Nearly a year before he allegedly killed 14 people and injured dozens more when he drove a pickup truck bearing the Islamic State (IS) flag through a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, Shamsud-Din Jabbar expressed his belief that music, drugs and Sex and other pleasures were evils worthy of destruction.

An account on the SoundCloud platform under the name Jabbar posted three recordings, each about 20 minutes long, containing these and other expressions of extremist religious views.

SoundCloud did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The voice in the recordings matches that of Jabbar, heard in a video promoting a real estate business he was shown to have headed before authorities said he carried out a deadly terrorist attack on one of the country’s most famous holiday parties carried out around the world, killing or injuring several locals and foreign visitors. He was then shot by police at the end of Wednesday’s attack on Bourbon Street, bringing the total number of dead to 15, the local coroner said Thursday.

Muslim scholars largely reject the extremist positions of ISIS or those sympathetic to the terror group when it comes to religion, saying Islam teaches mercy and peace and the importance of justice.

A statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday said, alluding to reports that Jabbar had previously been accused of engaging in some of the behaviors he condemns in the recordings, including drunk driving and spousal abuse: ” His crime is the latest.” An example of why cruel, merciless and bottom-up extremist groups are rejected by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world – from Islamic scholars to mosques to organizations and individuals Muslims.”

“We strongly condemn this crime and stand in solidarity with the people of New Orleans,” the organization said, calling on people who could help investigators catch Jabbar’s potential accomplices to come forward.

Still, the recordings appear to answer an early question about Jabbar: How long had he been radicalized without being discovered? The audio recording indicates that Jabbar openly expressed extremist religious views around February 2024, although relatively few observers had noted this and the recordings had been heard a total of fewer than 300 times as of Thursday. The account had two followers while following various Muslim-related accounts on the platform.

The longest recording focuses on Jabbar’s interpretation of scripture and suggests that “poetry like rapping” could gradually lure people “to the things that God has forbidden us: intoxicants such as marijuana, alcohol, tranquilizers, opioids, stimulants and others “.

“Then there is the way music leads us to illicit sex, vulgarity, violence, betrayal, arrogance, burglary, cheating, ingratitude toward our spouses or others in general,” he continued. He suggested that music is “Satan’s voice,” adding, “It drives us to squander our wealth, to sever ties with kinship—and even to idolatry, calling us to … the artist himself.” to worship.”

Shortly after its release in the early 2000s, the 42-year-old, who most recently lived in Houston, blamed a rap song in particular for the three series of murders in his neighborhood. He also said he believes the Scriptures command people to “forbid evil.”

“In fact, Allah commands Satan to incite humanity with his voice, attack them with his soldiers and become a partner,” noted Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen and Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. “The prohibition… of evil is a mandate for all of humanity.”

Jabbar claims in another recording that “Allah… says: ‘Save those who believe and do righteous deeds… These will have the good news of Paradise with all its bounties and joys, without there ever being any interruption in it.’

Jabbar’s rhetoric would later escalate dramatically. Joe Biden said the FBI told him and his White House staff that agents discovered “just hours before the attack” that Jabbar had “posted videos on social media that suggested he was inspired by ISIS.” and expressed a desire to kill.”

CNN reported that he spoke with two officials who were briefed on the videos. In it, Jabbar referenced a divorce and plans to bring his family together under the guise of a celebration before killing them.

But Jabbar allegedly said he later had dreams about why he should join ISIS before eventually changing his plans and becoming part of the terrorist group, CNN said. The network added that it had not independently verified the videos but believed they were taken while Jabbar was driving at night.

Punchbowl News reported Thursday that Jabbar posted five videos on Facebook the morning before the attack in New Orleans, according to a briefing to certain members of the House and Senate. Citing an informed source, Punchbowl’s congressional reporter Mica Soellner wrote

Jabbar had complained in court papers that one of his two divorces was making it difficult for him to pay his home debts. Other legal troubles included a drunk driving conviction and a restraining order obtained by an ex-wife who claimed he was abusive, which was first reported by TMZ.

On Wednesday, after renting a pickup truck and planting an ISIS flag in the back, Jabbar drove around a police blockade at the foot of Bourbon Street and rammed into New Year’s revelers in a city known for jazz and rap music as well as loud celebrations known as Mardi Gras . He also fired a rifle at crowds in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter district and at police – while wearing body armor and a helmet. He wounded two police officers who confronted him before being shot dead by police.

According to authorities, Jabbar killed 14 victims and injured about 35 others. Many of the victims were from either the New Orleans area or nearby Mississippi. According to various officials, these were also residents of other states and citizens of other countries, including Mexico and Israel.

At a news conference Thursday, an FBI official said investigators suspected Jabbar was solely responsible for the previous day’s killings. Authorities spent Wednesday searching for possible accomplices after finding a number of improvised explosive devices near the site of the attack. Two of them were wired for remote ignition, and a corresponding remote control was in Jabbar’s truck.

About two miles from the attack, a short-term rented house where Jabbar lived was also later intentionally set on fire.

Local and state leaders generally expressed the need to show resilience – along with compassion for the victims and their families after the attack – as they launched plans for a return to normality on Thursday.

“Remember that evil makes no sense,” New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas said in a statement. “Our focus must be prayers and support for everyone involved.”