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A Missouri man accused of turning social media into a virtual bomb-making classroom is now facing federal charges after investigators say his online tutorials were used by the terrorist behind the deadly New Year’s Day rampage on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
Jordan Derrick, 40, of Sweet Springs, Missouri, was arrested by the FBI Tuesday after prosecutors accused him of posting detailed online videos showing followers exactly how to manufacture explosives, detonators and improvised explosive devices using volatile chemical compounds.
According to a newly unsealed criminal complaint, Derrick spent months uploading graphic, step-by-step demonstrations showing viewers how to create explosive materials including TNT, PETN, RDX and other highly dangerous compounds commonly associated with military-grade explosives and terror attacks.
Investigators allege Derrick began posting the content on multiple social media platforms as early as September 2023, effectively creating an online “how-to” guide for homemade bombs.
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The complaint alleges Derrick demonstrated how to manufacture detonators and volatile explosive compounds, including nickel aminoguanidine perchlorate, ethylene glycol dinitrate, HMTD, hexamine dinitrate and ammonium nitrate mixtures capable of causing catastrophic damage.
Federal authorities say the videos eventually reached Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the ISIS-inspired terrorist responsible for the deadly Bourbon Street attack in New Orleans Jan. 1, 2025.
According to investigators, Jabbar downloaded Derrick’s publicly available bomb-making videos and used the tutorials to construct improvised explosive devices consistent with the methods shown online.
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New Orleans police confront terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025. (New Orleans Police Department)
The FBI previously said Jabbar killed 14 people and injured dozens more after driving a rented Ford F-150 through packed New Year’s crowds in the French Quarter during the early morning hours of Jan. 1 before opening fire on police officers, who shot and killed him.
Authorities later recovered improvised explosive devices near Bourbon Street that failed to detonate and were ultimately rendered safe by bomb squads, a development prosecutors now say may have prevented an even deadlier mass casualty attack.
The FBI has said Jabbar became increasingly radicalized online in 2024 and researched ISIS propaganda, previous vehicle attacks and crowded New Orleans events in the months leading up to the massacre.
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Investigators also said Jabbar traveled from Houston to New Orleans weeks before the attack, where he scoped out the French Quarter, researched balcony access points and used Meta smart glasses to secretly record video while biking through Bourbon Street.
Hours before carrying out the Bourbon Street massacre, investigators say, Jabbar researched the deadly Christmas market attack in Germany.
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But prosecutors now believe Derrick’s alleged online explosives empire reached far beyond New Orleans.
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Federal investigators say they also linked Derrick’s bomb-making tutorials to a separate explosion at a home in Odessa, Missouri, earlier this month.
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According to the criminal complaint, investigators responding to the May 4 blast discovered suspected explosive components inside the residence. The homeowner allegedly told authorities he learned how to build explosive devices by watching online tutorial videos connected to Derrick’s social media accounts.
That explosion remains under investigation.
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Derrick was charged with manufacturing explosive materials without a license, unlawfully possessing an unregistered destructive device and distributing information related to the manufacture of explosives.
If convicted, Derrick could face up to 20 years in federal prison on the charge of distributing information related to manufacturing explosives, along with two additional charges carrying maximum penalties of 10 years each. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole.
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The FBI is leading the investigation alongside federal prosecutors and the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Derrick has not yet entered a plea.
