“The FBI conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks, and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism”, the FBI said. “There are no criminal charges”, Waters said. “They are not in jeopardy of being arrested”.
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The agency said the men were seen on Saturday night removing the bomb from a piece of luggage, then leaving the device behind while taking the suitcase. Defense attorneys for the state of NY have requested his first hearing be today and that Rahami could participate via video conference from his hospital bed.
Doctors have not cleared him for questioning, but that may happen in the next day or so.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, an Afghan-born American, was charged on Tuesday and will be transported to Manhattan to face the charges, said federal prosecutors in NY. He has been charged in two federal courts, Manhattan and Newark, on nine counts.
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.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Rahami will be moved to NY to face federal charges in the “near future”.
“I put him in jail two years ago”, the elder Rahami said.
Rahami has a child with a woman he dated while attending high school in Edison, New Jersey, but the two have since had a tumultuous relationship.
Licata, the JTTF agent, wrote that Rahami’s fingerprints were found on one pressure cooker found on 27th Street in Manhattan that did not go off, that his vehicle entered and exited Manhattan on the night the bombs went off, and that video surveillance showed him walking by a site on 23rd Street before an explosive went off there, injuring 31 people.
A social media account associated with the phone contained videos of violent extremist content.
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”.
“We’re very much interested in speaking to them”.
The explosive device was found on West 27th street and did not detonate. The blast propelled the Dumpster 100 feet and shattered windows 400 feet above the detonation. “I beg”, he allegedly wrote, according to the complaint.
The Associated Press contributed to this article. Photo: ABC NewsRahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-born, was shot in the leg after a shootout with police.
Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says it checked Rahami’s background two years ago after his father said he was concerned that his son might be a terrorist. That interview stemmed from a tip alleging that Rahami’s father was calling his son a terrorist, according to two United States officials.
The law enforcement officials want to ascertain Rahami’s motive.
Still, NYPD commissioner James O’Neill said today that authorities are still trying to determine if Rahami acted alone or he had accomplices.
Investigators are looking into whether Mr Rahami was radicalised during previous trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Once it was renewed, she discovered she was pregnant.
One portion expressed concern at the prospect of being caught before being able to carry out a suicide attack and the desire to be a martyr, the complaint said.
Rahami’s wife left the USA for Pakistan in recent days and was intercepted by officials on Monday in the United Arab Emirates, where investigators were attempting to determine whether she had been aware of her husband’s plans.
Surveillance footage shows the same man, identified as Rahami, dropping bags off on 23rd and 27th streets Saturday night. Our New York correspondent Lorna Shaddick has the latest.
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When officers responded, Rahami pulled out a handgun and opened fire, authorities said. He was injured in the shootout. He was taken to a hospital for surgery. He was being held on $5.2 million bail and remained at a hospital.
