Missouri Man Charged with Posting Bomb-Making Tutorials Used in New Orleans Attack

A Missouri man accused of turning social media into a virtual bomb-making classroom faces federal charges after investigators said 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 on Tuesday. Prosecutors accused him of posting detailed online videos that showed followers how to manufacture explosives, detonators and improvised explosive devices using volatile chemical compounds.

A newly unsealed criminal complaint said Derrick spent months uploading graphic, step-by-step demonstrations on how to create explosive materials including TNT, PETN, RDX and other highly dangerous compounds commonly associated with military-grade explosives and terror attacks.

Investigators alleged Derrick began posting the content on multiple social media platforms as early as September 2023, creating an online how-to guide for homemade bombs.

The complaint detailed how Derrick demonstrated manufacturing 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 said the videos reached Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the ISIS-inspired terrorist responsible for the deadly Bourbon Street attack in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025.

Investigators said Jabbar downloaded Derrick's publicly available bomb-making videos and used the tutorials to construct improvised explosive devices consistent with the methods shown online.

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. He then opened fire on police officers, who shot and killed him at the scene.

Authorities later recovered improvised explosive devices near Bourbon Street that failed to detonate and were rendered safe by bomb squads. Prosecutors said this may have prevented an even deadlier mass-casualty attack.

The FBI said Jabbar became increasingly radicalized online in 2024. He researched ISIS propaganda, previous vehicle attacks and crowded New Orleans events in the months leading up to the massacre.

Investigators said Jabbar traveled from Houston to New Orleans weeks before the attack. There, he scouted the French Quarter, researched balcony access points and used Meta smart glasses to secretly record video while biking through Bourbon Street.

Hours before the Bourbon Street massacre, Jabbar researched the deadly Christmas market attack in Germany.

Prosecutors believe Derrick's alleged online explosives content reached far beyond New Orleans.

Federal investigators linked Derrick's bomb-making tutorials to a separate explosion at a home in Odessa, Missouri, earlier this month. On May 4, investigators responding to the blast discovered suspected explosive components inside the residence. The homeowner 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.

Derrick is 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, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison on the charge of distributing information related to manufacturing explosives, plus two additional charges carrying maximum penalties of 10 years each. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole.

The FBI is leading the investigation alongside federal prosecutors and the Justice Department's National Security Division.

Derrick has not yet entered a plea.