(Moshe Weiss via AP).
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Ahmad Khan Rahami, a USA citizen born in Afghanistan, was charged by federal officials in two states Tuesday with planting bombs in NY, and at a military charity run and train station in New Jersey.
Rahami was captured after the owner of a bar in Linden, New Jersey, found him sleeping in the doorway of his bar Monday morning.
“You will continue to see throughout the week a strong visible NYPD (New York Police Department) presence especially from our critical response command and our strategic response group”.
Surveillance video shows a man believed to be Rahami with a duffel bag in the area where an unexploded pressure cooker was found in the New York City neighborhood of Chelsea.
The journal’s final page closes with: “Inshallah [God willing] the sounds of the bombs will be heard in the streets”.
More information about the life of the New Jersey terror suspect who is accused of setting off a bomb in Manhattan is emerging.
Rahami was captured Monday after being wounded in a gunfight with police in Linden, New Jersey. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could comment on the charges against him, which include federal terror crimes and state charges of attempting to murder police officers.
“I put him in jail two years ago”, Rahami said.
Cohen said the bomber “strikes me as somebody who definitely had intent, who definitely had a message he wanted to send, who definitely took the time to do the research and acquire the materials to build lethal devices”. The complaint stated that the journal was damaged during the shootout and had blood smeared on it.
Another 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.
A pipe bomb also exploded Saturday in a New Jersey shore town ahead of a 5K.
The pressure cooker bombs found at the 23rd Street and 27th Street locations in Manhattan contained the homemade explosive hexamethylene triperoxide diamine or HMTD according to multiple law enforcement officials.
Rahami had a bloodstained notebook in his possession when he was taken into custody that included references to the Boston bombers, praise for Anwar al-Awlaki, an Al Qaeda recruiter, who died in a US drone strike in Yemen, as well as the soldier in the Fort Hood shooting.
The FBI has said Rahami apparently was not on its radar at the time of the bombing.
Rahami, 28, spent several weeks in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Quetta, Pakistan, in 2011, according to a law enforcement official who reviewed his travel and immigration record.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing case. 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”.
His father told NBC he did not know of his son plans.
The FBI then opened a so-called “Guardian” file on Rahami, initiating the process to determine whether Rahami had any links to terrorism or other criminal activity, and whether a more formal investigation was warranted. Spokesman Josh Earnest says the White House is following the situation closely.
Investigators also traced mobile phones used in the bombs to Rahami and said he played jihadist videos from social media.
Rahami’s wife is thought to be a Pakistani national.
In 2014, Rahami contacted Congressman Albio Sires’ office from Islamabad, saying he was concerned about his wife’s passport and visa.
These sources say that his wife left the United States last week. Sires says he “assumes” she made it into the United States, given reports that she fled the country shortly before the string of bombings the past weekend.
Federal agents would like to question Rahami.
Authorities have said Rahami is “directly linked” to the Seaside Park and Chelsea bombings.
Mohammad Rahami, suspect’s father: They checked that nearly two months. At the time, he was employed by Summit Security, a private contractor.
The 28-year-old naturalized USA citizen from Afghanistan was being held on $5.2 million bail. He became a naturalized USA citizen in 2011.
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Officials say they believe Rahami acted alone. When Rahami returned, he “got more religious” and dressed differently than before, Jones said.
