A lawyer for an Afghan-born US citizen charged with bombings in NY and New Jersey over the weekend asked a federal judge to schedule his first court appearance for Wednesday, possibly in his hospital bed.
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Rahami was captured after the owner of a bar in Linden, New Jersey, found him sleeping in the doorway of his bar Monday morning.
Local congressman Albio Sires said Rahami sought his help to obtain a visa for his heavily pregnant wife to travel to the United States in 2014.
Two US officials said Rahami had travelled to Afghanistan and to Quetta, Pakistan. One didn’t go off. Investigators say he left another set of explosives in a trash bin by a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
NYC and New Jersey bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami carried a notebook full of “ramblings about terrorists”, according to a CNN report citing a police source.
Federal prosecutors also said they found a video on a relative’s cell phone showing Rahami detonating an explosive in the backyard of a home not far from his Elizabeth residence.
Other passages lauded Osama bin Laden, Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hassan, and former al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki. In a handwritten journal, he warned that bombs would resound in the streets and prayed he’d be martyred rather than caught, authorities say.
Later, he threatened the United States with “the sounds of bombs in the streets”, “gun shots to police” and death to “oppression”.
In the notebook, Rahami wrote that the United States government carries out “slaught” [sic] aimed at jihadists, despite Osama having proposed what he puts as “a truce”, as quoted by Breitbart.
Rahami was arrested Monday in Linden, New Jersey, after a shootout with police that left him with multiple gunshot wounds.
The criminal complaint was unsealed Tuesday at a federal court in Manhattan.
More information is coming out about the American man charged in connection with a series of bombings in NY and New Jersey that injured dozens of people.
When asked when she last saw Rahami, Mena wrote in her request: “Television 9/19/2016”. At the time, he was employed by Summit Security, a private contractor. While he was in Pakistan in 2011, Rahami married a Pakistani woman.
The terror suspect told police he planted the deadly pipe bombs because he was following orders from “terrorist leaders.to attack nonbelievers where they live”. The place is called Perth Amboy Business, and the complaint says that he stopped working there around September 12.
“Yes, I called the Federal Bureau of Investigation”, he told the media as he drove off, the New York Post reported.
Rep. Tom MacArthur said that he was briefed by the FBI’s head of national security, Michael Steinbach, on Tuesday.
However, there are contradictory accounts of how Rahami came to the attention of law enforcement.
The issue arose after the Orlando massacre in June, for instance, when FBI Director James Comey said agents a few years earlier had looked into the gunman, Omar Mateen, but did not find enough information to pursue charges or keep him under investigation.
The injured suspect was wheeled away on a stretcher under heavy security, ending a 50-hour manhunt that followed two explosions in which, nearly miraculously, no one was killed.
Nobody was injured in Seaside Park because the the race was late in starting and two attached bombs did not go off.
The page includes the phrase “Join us in our New front”.
A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago.
The bombing suspect is alleged to have made visits to Pakistan and his native Afghanistan roughly during the same period of time.
Tucker reported from Washington.
A woman who had a child with the man suspected of setting off bombs in NY and New Jersey has asked a court to give her full custody of their son.
Rahami faces numerous criminal charges, including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, stemming from the explosions on Saturday and Sunday and his capture Monday. Authorities have said a bulletproof vest saved Padilla from a more serious injury. Officer Hammer was released Tuesday.
Rahami and two police officers were wounded in the exchange of gunfire before his arrest.
The federal charges come after the father of Rahami said he had reported concerns about his son being involved with militants to the FBI two years ago.
The father called federal authorities after Rahami was charged in 2014 with stabbing his brother.
The official who spoke to AP insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
The event was due to begin around 35 minutes before the attack but was delayed and then cancelled after the blasts, where only one of three connected pipe bombs exploded after being detonated using a mobile phone. But an art gallery, a design studio and a fitness center still have shattered or missing windows.
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“He could be armed and risky”, de Blasio said, warning that residents should be vigilant and report sightings to authorities.
