Four blocks away, on West 23rd Street in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, a device exploded Saturday night in a garbage bin wounding as many as 31 people, investigators said. They also claimed he vowed in a handwritten jihad journal that “the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets”. Gun shots to your police. “Death to your OPPRESSION”. “If the person had money, they would be able to talk to a lawyer”, Lefstein said.
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It has emerged that one British national was among those injured by the pressure-cooker bomb in the Chelsea neighbourhood on Saturday night. It says the writer lauded Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. -born cleric killed in a 2011 drone strike, and Nidal Hasan, the former U.S. Army major who went on a 2009 rampage at the Fort Hood military installation. Initially charged with attempted murder of police officers, he was held on $5.2 million bail.
He is now receiving treatment for his wounds at a hospital where he could formally face his charges if he cannot travel to the US District Court in Manhattan, his lawyer said overnight.
The court complaints describe Rahami buying bomb-making equipment so openly between June and August that he ordered citric acid, ball bearings and electronic igniters on eBay and had them delivered to a Perth Amboy, New Jersey, business where he worked until earlier this month.
Authorities have yet to determine where the suspect allegedly assembled the bombs, the federal law enforcement official said.
NY police said on Wednesday they had not yet been cleared to interview Rahami and were waiting for doctors to confirm that he is well enough to be questioned.
Prosecutors plan to bring Rahami to federal court in Manhattan “in the near future”, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. “His claim prompted a review by the Federal Bureau of Investigation”.
Rahami’s father in the past reportedly told police he thought his son might be involved in terrorism.
“Two years ago I go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation because my son was doing really bad, OK?” Rahami was not prosecuted in the stabbing; a grand jury declined to indict him.
The White House has said the bombing attacks over the weekend appear to be an act of terrorism.
“But they check [for] nearly two months”. At the time, he was employed by Summit Security, a private contractor.
A USA magistrate judge late Wednesday said he accepted that position.
Although Ahmad Rahami has been characterized by officials as the only suspect in the bombing campaign so far, court documents supporting the federal charges filed Tuesday suggested another person – likely a family member – may have had some information about the suspect’s planning.
“I give law enforcement a lot of credit for less than 24 hours, apprehending Mr. Rahami”, Pence said Tuesday on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor”.
William Sweeney, the FBI’s assistant director in NY, said on Monday that that at the time of the bombing, Rahami was apparently not on the FBI’s radar. A New Jersey US congressman previously said Rahami had emailed his office in 2014 for help in getting her a visa to enter the United States from Pakistan when she was pregnant. No one was injured.
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Late Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth train station.
