On Wednesday morning, hours after a man drove a pickup truck into New Year’s Eve revelers in New Orleans, President-elect Donald Trump suggested on social media that his condemnations of immigrants in the country without legal permission had been validated.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” Trump said on his website, Truth Social. “The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before,” he added falsely. “Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”

Trump, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20, added in his post, “The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”

Some early reports about the attack said the truck was driven across the border from Mexico into the United States. Officials have since identified the suspect as a U.S.-born citizen and Army veteran who lived in Texas, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar.

He drove what appeared to be a rented truck that carried an Islamic State group flag, officials said. He died after exchanging gunfire with authorities.

Trump made concerns about immigrants crossing the border illegally central to his 2024 campaign, and has promised the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history once he takes office.

A Trump transition spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment after the suspect’s history was made public.

Federal officials said they were investigating whether anyone else was connected to the attack and were running down leads about the suspect’s associates.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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