Several federal agencies with responsibility for counterterrorism opened files two years ago on Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man facing charges for at least two bombings Saturday in New Jersey and NY, according to media reports. I said, ‘OK.’ Now they say he is a terrorist.
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Mohammad Rahami made the claim during a domestic quarrel in which Ahmad Rahami was allegedly brandishing a knife in a confrontation with a brother, according to an official who was not authorized to comment publicly. During the inquiry, the father backed away from talk of terrorism and told investigators that he simply meant his son was hanging out with the wrong crowd, including gang members, and acting like a thug, the officials said.
The 28-year-old naturalized USA citizen also faces charges in state court in New Jersey stemming from a shootout with police in Linden.
“If they spent more than a few days, it raises suspicions that while they were there, they will have been recruited by terrorist groups”, national security consultant Richard Clarke said on ABC News’ “World News Tonight” Monday, referring to Rahami’s travel to the area.
Rahami’s father was angry about his dating her because she was Dominican and from a different race, said three people who knew him at the time.
The charges were laid out in a federal complaint that said a handwritten journal was found on the suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, that praised Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks and accused the US government of slaughtering Islamist fighters in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Palestine. The source was confirming statements made by Rahami’s father to reporters on Tuesday morning. Justice Department guidelines restrict the types of actions agents may take; they can not, for instance, record phone calls without obtaining a higher level of approval or developing more grounds for suspicion.
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged the 28-year-old Elizabeth resident, a USA citizen born if Afghanistan, with planting bombs in Manhattan, Seaside Park and Elizabeth over the weekend.
Another law enforcement official said the father “recanted the whole story” about his son associating with terrorists.
They want people to know that the extremism some individuals have learned is not coming from their institutions.
Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested for stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm in 2014, but a grand jury declined to indict him despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was likely “a danger to himself or others”.
A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago.
There is no indication so far that Rahami was on law enforcement’s radar before the weekend. No one was injured, and two other unexploded bombs were found nearby.
There were conflicting reports, all emanating from various police sources, about the sophistication of the bombs that wounded 29 people in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan and exploded without causing any injuries in Seaside, New Jersey, as well as the explosive devices that were found and disarmed in Chelsea and in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
His last known address was in Elizabeth, the same city where the backpack with explosives was found Sunday night. Other devices were also found and the authorities have sought to reassure the public.
A law enforcement official told the Associated Press that Rahami wasn’t on any terror or no-fly watch lists but had been interviewed by officials for immigration purposes. His face was clearly captured by surveillance cameras near the spot of the blast.
Ahmad Khan Rahami was taken into custody after a shootout with police.
Emirati officials in Dubai and the federal capital Abu Dhabi said they had no information on her.
AP spokesman Paul Colford said the news cooperative told law enforcement officials about Rahami’s work in Cranbury.
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Rahami and his family live above their restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, and the family has clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints.
