Allstate CEO Tom Wilson sparked a firestorm of backlash on social media Thursday with a video statement about Wednesday’s terrorist attack in New Orleans that killed more than a dozen people.
Wilson’s statement came ahead of the Sugar Bowl, of which Allstate is the official corporate sponsor, after the game was postponed to Thursday due to the attack. In the video, Wilson suggested that Americans have an “addiction to division” and must “accept people’s imperfections and differences.”
“Our prayers went to the victims and their families. We also need to be stronger together by overcoming the addiction to division and negativity. Join Allstate working in local communities across the United States to amplify the positive, increase confidence, and embrace imperfections and people’s differences. Together we win,” Wilson says in the video.
Wilson’s words sparked outrage among social media users. The suspect has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42. The FBI is working to determine Jabbar’s “potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” after an ISIS flag was found attached to the truck.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
Political activist Charlie Kirk spoke out against Wilson for his comments amid Jabbar’s alleged ties to ISIS.
Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of the conservative magazine The Federalist, suggested it’s time to cancel Allstate’s insurance plans.
Sports content creator Jon Root spoke out against Wilson and mocked his comments.
SUPERDOME WELCOMES SUGAR BOWL FANS AFTER NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK
Injury attorney Adam Loewy not only condemned Wilson’s statement, but criticized Allstate as a company in response to the controversy.
Other smaller social media users have expressed their own complaints and intentions to end their insurance plans in response to Wilson.
“What was Allstate? thinking with that statement[?] I just canceled my policy and signed up with State Farm,” one user wrote.
“That limp Allstate commercial about the terrorist attack is just what I needed to know that I won’t give them my business,” wrote another.
And one user even called the commercial “the worst and most ill-conceived of the college football season.”
Jabbar’s younger brother. told the New York Times that he and his Army veteran brother were raised as Christians in Beaumont, Texas, before the now-deceased attacker converted to Islam as an adult.
“What he did does not represent Islam,” the younger brother said. “It’s more about some kind of radicalization, not religion.”
Retired FBI agents Scott Duffey and Chris Swecker told Pak Gazette Digital that Wednesday’s attack could embolden ISIS, other terrorist groups or individuals who have become radicalized.
“This is a time when ISIS is under extreme stress and its existence is being threatened in Syria and elsewhere. It would make sense for them to double down on their message of radicalizing Americans to get them into action and activate whatever cells they have in place.” Swecker said.
Days before the attack, a pro-ISIS outlet called on Muslims living in the United States, Europe and Russia to carry out attacks on New Year’s Eve.
“O monotheists in Europe, America, Russia and other crusader lands, we know that you are eager to join your brothers in the land of Jihad, but the paths have been cut off for you,” a translated version of the post read. on Sunday. “The crusaders are among you. Their security has been extended and your brothers are being murdered.
“The time has come to draw the swords from their sheaths and hamstring the horses in the places that Allah loves and is pleased with,” the post continues. “You are preparing for the feast of your polytheism, so turn your feast into mourning and your joy into calamity.”
The outlet asked Muslims, or “crusaders,” if they felt safe in their homes while their brothers and sisters were in detention centers and camps before asking them to “repeat the attack on them and repeat the days of those who came before them.” at the moment”. path.”
The attack in New Orleans comes nearly two weeks after an alleged terrorist attack at a Christmas market in Germany.
