Don’t Fear the People: Public Officials Don’t Trust the Public

There are a number of perfectly valid explanations for the initial insistence by FBI agent Alethea Duncan that the mass-casualty attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day was not a terrorist event.

Perhaps Duncan was speaking with undue authority based on her own limited information. Or maybe she was observing the bureau’s definition of what constitutes “an act of terrorism,” as CNN’s Juliette Kayyem speculated, which requires the establishment of motives, including the furtherance of ideological goals through violence, before an act can be deemed a terrorist attack. Possibly. Either way, Duncan’s declarative statement was wholly inaccurate.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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There are a number of perfectly valid explanations for the initial insistence by FBI agent Alethea Duncan that the mass-casualty attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day was not a terrorist event.

Perhaps Duncan was speaking with undue authority based on her own limited information. Or maybe she was observing the bureau’s definition of what constitutes “an act of terrorism,” as CNN’s Juliette Kayyem speculated, which requires the establishment of motives, including the furtherance of ideological goals through violence, before an act can be deemed a terrorist attack. Possibly. Either way, Duncan’s declarative statement was wholly inaccurate.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.