Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna’s Instagram was compromised as the hackers posted multiple artworks and stories depicting anti-American messaging.

By 1 a.m. EST on Monday, the stories and posts were removed, according to Task & Purpose, which first reported on the hack.

A Space Force spokesperson confirmed to Military Times on Tuesday that Bentivegna’s account was compromised but denied to comment about how long the hackers had access to the account or who was responsible. All unauthorized content was removed with assistance from Meta, the owner of Instagram, the spokesperson said.

“This incident serves as a good reminder that online threats are constantly evolving, and users must remain alert to suspicious activity while exercising strong cybersecurity practices,” the spokesperson concluded.

Before they were taken down, the images and stories posted to Bentivegna’s account circulated unofficial U.S. military social media accounts, including the Reddit page r/AirForce and the Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco.

One post depicted a figure known as Imam Ali holding the Sword of Zulfiqar, which was given to Ali by the Prophet Muhammad and is a symbol of justice and knowledge in Islamic tradition. The hackers also posted a depiction of Husayn ibn Ali, a political and religious figure in Islam.

A story posted by the hackers included audio of Trịnh Thị Ngọ, also known as “Hanoi Hannah,” a Vietnamese radio personality known for releasing English-language broadcasts during the Vietnam War. Ngọ delivered three broadcasts a day during the war, written by the North Vietnamese Defense Ministry’s propaganda department and aimed at American troops to demoralize and frighten them.

The audio was posted with a caption in Arabic that roughly translates to “This is your fate if you get close to the Middle East.”

Another story, which appeared to be directly after the “Hanoi Hannah” audio, was an edit of Ali Larijani, a prominent Iranian national security official, with a caption in Arabic that roughly translates to “I set foot in America.” Larijani died in mid-March 2026 in an Israeli military airstrike during the Iran war.

As well as the other two stories, the hackers posted a photo of Game of Thrones character Jon Snow during an episode titled Battle of the Bastards, with a graphic that included Arabic text reading “Abu Al-Ahmar Army,” or “Army of the Red One,” and text underneath that roughly translates to “ban the accounts of the haters.”

Bentivegna did not address the hack on Instagram but did post on his Facebook on Sunday around 8:30 p.m. EST, saying that “appropriate teams” were working to regain access to the account and resolve the issue.

“If you receive any direct messages, requests, links or unusual posts from that account, please do not engage with them,” Bentivegna wrote in the Facebook post.

“Experiences like this are a good reminder that cybersecurity isn’t just an issue for organizations, it’s something we all deal with in our daily lives,” Bentivegna added.

The hackers also targeted former President Barack Obama’s White House Instagram account, posting the same image of Imam Ali holding the Zulfiqar sword, as well as stories, with one being a photo of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military officer killed in January 2020 in a U.S. drone strike, with a caption in Arabic that roughly translates to “The White House is under Shiites’ control.”

The hacks follow the recent reports received by military officials of service members’ commercial location data being used by adversaries to target personnel deployed to war zones. U.S. lawmakers said in a letter to the Pentagon that the location data can be used to identify where troops are congregated and their patterns, which then can be used to target the troops for various attacks.

Both abroad and domestically, U.S. service members have also been receiving threats through email, social media and text messages that appear to have originated from individuals connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Benjamin Hanil Song, 32, is the latest person charged in the Fourth of July assault in which attackers dressed in black military-style clothing opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of Dallas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

Song, from Dallas, was arrested after a weeklong search and has been charged with three counts of attempted murder of federal agents and three counts of discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, the office said in a statement. He is accused of purchasing four of the guns linked to the attack, it said.

U.S. District Court records do not list names of attorneys representing Song or scheduled court appearances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas did not immediately respond to an email asking whether Song has an attorney.

The officer wounded in the attack has since been released from the hospital.

Ten people, most of them from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, have previously been charged with attempted murder of a federal officer and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Another person has been charged with obstruction of justice for concealing evidence, while two others were charged with accessory after the fact for allegedly helping Song get away.

If convicted, most of the defendants could face up to life imprisonment, while those charged with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact would face lesser penalties if convicted, according to federal prosecutors.

The shooting took place as President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up deportations.

The attackers initially set off fireworks and spray-painted vehicles and a guard structure, including the words “Ice Pig,” according to a criminal complaint. This was “designed to lure correctional officers outside the facility,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Correctional officers called 911 and an Alvarado police officer responded and someone in the woods opened fire.

Another person across the street fired 20 to 30 rounds at correctional officers who were unarmed after they walked out of the facility, according to the office’s statement.

After the group fled, sheriff’s deputies stopped seven people about 300 yards from where the officer was shot, according to a criminal complaint.

“They were dressed in black, military-style clothing, some had on body armor, some were covered in mud, some were armed, and some had radios,” the complaint said.

A sheriff’s office detective also stopped a van leaving the area and found two AR-style rifles and a pistol, along with ballistic-style vests and a helmet, the complaint said.

The driver, the only person in the van, said he had been at the detention center. He said he had met some people online and drove some of them to the detention center from Dallas to “make some noise,” according to the complaint.

Song’s cellphone’s location data shows it was near the detention center from about 11:30 p.m. on July 4 and throughout the day on July 5, according to a criminal complaint.

“Though Song escaped by hiding overnight after the attack, we were confident he would not remain hidden for long,” Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy E. Larson said in a statement. “The fourteen individuals who planned and participated in these heinous acts will be prosecuted, and we expect justice will be swift.”

Edward Kelley was one of the first rioters to breach the Capitol. Nearly two years later, Kelley made plans with another man to attack the FBI office in Knoxville, Tennessee, using improvised explosive devices attached to vehicles and drones, according to prosecutors.

Last November, a jury convicted Kelley of conspiring to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and influencing federal officials by threat.

Kelley, 36, received a pardon from President Donald Trump for his Jan. 6 convictions, but a judge agreed with prosecutors that Trump’s action did not extend to Kelley’s Tennessee case. That makes Kelley, who is from Maryvale, Tennessee, one of only a few Capitol riot defendants remaining in prison after the Republican president’s sweeping act of clemency.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan handed down Kelley’s life sentence during a hearing in Knoxville, according to court records. The judge denied a request for Kelley to be released pending the outcome of an appeal.

Prosecutors had recommended a life sentence for Kelley, saying he was remorseless and incapable of rehabilitation.

“On the contrary, Kelley not only believes the actions for which he was convicted were justified but that his duty as a self-styled ‘patriot’ compelled him to target East Tennessee law enforcement for assassination,” they wrote.

Kelley served in the Marine Corps for eight years. He was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan before his 2015 discharge from the military.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Kelley was captured on video helping two other rioters throw a Capitol Police officer onto the ground and using a piece of wood to damage a window, according to the FBI. He was the fourth person to enter the Capitol through a broken window, the FBI said.

After a trial without a jury, a federal judge in Washington convicted Kelley last November of 11 counts stemming from the riot. Before Kelley could be sentenced, Trump pardoned him and hundreds of other convicted Capitol rioters.

Kelley argued that his pardon was broad enough to cover his conduct in the Tennessee case, but the judge disagreed. Varlan said Kelley’s crimes in the Tennessee case were separated from Kelley’s conduct on Jan. 6 “by years and miles.” Prosecutors reached the same conclusion.

In other Jan. 6 cases, however, Trump’s Justice Department has argued that the pardons apply to separate convictions. For instance, prosecutors concluded that a Kentucky man’s pardon for storming the Capitol also covered his conviction for illegally possessing guns when FBI agents searched his home for the Jan. 6 investigation.

Kelley has been jailed since December 2022. His lawyer, Mark Brown, said Kelley did not hurt anybody or directly threaten anybody with violence. Brown urged the judge to reject prosecutors’ request to apply a “terrorism enhancement” in calculating his client’s sentence.

“Kelley does not deserve the same sentence as an actual ‘terrorist’ who injured or killed hundreds or thousands of America citizens,” Brown wrote.

Kelley’s co-defendant, Austin Carter, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in January 2024. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 4.

Kelley created a list of 36 law enforcement officers to target for assassination and shared it with Carter, calling it their first “mission,” according to prosecutors. All the officers were involved in Kelley’s May 2022 arrest on Capitol riot charges and the FBI’s search of his home.

“The proof at trial established that Kelley targeted law enforcement because of their anticipated role in the civil war that Kelley hoped to initiate and because of his animus towards those who participated in his May 2022 arrest and search of his home,” prosecutors wrote.

Kelley, Carter and a third man used an encrypted messaging platform to discuss plans, prosecutors said. Carter testified that he met with Kelley to conduct military-style training in November 2022.

“Carter’s testimony was unequivocal — he had no doubts that, had he and Kelley not been arrested, the law enforcement personnel included on Kelley’s list would have been murdered,” prosecutors wrote.

Kelley’s attorney said the case involved “little to no planning.”

“Discussions did not lead to action,” Brown wrote. ”And while people may not like what Mr. Kelley had to say, he stands behind his position that he has a First Amendment right to free speech.”

Taylor Taranto was arrested in Obama’s neighborhood on the same day in June 2023 that Trump posted on social media what he claimed was the former president’s address. Investigators said they found two guns, roughly 500 rounds of ammunition and a machete in Taranto’s van.

Taranto was livestreaming video on YouTube in which he said he was looking for “entrance points” to underground tunnels and wanted to get a “good angle on a shot,” according to prosecutors. He reposted Trump’s message about Obama’s home address and wrote, “We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta’s and Obama’s.” He was referring to John Podesta, who chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Democratic presidential campaign.

Taranto wasn’t the only Jan. 6 defendant whose criminal case didn’t end when Trump provided clemency to all of the more than 1,500 people charged in the riot. In some cases, Trump’s Justice Department concluded that the pardons covered separate offenses, such as charges for guns seized from homes during Capitol riot investigations.

In Taranto’s case, however, prosecutors said the firearms offenses he faces are “wholly unrelated to the pardon.” Taranto, a Navy veteran from Pasco, Washington, is charged with carrying firearms without a license, with illegally possessing large-capacity magazines and ammunition and with making a hoax bomb threat.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated by Trump, is hearing testimony and will decide the case without a jury. The government’s first trial witness was an FBI agent who led the frantic search for Taranto after Capitol police investigators watched his livestreamed video and heard what they believed to be a bomb threat.

A prosecutor, Samuel White, told the judge that the video captured Taranto outlining his “ominous, threatening plan.” Taranto said on the video that he was in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on a “one-way” to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Taranto’s lawyers said he didn’t have any bomb-making material and wasn’t near the Gaithersburg institute. Defense attorney Pleasant Brodnax said the video shows Taranto was merely joking in an “avant-garde” manner.

“He believes he is a journalist and, to some extent, a comedian,” Broadnax said.

Taranto has been jailed since his arrest. The judge concluded that he poses a danger to the public.

Taranto was charged with four misdemeanors related to the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors said he joined the crush of rioters who breached the building. He was captured on video at the entrance of the Speaker’s Lobby around the time that a rioter, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by an officer while she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door.

Taranto’s wife told investigators that he came to Washington because then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was offering to release unseen video of the Jan. 6 attack. Taranto made “ominous comments” about McCarthy on video, saying, “Coming at you McCarthy. Can’t stop what’s coming. Nothing can stop what’s coming,” according to prosecutors.

Taranto was attacked and injured by other inmates in the wing of the Washington jail where other Jan. 6 defendants were detained while awaiting trial, according to his lawyers. They said he was shunned for negative comments that he made about Babbitt.

Thomas Caldwell, a retired Navy intelligence officer, was tried alongside Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes but acquitted of seditious conspiracy — the most serious charge brought in the Jan. 6 attack.

Caldwell’s pardon is dated March 20. Defense attorney David Fischer said he informed Caldwell of the pardon on Monday after learning about it from news reports.

“And he’s elated,” Fischer added.

A jury convicted Caldwell of obstructing Congress and of obstructing justice for tampering with documents after the riot. One of those convictions was dismissed in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

On Jan. 10, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Caldwell to time served with no supervised release. Prosecutors had recommended four years in prison for Caldwell.

Ten days later, on his first day back in the White House, Trump issued a sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged in the Capitol riot. Trump commuted the sentences of several defendants who were leaders and members of the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys extremist groups.

More than a dozen defendants were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said were violent plots to keep Trump in power.

Prosecutors had alleged at trial that Caldwell helped coordinate “quick reaction force” teams prosecutors said the Oath Keepers stationed outside the capital city to get weapons into the hands of extremists if they were needed. The weapons were never deployed, and lawyers for the Oath Keepers said they were only there for defensive purposes in case of attacks from left-wing activists.

But Caldwell, who didn’t enter the Capitol, took the witness stand and down played messages he sent leading up to Jan. 6, including one floating the idea about getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River. Caldwell said he was never serious about it, calling it “creative writing.”

Fischer said his client was “first among equals for a pardon.”

“When a progressive D.C. jury acquits him of most of the charges and an Obama-appointed judge sentences him to basically time served and a fine, I think it’s safe to say the government got it wrong,” the attorney said.

Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

Jeremy Brown, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army, was sentenced in April 2023 to seven years and three months in prison after a federal jury in Florida convicted him of weapons charges. Federal agents investigating Brown’s alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol were searching Brown’s home in Florida when they found stolen Army grenades, an unregistered rifle and a stolen classified document.

Brown’s charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack in the nation’s capital were still pending last month when President Donald Trump pardoned him and hundreds of other Capitol riot defendants on his first day back in the White House.

But it wasn’t until Tuesday that the Justice Department said it believes Trump’s pardon of Brown also covers his conviction in Florida. A court filing by the U.S. Attorney’s office says it reached that conclusion after consulting Justice Department “leadership.”

Justice Department and White House officials didn’t immediately respond to questions on Tuesday.

The department reached the same conclusion in other cases in which a Capitol riot defendant was convicted of separate charges.

Prosecutors initially concluded that the pardon didn’t cover the discovery of firearms found at the Kentucky home of convicted Capitol rioter Daniel Edwin Wilson. But a court filing Tuesday in Washington, D.C., says they later received “further clarity” that the pardon covers Wilson’s separate conviction on firearms charges.

Investigators seized six guns and roughly 4,800 rounds of ammunition from Wilson’s home. He had prior felony convictions that made it illegal for him to possess firearms.

The Justice Department has said the pardons don’t apply for at least two Jan. 6 defendants charged with other crimes.

Prosecutors have said they will continue prosecuting a man who had guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested in June 2023 near former President Barack Obama’s Washington home. Prosecutors moved to dismiss Taylor Taranto’s charges stemming from his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, in light of the pardon. But prosecutors say the firearms offenses he faces are “wholly unrelated to the pardon.”

The Justice Department has also said the pardon doesn’t apply in the case of a man who was awaiting trial on Jan. 6 charges when prosecutors say he developed a plan to kill law enforcement, including FBI agents. Edward Kelley was convicted in November of charges including conspiracy to murder federal employees and is sentenced to be scheduled in May.

Trump signed a proclamation to grant “full, complete and unconditional” pardons to all but 14 people who were convicted of offenses related to the attack, and he called on new Acting Attorney General James McHenry III to dismiss any remaining Jan. 6 cases going through the courts system.

In addition, Trump commuted the sentences of the 14 people who didn’t receive pardons and asked for their immediate release from prison. Those 14 — nine of whom have military histories — were members of the right-wing, anti-government Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups.

“This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation,” the proclamation reads.

Of the approximately 1,500 people who have faced charges for their involvement in the Capitol breach, about 230 have military backgrounds, according to the latest data from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Many of those veterans and service members were not affiliated with any specific group, but 21 were part of the Oath Keepers and 27 were Proud Boys members.

Proud Boys members celebrated the pardons on Telegram, with one chapter writing, “Our brothers are coming home!” According to the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, which monitors extremist activity online, the Proud Boys are now “positioning themselves as enforcers of Trump’s policy agenda, including aiding in deportations and escalating anti-LGBTQ+ threats.”

Extremism experts and police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 spoke out against the pardons and commutations. Michael Fanone, an officer who was beaten by rioters that day and has served as an unofficial spokesperson for the 140 officers who were assaulted during the riot, said Monday on CNN he was now worried for his safety and the safety of his family.

“I have been betrayed by my country, and I have been betrayed by those who supported Donald Trump, whether you voted for him because he promised these pardons or for some other reason,” Fanone said. “Tonight, six individuals who assaulted me as I did my job on Jan. 6 … will now walk free.”

While Trump made repeated promises on the campaign trail to pardon the rioters, it wasn’t certain until Monday whether he would grant clemency to the most violent offenders. Trump said during a Time Magazine interview in December that he would issue pardons within “the first hour” after he took office.

However, Trump stipulated he would look at each case to determine if the individuals were “nonviolent,” implying that people convicted or charged with violent crimes might not receive a pardon.

“I’m going to look if there’s some that really were out of control,” he said in the interview.

As of August, 547 defendants had been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers or employees, including 163 individuals who were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, according to the Justice Department.

Eleven people faced charges associated with assaulting a member of the media or destroying their equipment, and 87 defendants were charged with destruction of government property.

Among the hundreds of people who received full pardons was Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison on charges of seditious conspiracy for his role in orchestrating the attack.

Four Proud Boys members tried alongside Tarrio were included on the list of 14 people who had their sentences commuted. They are: Army veteran Joseph Biggs, Marine veterans Dominic Pezzola and Zachary Rehl and Ethan Nordean, who joined the Navy but didn’t make it past basic training. Biggs, Rehl and Nordean were convicted of seditious conspiracy in 2023, and Pezzola was found guilty of other felonies.

Trump also commuted the sentence of Stewart Rhodes, an Army veteran and the leader of the Oath Keepers who was sentenced to 18 years in prison. When he founded the Oath Keepers in 2009, Rhodes recruited other veterans, service members, firefighters and police to join his cause.

Prosecutors presented evidence of Rhodes sending encrypted messages to his membership following the 2020 presidential election, telling them to refuse to accept the results. During a call with members, Rhodes outlined a plan to stop the transfer of presidential power, which included preparations for the use of force, according to an indictment.

Other Oath Keepers who received commuted sentences were Army veterans Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Edward Vallejo, as well as Navy veteran Thomas Caldwell. Vallejo was found guilty of seditious conspiracy, while Harrelson, Watkins and Caldwell were convicted of other felony charges.

Thomas Caldwell was acquitted by a jury in Washington’s federal court of seditious conspiracy and two other conspiracy offenses in one of the most serious cases brought by the Justice Department in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. And one of two counts he was found guilty on at trial was dismissed in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

Prosecutors had alleged at trial that Caldwell helped coordinate “quick reaction force” teams prosecutors said the Oath Keepers stationed outside the capital city to get weapons into the hands of extremists if they were needed. The weapons were never deployed, and lawyers for the Oath Keepers said they were only there for defensive purposes in case of attacks from left-wing activists.

But Caldwell, who didn’t enter the Capitol, took the witness stand and played down messages he sent leading up to Jan. 6, including one floating the idea about getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River. Caldwell said he was never serious about it, calling it “creative writing.”

His lawyer noted at trial that Caldwell was a disabled veteran who sometimes uses a cane to walk, telling jurors he “couldn’t storm his way out of a paper bag.” Attorney David Fischer argued that there was no plot to attack the Capitol, saying his client wasn’t even planning to go to the building until Trump’s speech on the Ellipse urging his supporters to “fight like hell.”

Prosecutors had sought four years in prison for Caldwell on his remaining obstruction of justice offense conviction for deleting messages after the riot. Prosecutors described him in court papers as “an avid and willing participant in an unprecedented crime.”

Caldwell’s attorney told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in court documents that his client’s acquittal on the conspiracy charges and “military service that resulted in a lifetime of debilitating injuries” call for a sentence of time served. He spent more than 50 days behind bars after his 2021 arrest.

“Mr. Caldwell was cleared of the four most serious counts and sentenced to no additional jail time by a highly respected federal judge,” Fischer said in an email. “Obviously, he should be considered for a pardon by President Trump.”

Trump has suggested he will pardon at least a large portion of the than 1,500 people who have been charged with federal crimes in the largest investigation in Justice Department history.

Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder, is among 14 defendants who were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said were violent plots to keep Trump in power. Rhodes is serving an 18-year prison sentence.

The man, identified by officials as Master Sgt. Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, died at the scene. Seven other people sustained minor injuries in the blast, said Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Livelsberger allegedly drove the 2024 Cybertruck to the front of the hotel after 8 a.m. on Wednesday, pulling into a space directly in front of the entrance doors. Smoke started emanating from the truck just before the large blast blew it apart, McMahill said. Firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were found inside the vehicle.

“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself,” Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said Wednesday on X.

Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge for the FBI’s Las Vegas office, said the agency was working to determine whether the blast was an act of terrorism.

Livelsberger was a special forces operations sergeant assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group in Stuttgart, Germany, an Army spokesperson said. U.S. Special Operations Command confirmed Thursday he was on approved leave at the time of the Las Vegas explosion.

He served a total of 19 years. Livelsberger enlisted in the Army as a special forces candidate in January 2006, an Army spokesperson said. He remained on active duty until March 2011, at which point he joined the Army National Guard. He switched to the Army Reserve in July 2012 and then reentered active duty in December 2012.

Livelsberger deployed twice to Afghanistan and served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a Combat Infantry Badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor.

Authorities told local news outlets Thursday that Livelsberger was a resident of Colorado Springs. The FBI’s Denver office said it was conducting activity at a residential address in the city Thursday, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Colorado Springs Police Department. The FBI said it would be on-site for several hours and that the activity was related to the explosion in Las Vegas.

President Joe Biden said in an address Wednesday night that authorities were investigating any potential connection between the blast and a deadly rampage in New Orleans — another possible act of terrorism — that occurred the same day. A U.S. Army veteran rammed a truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning, killing 15 people.

“Law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including whether there’s a possible connection to the attack in New Orleans,” Biden said. “So far, there’s nothing to report on that score.”

Livelsberger spent time at Fort Liberty, formerly named Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to U.S. Special Operations Command. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old Army veteran suspected in the New Orleans attack, also spent time at that base. However, one official said so far there is no overlap in their assignments there.

Both Livelsberger and Jabbar rented the vehicles used in the attacks through the app Turo, the company confirmed.

“Our trust and safety team is actively partnering with law enforcement authorities to share any information that could be helpful in their investigations,” Turo wrote in a statement. “We do not believe that either renter had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related.”

Authorities don’t think the two men knew each other, two law enforcement officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The suspect in the deadly rampage, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, was shot dead at the scene during an exchange of gunfire with police. Weapons and a potential improvised explosive device, or IED, were found in Jabbar’s truck, the FBI said. Other potential IEDs were found around the city’s French Quarter.

President Joe Biden confirmed Wednesday night that Jabbar had served in the U.S. military. According an Army spokesperson, Jabbar was on active duty from March 2007 until January 2015 as a human resource specialist and information technology specialist. He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010.

After leaving active duty, Jabbar joined the Army Reserve, where he worked as an IT specialist until July 2020, the spokesperson said. He held the rank of staff sergeant at the end of his military career. During his time in the military, Jabbar was awarded three Army Commendation Medals and four Army Achievement Medals.

The FBI is investigating the murders as an act of terrorism and working to learn of Jabbar’s affiliations with terrorist organizations, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

Hours before the attack, Jabbar posted videos on social media expressing a desire to kill, Biden said during a public address about the attack. The videos indicated “he was inspired by ISIS,” Biden said.

“The situation is very fluid, and the investigation is at a preliminary stage,” Biden said. “The law enforcement and intelligence community is continuing to look for any connections, affiliations or co-conspirators.”

The rampage adds to a list of extremist attacks carried out by people with military backgrounds since 1990. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, keeps a database of such attacks. Of the veterans and service members who were driven by extremist ideologies to commit crimes, 15% were connected to foreign Islamist extremist organizations, the data says.

Authorities confirmed Jabbar was born in the United States, after President-elect Donald Trump implied in a social media post Wednesday that the perpetrator was an immigrant.

Rich Groen, who says he was Jabbar’s commander in Afghanistan, posted a statement on X on Wednesday, describing Jabbar as a “great soldier” who worked “quietly and professionally” as a mail clerk.

“To think that the same individual who once embodied quiet professionalism could harbor so much hate, leading to such unspeakable atrocities, is incomprehensible and heartbreaking,” Groen wrote. “This transformation is a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked anger, isolation, and hate.”