BOORSEE

Just before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearly three years ago, 23-year-old Ukrainian army Lieutenant Myroslav Pylypchuk was preparing to become a father. Instead, he found himself confronting the invaders on the frontlines, where he repeatedly faced death, including a face-off with a Russian tank in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.

During subsequent fighting in the Kharkiv region, he stepped on a Russian landmine. The explosion cost him his left leg.

Just four months later, he was conquering a mountain peak on crutches. Today, he’s a father of two young children, living in the U.S. state of Ohio, where he was given a new limb and a new lease on life.

In an interview with VOA’s Ukrainian Service, Pylypchuk shared the story of his close encounter with a tank, how a tourniquet from an American benefactor saved his life, and his journey to recovery.

‘This tank is already coming straight at me’

In the spring of 2022, Myroslav Pylypchuk found himself face-to-face with a Russian tank. The duel between the 23-year-old man from the western Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi and the enemy tank was captured on video by a Ukrainian drone operator. 

“This tank is already coming straight at me, its gun is rising and aiming at me,” he told VOA. “I think to myself: either I shoot now, or it shoots first. I take the first shot, the grenade from the grenade launcher ricochets off the ground, flies up over the turret, and explodes. The tank stopped and fired exactly at the spot where I was. But all I got were shrapnel pieces that flew through these bushes and hit me.

“The tank drives into the ditch, turns its turret, and once again targets the spot where I was standing, as if I had really annoyed it, as if I had ruined its day. Then it turns the turret and fires again at the place where I had been. The shell landed where I was, but thank God I had already managed to run about 20 meters away, and the shrapnel from that shell just flew past me.”

Just two weeks before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Pylypchuk found out he was going to be a father. On Feb. 24, he packed his things and joined his military unit in Kyiv, where he was then living and stationed.

A graduate of the Lviv Academy of Ground Forces, Pylypchuk served in the Ukrainian army in the Donetsk region, and ended up commanding a company of 80 soldiers. By May 2022, his unit had taken the village of Tsyrkuny in Kharkiv region back from Russian forces. 

During just a few months on the front lines, he nearly lost his life three times. 

“Shrapnel in one case, a rocket in another, then the tank missed,” he recalled.

A gift from an American that saved his life

However, Lieutenant Pylypchuk’s luck ran out during the Kharkiv fighting, when he stepped on a landmine. 

“I’m walking at one point, I hear an explosion and fall. I try to take a step with my left leg and fall again,” he told VOA. “I look at my leg — I was wearing new gear, light-colored — and I look at my leg, and it’s already completely red.”

The blast from the landmine also destroyed two of Pylypchuk’s first aid kits and all his medical supplies. He said it was like he’d been turned into a human sieve — even the scissors for cutting clothing were twisted and scattered in all directions. 

However, he still had another tourniquet on him — a gift that Ron Jackson, an American volunteer who had been traveling to Ukraine for years to help its military, had given him just before the war started.

Jackson’s tourniquet was applied around his chest, saving his life. But the landmine explosion had completely shattered the bone in Pylypchuk’s upper left leg.

The medics who treated Pylypchuk at the scene loaded him into the trunk of a Soviet-made Niva SUV for transport to a hospital in Kharkiv.

“The Niva pulls up, and I’m thinking, ‘Where am I supposed to sit?’, because there were two in the car already: one was driving, and the other was covering the window, just in case, God forbid, any sabotage groups showed up. And then they just threw me into the trunk like a sack of potatoes,” he recalled with a smile.

With every bump in the road, the adrenaline wore off, and the pain got worse:

“I felt like the donkey from Shrek, asking, ‘How much longer? When is it going to get better?’ They drove me around Kharkiv for about half an hour to forty minutes. I was holding on with every last bit of strength just to stay conscious. As soon as I saw the hospital doors open and that bright light, I closed my eyes. The doctors were shocked that I’d stayed conscious until the very last moment.” 

Doctors fought for over six hours to save Pylypchuk’s life, and he was unconscious for three days. However, the shrapnel that entered his body had passed through the ground and trees, causing a blood infection — one so serious that his left leg had to be amputated.

Recovery in the US

Pylypchuk needed a prosthetic for his leg, but the waiting list in Ukraine was long, so he looked for other options. He called Jackson, the American whose tourniquet had saved his life, who introduced Pylypchuk to Ihor, a Ukrainian immigrant who knew a prosthetist in Ohio.

Thanks to Ihor, who became Pylypchuk’s sponsor during his move to Ohio, the prosthetic was fitted in the U.S. in October 2022. Pylypchuk also received help through individual donations and free consultations from the prosthetist. In just two weeks — an incredibly fast recovery — he was walking on his own. 

“What motivated me was the desire to live, because, well, God didn’t give me a second chance for no reason — He gave me the opportunity to stay alive,” Pylypchuk told VOA.

More than two years after stepping on the landmine, Pylypchuk is still undergoing rehabilitation and preparing for additional surgeries. Now living in the U.S. temporarily thanks to Uniting for Ukraine, a special U.S. government parole program for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, he continues to raise funds for and send essential supplies to his fellow soldiers on Ukraine’s front lines. 

Pylypchuk has a two-year-old son, Mark, and a daughter, Evelina, who was born in the United States. He hopes that by the time he fully recovers, the war in Ukraine will be over and he, his wife and two children can return home. He would like to pursue a career in information technology.

For now, he is focusing on his recovery and enjoying fatherhood.  

“You only have one life, and you have to live it fully, without being afraid of not doing something. If you want to do something, you need to do it. And appreciate what you have. Above all — your life,” he said.
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Washington — U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit New Orleans on Monday to grieve with relatives of the 14 people who were killed and 35 injured there when a man drove a rented pickup truck at high speed through a group of pedestrians in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

The Bidens plan to meet with family members of the victims who were run over when the suspect, identified by authorities as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old military veteran from Houston, sped down bustling Bourbon Street, a prime tourist, restaurant and bar locale. Police fatally shot Jabbar after he opened fire on officers.

“I’ve been there,” Biden told reporters Sunday ahead of his visit, reflecting on the loss of his own family members through his years in public life. “There’s nothing you can really say to somebody that’s just had such a tragic loss. My message is going to be personal if I get to get them alone.”

Watch related report by Arash Arabasadi:

Biden, with two weeks remaining in office before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, is also meeting with investigators who say that Jabbar acted alone in the attack but was inspired by the Islamic State to carry out the terror attack.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that Jabbar posted five videos on social media expressing support for the Islamic State terrorist group, or IS, over roughly an hour and a half before the attack as New Orleans revelers celebrated the first hours of 2025. An IS flag was found in the back of the truck.

An official with the country’s top criminal investigative agency said Sunday that Jabbar, wearing specialized hands-free glasses, last October twice visited the French Quarter neighborhood where the attack occurred.

Lyonel Myrthil, FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans Field Office, Myrthil said video shows the suspect riding through the French Quarter on a bicycle wearing “meta glasses” that are capable of recording or livestreaming.

Myrthil also said officials are also investigating two foreign trips Jabbar took, one to Cairo in the summer of 2023 and then to Canada a few days later.

“Our agents are getting answers to where he went, who he went with and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here,” Myrthil said.

FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia told reporters at a news conference Saturday, “All investigative details and evidence that we have now still support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans. We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the U.S. and outside of our borders.”

Biden said investigators told him the suspect had a remote detonator in his truck that was meant to set off two explosive devices placed inside ice coolers along Bourbon Street. But police killed Jabbar before he could detonate the explosives.

Representative Mike Turner, chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, on Sunday reiterated to CBS’s “Face the Nation” show a previously disclosed U.S. claim, that there are Islamic State members and other terrorist organizations that are inside the United States “working in conjunction with ISIS with the intention of harming Americans.”

“We don’t know where they are,” Turner said.

Outgoing Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC’s “This Week” show that there has been a “significant increase” over the last 10 years in “homegrown violent extremism.”

“It is a very difficult threat landscape,” Mayorkas said. He pledged a smooth transition to Trump’s appointment as the incoming Homeland Security secretary, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

“I have spoken with Governor Noem a number of times, including on New Year’s Day and immediately thereafter, with respect to the horrific terrorist attack,” Mayorkas said.

“We have spoken substantively about the measures that we take, and I am incredibly devoted to a smooth and successful transition to the success of Governor Noem, should she be confirmed as the secretary of Homeland Security,” Mayorkas said.

Biden’s Monday visit to New Orleans is occurring with heightened security concerns in Washington as Congress meets to certify that Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election.

It is four years to the day after Trump supporters rampaged through the U.S. Capitol, ransacking congressional offices and attacking law enforcement officers to block certification of Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump has vowed, within hours of taking office on January 20, to pardon many of those arrested and imprisoned in the January 6, 2021, attack.
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PLAINS, GEORGIA — When Jimmy Carter chose branding designs for his presidential campaign, he passed on the usual red, white and blue. He wanted green.

Emphasizing how much the Georgia Democrat enjoyed nature and prioritized environmental policy, the color became ubiquitous. On buttons, bumper stickers, brochures, the sign rechristening the old Plains train depot as his campaign headquarters. Even the hometown Election Night party.

“The minute it was announced, we all had the shirts to put on — and they were green, too,” said LeAnne Smith, Carter’s niece, recalling the 1976 victory celebration.

Nearly a half-century later, environmental advocates are remembering Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, as a president who elevated environmental stewardship, energy conservation and discussions about the global threat of rising carbon dioxide levels.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to abandon the renewable energy investments that President Joe Biden included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, echoing how President Ronald Reagan dismantled the solar panels Carter installed on the White House roof. But politics aside, the scientific consensus has settled where Carter stood two generations earlier.

“President Carter was four decades ahead of his time,” said Manish Bapna, who leads the Natural Resources Defense Council. Carter called for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions well before “climate change” was part of the American lexicon, he said.

Wearing cardigans and setting standards

Former Vice President Al Gore, whose climate advocacy earned him the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, called Carter “a lifelong role model for the entire environmental movement.”

As president, Carter implemented the first U.S. efficiency standards for passenger vehicles and household appliances. He created the U.S. Department of Energy, which streamlined energy research, and more than doubled the wilderness area under National Park Service protection.

Inviting ridicule, Carter asked Americans to conserve energy through personal sacrifice, including driving less and turning down thermostats in winter amid global fuel shortages. He pushed renewable energy to lessen dependence on fossil fuels, calling for 20% of U.S. energy to come from alternative sources by 2000.

But laments linger about what 39th president could not get done or did not try before his landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan.

Addressing climate change

Carter left office in 1981 shortly after receiving a West Wing report linking fossil fuels to rising carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere. Carter’s top environmental advisers urged “immediate” cutbacks on the burning of fossil fuels to reduce what scientists at the time called “carbon dioxide pollution.”

“Nobody anywhere in the world in a high government position was talking about this problem” before Carter, biographer Jonathan Alter said.

The White House released the findings, which drew forgettable news coverage: The New York Times published its story on the 13th page of its front section. And with scant time left in office, there were no tangible moves Carter could make, beyond the energy legislation he had already signed.

The report recommended limiting global average temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. Thirty-five years later, in the 2015 Paris climate accords, participating nations set a similar goal.

“If he had been reelected, it’s fair to say that we would have been beginning to address climate change in the early 1980s,” Alter told the AP. “When you think about that, it adds a kind of a tragic dimension, almost, to his political defeat.”

Reagan ended high-level conversations about carbon emissions. He opposed efficiency standards as government overreach and rolled back some regulations. His chief of staff, Don Regan, called the solar panels “a joke.”

Pursuing energy independence

Despite Carter’s emphasis on renewable sources, the fossil fuel industry benefited from his push toward U.S. energy independence.

Collin O’Mara, CEO of the National Wildlife Foundation, pointed to coal-fired power plants built during and shortly thereafter Carter’s term, and his deregulation of natural gas production, a move O’Mara called “a precursor” to widespread fracking. Bapna noted Carter backed drilling off the coasts of Long Island in New York and New England.

Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, pointed to Carter’s Synthetic Fuels Corporation, a short-lived effort to produce fossil fuel alternatives that “would have meant much higher carbon emissions.”

But Carter had the right priorities, especially on research and development coordinated through the Energy Department, Nadel said. “He allowed us to have a national approach rather than one agency here and another there.”

Stewarding God’s creation

Carter’s environmental interests had deep roots going back to a a rural boyhood filled with hunting and fishing and working his father’s farmland.

“Jimmy Carter was an environmentalist before it was a real part of the political discussion — and I’m not talking about solar panels on the White House,” said Dubose Porter, a longtime Georgia Democratic Party leader. “Just focusing on that, misses how early and how committed he was.”

His early years as a youth, influenced Carter as governor, Porter said, when he boosted Georgia’s state parks system and opposed Georgia congressmen who wanted to dam a river. Carter paddled the waterway himself and decided its natural state trumped the lucrative federal construction proposal.

In Washington, Carter continued sometimes unwinnable fights against funding for projects he deemed damaging and unnecessary. He found more success extending federal protection for more than 60.7 million hectares, including redwood forests in California and vast swaths of Alaska.

Randall Balmer, a Dartmouth College professor who has written on Carter’s faith, said he saw himself as a custodian of divinely granted natural resources.

“That’s a real connection that young evangelicals still have with him today,” Balmer said.

Condemning consumerism

Carter won the presidency amid energy shortages rooted in global strife, especially in the oil-rich Middle East, so national security and economic interests dovetailed with Carter’s religious beliefs and affinity for nature, Nadel noted.

Carter compared the energy crisis to “the moral equivalent of war,” and as inflation and gas lines grew, he called for individual sacrifice and sweeping action on renewable energy.

“Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns,” Carter warned in 1979. “But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning.”

That “malaise” speech — dubbed so by the media despite Carter not using the word — was unique in presidential politics for its condemnation of unchecked American consumerism. Carter celebrated that more than 100 million Americans watched. By 2010, Carter acknowledged in his annotated “White House Diary” that his speech was a flop, but said it proved to be prescient for advocating bold and direct action on energy.

“You can say the Carter presidency is still producing results today,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, whose 2020 presidential run focused on climate action. “I’ve learned in politics that timing is everything and serendipity is everything.”
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Beverly Hills, California — Viola Davis’ journey to becoming one of Hollywood’s most revered actors was driven by a straightforward mantra: Embrace every role, using each as a paycheck and a chance to explore new characters while honing her skills.

Davis delivered a moving, 16-minute speech while accepting the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Gala: An Evening of Excellence on Friday night. She reflected on how her turbulent upbringing fueled her passion for acting as an escape and how financial necessity often influenced her choice of roles.

“If I waited for a role that was written for me, well crafted, then I wouldn’t be standing up here,” said Davis, who along with Ted Danson, recipient of the Carol Burnett Award, were celebrated for their career achievements in film and television during a star-studded, black-tie gala dinner in Beverly Hills, California, just two nights before the 82nd annual Golden Globes on Sunday.

Some of the popular names in attendance included Carol Burnett, Jane Fonda, Anthony Anderson, Steve Guttenberg and singer-songwriter Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. It’s the first time the Globes hosted a separate event dedicated to both awards.

Davis said she couldn’t afford to wait for the perfect role, especially as a “dark-skinned Black woman with a wide nose and big lips.”

“So I took it for the money,” said Davis, who won praise for a string of compelling characters in films such as “Fences,” “The Woman King,” “The Help” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” while captivating TV audiences through the legal thriller drama “How to Get Away with Murder.”

“I don’t believe that poverty is really the answer to craft,” she said. “I don’t think there’s any nobility in poverty.”

Meryl Streep presented the award to Davis, who she called a pure artist who “delivers the truth every time.” Both actors worked together in the 2008 film “Doubt,” where Streep first became in awe of Davis, who she called her “favorite actor in the world.”

The DeMille Award has been bestowed on Hollywood’s greatest talents. Past recipients include Tom Hanks, Jeff Bridges, Oprah Winfrey, Morgan Freeman, Streep, Barbra Streisand and Sidney Poitier.

When Danson accepted his award, he congratulated Davis, calling her an “amazing actor.”

“It’s such a pleasure to be in the same room with you,” said Danson, a three-time Globes winner, who has been a fixture on TV since he broke out as Boston bartender Sam Malone on NBC’s comedy “Cheers.” His other credits include “The Good Place,” “Mr. Mayor,” “Fargo,” “CSI” and “CSI: Cyber,” “Damages” and “Becker.”

Danson currently stars in Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside,” which earned his first nomination since 2008 and 13th overall.

“Bia Iftikhar, who does his hair on set, said it best: ‘Ted sets the tone,'” said his wife, actor Mary Steenburgen, who presented Danson with the Carol Burnett Award, which was inaugurated in 2019. Past recipients include Norman Lear, Ryan Murphy and Ellen DeGeneres. The first was Burnett herself.

Danson and Steenburgen appeared in a few projects together including “Pontiac Moon,” “Gulliver’s Travels” and “It Must Be Love.”

“He’s so loving and takes such joy in acting that all of us who are hard at work away from our families for long hours get to work on a set that is dictated by his kindness,” Steenburgen said. “As his wife, watching the respect and love … for Ted, it made me very proud.”

Danson traded “I love you” with Burnett, showing admiration for each other. He thanked a number of writers, producers and actors along with the “Cheers” co-creators Glen and Les Charles, who surprised him by showing up to the event.

“I feel so grateful,” he said. “I’m truly the luckiest… on Earth.”

Davis quipped, “Little Viola is squealing,” referring to how her younger self would be overjoyed at the actor’s journey from an impoverished childhood to Hollywood stardom.

“She’s standing behind me and she’s pulling on my dress,” said Davis, who achieved EGOT status after winning a Grammy last year for best audio book, narration, and storytelling for the recording for her memoir “Finding Me.”

“She’s wearing the same red rubber boots that she wore rain or shine because they her feel ‘purty'” she continued. “What she’s whispering is: ‘I told you I was a magician.'”
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The Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa” claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025.

The photorealistic “Lion King” prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn’t far behind.

“Sonic 3” stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. “Mufasa’s” running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million.

In third place, Focus Features’ “Nosferatu” remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable.

“Nosferatu,” which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses.

No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, “Moana 2,” claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million.

The Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it’s Searchlight’s highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in 2019.

A24’s erotic drama “Babygirl,” which added 49 locations, held steady at $4.5 million.

Another Thanksgiving leftover, “Wicked,” rounded out the top five. Universal’s movie musical was made available to purchase on VOD on Jan. 31, but still earned another $10.2 million from theaters. The movie is up for several awards at Sunday’s Golden Globes, including nominations for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, best motion picture musical or comedy and “cinematic and box office achievement,” which last year went to “Barbie.”

Also in theaters this weekend was the IMAX re-release of David Fincher’s 4K restoration of “Seven,” which earned just over $1 million from 200 locations.

The 2025 box office year is already off to a better start than 2024, up around 20% from the same weekend last year.

Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $23.8 million.

2. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” $21.2 million.

3. “Nosferatu,” $13.2 million.

4. “Moana 2,” $12.4 million.

5. “Wicked,” $10.2 million.

6. “A Complete Unknown,” $8.1 million.

7. “Babygirl,” $4.5 million.

8. “Gladiator II,” $2.7 million.

9. “Homestead,” $2.1 million.

10. “The Fire Inside,” $1.2 million.
    …

While much remains unknown about the man who carried out an attack in New Orleans on New Year’s and another who died in an explosion in Las Vegas the same day, the violence highlights the increased role of people with military experience in ideologically driven attacks, especially those that seek mass casualties.

In New Orleans, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a veteran of the U.S. Army, was killed by police after a deadly rampage in a pickup truck that left 14 others dead and injured dozens more. It’s being investigated as an act of terrorism inspired by the Islamic State group.

In Las Vegas, officials say Matthew Livelsberger, an active duty member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, shot himself in the head in a Tesla Cybertruck packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, shortly before it exploded outside the entrance of the Trump International Hotel, injuring seven people. On Friday, investigators said Livelsberger wrote that the explosion was meant to serve as a “wakeup call” and that the country was “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.”

Service members and veterans who radicalize make up a tiny fraction of a percentage point of the millions who have honorably served their country. But an Associated Press investigation published last year found that radicalization among both veterans and active duty service members was on the rise and that hundreds of people with military backgrounds had been arrested for extremist crimes since 2017. The AP found that extremist plots they were involved in during that period had killed or injured nearly 100 people.

The AP also found multiple issues with the Pentagon’s efforts to address extremism in the ranks, including that there is still no force-wide system to track it, and that a cornerstone report on the issue contained old data, misleading analyses and ignored evidence of the problem.

Since 2017, both veterans and active duty service members radicalized at a faster rate than people without military backgrounds, according to data from terrorism researchers at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, at the University of Maryland. Less than 1% of the adult population is currently serving in the U.S. military, but active duty military members make up a disproportionate 3.2% of the extremist cases START researchers found between 2017 and 2022.

While the number of people with military backgrounds involved in violent extremist plots remains small, the participation of active military and veterans gave extremist plots more potential for mass injury or death, according to data collected and analyzed by the AP and START.

More than 480 people with a military background were accused of ideologically driven extremist crimes from 2017 through 2023, including the more than 230 arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — 18% of those arrested for the attack as of late last year, according to START. The data tracked individuals with military backgrounds, most of whom were veterans, involved in plans to kill, injure or inflict damage for political, social, economic or religious goals.

The AP’s analysis found that plots involving people with military backgrounds were more likely to involve mass casualties, weapons training or firearms than plots that didn’t include someone with a military background. This held true whether or not the plots were carried out.

The jihadist ideology of the Islamic State group apparently connected to the New Orleans attack would make it an outlier in the motivations of previous attacks involving people with military backgrounds. Only around 9% of such extremists with military backgrounds subscribed to jihadist ideologies, START researchers found. More than 80% identified with far-right, anti-government or white supremacist ideologies, with the rest split among far-left or other motivations.

Still, there have been a number of significant attacks motivated by the Islamic State and jihadist ideology in which the attackers had U.S. military backgrounds. In 2017, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran who’d served in Iraq killed five people in a mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida after radicalizing via jihadist message boards and vowing support for the Islamic State. In 2009, an Army psychiatrist and officer opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, and killed 13 people, wounding dozens more. The shooter had been in contact with a known al-Qaida operative prior to the shooting.

In the shadow of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — led in part by veterans — law enforcement officials said the threat from domestic violent extremists was one of the most persistent and pressing terror threats to the United States. The Pentagon has said it is “committed to understanding the root causes of extremism and ensuring such behavior is promptly and appropriately addressed and reported to the proper authorities.”

Kristofer Goldsmith, an Army veteran and CEO of Task Force Butler Institute, which trains veterans to research and counter extremism, said the problem of violent extremism in the military cuts across ideological lines. Still, he said, while the Biden administration tried to put in place efforts to address it, Republicans in Congress opposed them for political reasons.

“They threw, you know, every roadblock that they could in saying that all veterans are being called extremists by the Biden administration,” Goldsmith said. “And now we’re in a situation where we’re four years behind where we could have been.”

During their long military careers, both Jabbar and Livelsberger served time at the U.S. Army base formerly known as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, one of the nation’s largest military bases. One of the officials who spoke to the AP said there is no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty.

Goldsmith said he is concerned that the incoming Trump administration will focus on the New Orleans attack and ISIS and ignore that most deadly attacks in the United States in recent history have come from the far right, particularly if Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is confirmed.

Hegseth has justified the medieval Crusades that pitted Christians against Muslims, criticized the Pentagon’s efforts to address extremism in the ranks and ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration in the weeks after the Jan. 6 attack was himself flagged by a fellow National Guard member as a possible “insider threat.”
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