, 7 injured after Tesla Cybertruck catches fire outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas (Getty Images/ Alcides Antunes)

“It’s surreal. We (Chris and his wife) walked down here, and you can still see it (the Cybertruck) was on fire. A lot of smoke was going inside…it was scary,” Chris Petrotta, a hotel guest who was celebrating his anniversary, described. 

Parker reiterated that these attacks are important reminders to stay vigilant and be aware of your surroundings and reach out to law enforcement if you see or hear something suspicious. 

“Don’t forget that the public is part of the solution because a lot of times, when these individuals, whether they’re terrorists or violent offenders or mass shooters, usually there’s something called leakage, where they give some sort of indication that they’re going to do something before they actually do it,” Parker said.

Parker said while Americans should not live in fear, they should exercise common sense when at major events and even in everyday life.

“We cannot let violent criminals win, we cannot live in fear. But you also have to be aware of your surroundings and listen to your gut. And sadly, I hate to say this, but this is not going to stop,” Parker said.

“This is just the society that we live in, unfortunately. And you have to take certain measures in order to mitigate risk, obviously.”

Investigators are looking at the content inside a Tesla Cybertruck, which blew up in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Press Conference)

She added that while she is excited, like many Americans, for Trump to take office soon, things will not change overnight until real progress is made by elected officials and even inside the FBI.

“Look, I love President Trump. But sadly, a lot of these things are going to come to fruition under President Trump because these are people that are sitting here quietly. We never know when they’re going to implode. So all these people that came across the border, I don’t know when they’re going to act out, just like on 9/11. You don’t know the day that they’re going to be operating, the day that they are going to decide this is when we’re going to do it,” Parker continued. 

Authorities are still working to determine a motive and investigate whether Livelsberger’s actions were an act of terrorism.

“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge.