Ahmad Khan Rahami is facing charges in two states after investigators say he planted a series of bombs in NY and New Jersey, including one that injured 31 people when it blew up on a busy street. A grand jury declined to indict him, despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was probably “a danger to himself or others”.
Advertisement
Two officers were wounded in a shootout with Rahami, the Associated Press reported, but were not believed to have been seriously hurt, authorities said.
Initially, officials said the disturbances had no obvious connections, and they shied from calling either one terrorism.
Surveillance video from the bomb scenes and fingerprints on unexploded devices also point to Rahami, according to the documents. A pair of ethnic Chechen brothers killed three people and injured more than 260 at the 2013 Boston Marathon with homemade pressure-cooker bombs similar to those used in this weekend’s attacks.
Authorities also suspect Rahami was behind an explosion in a trash can at a charity running race Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, about 130 kilometers south of NY.
Meanwhile, the suspect’s family informed the authorities that Rahami visited Afghanistan several years ago but claimed that they did not know of any connections to terror organizations.
He is also believed to be connected to pipe bombs found Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey, sources told CNN.
President Barack Obama, in NY on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) to attend the United Nations General Assembly with other world leaders, called on Americans “not to succumb to fear”. He faces five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer in the shooting.
According to NJ.com, Mohammad Rahami told reporters that he called the Federal Bureau of Investigation twice.
Another law enforcement official said the father “recanted the whole story” about his son associating with terrorists.
Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested for stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm in 2014.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force opened an investigation into the report.
Rahami wasn’t on any terror or no-fly watch lists, a law enforcement official said, but he’d been interviewed by officials for immigration purposes.
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, which the Rahamis said in a lawsuit were motivated by dislike of Muslims.
According to the court complaint, Rahami’s journal included a passage that said: “You (USA Government) continue your (unintelligible) slaught (er)” against the mujahideen, or holy warriors, “be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Sham (Syria), Palestine”.
She has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Saturday’s bombings in NY and New Jersey.
But neighbors aware of tensions over the restaurant said Ahmad Rahami was easy to get along with, if somewhat reserved. At one point, Rahami is said to have contacted the United States embassy in Pakistan after having trouble getting her an American visa. No one was injured.
It has been reported that Rahami travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan multiple times in recent years, with police considering whether he had been radicalised overseas. Investigators have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices.
Advertisement
AP spokesman Paul Colford said the news cooperative told law enforcement officials about Rahami’s work at the Cranbury facility.
