Hijack in-site links for Backbone.js

hijack-links.js

// Use the router(s) for any internal (relative) links, unless it has a 
// `data-bypass` attribute or is `target=_blank`
$(document).on('click', 'a:not([data-bypass],[target])', function(evt) {
    var href = $(this).attr('href'),
        protocol = this.protocol + '//';

    // For <a href="#"> links, we always want to preventDefault to avoid having to do
    // this within each individual Backbone View event function.
    // (However don't preventDefault on #something URLs in case we need to jump down a page.)
    if (href === '#') {
        evt.preventDefault();
    }

    // Don't break cmd-click (windows: ctrl+click) opening in new tab
    if (evt.metaKey || evt.ctrlKey) {
        return;
    }

    // Ensure the protocol is not part of URL, meaning it's relative.
    // We also don't want to do anything with links that start with "#" since we use push state
    if (href && href.slice(0, protocol.length) !== protocol && 
        href.indexOf('#') !== 0 && 
        href.indexOf('javascript:') !== 0 &&
        href.indexOf('mailto:') !== 0 &&
        href.indexOf('tel:') !== 0
       ) {
        // Stop the default event to ensure the link will not cause a page
        // refresh.
        evt.preventDefault();

        // `Backbone.history.navigate` is sufficient for all Routers and will
        // trigger the correct events. The Router's internal `navigate` method
        // calls this anyways.
        Backbone.history.navigate(href, true);
    }
});

I tried putting this in app.js but had no luck with target="_blank" links. they won't open in new tab