Meanwhile, federal court papers are giving a chilling glimpse into what authorities say motivated Rahami in last weekend’s bombings in NY and New Jersey.
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Before the federal charges were filed, Rahmani was already being held on 5.2 million dollars’ (£4m) bail, charged with the attempted murder of police officers during the shoot-out that led to his capture Monday outside a bar in Linden, New Jersey. The Washington Post reports he faces nine counts in total, between the Manhattan complaint and another filed against him in New Jersey. “The Sixth Amendment (of the U.S. Constitution) requires that he be given access to counsel on the federal charges, and that he be presented without delay”.
Patton also asked to meet with Rahami on Wednesday.
Authorities said so far they have found no connection between Rahami and any militant groups, raising the possibility that the weekend bomb attacks could be a lone-wolf attack.
A domestic dispute in 2014 triggered Federal Bureau of Investigation scrutiny into NY area bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami.
Mena also had sought to prevent the child from spending the night at the Rahami family home in Elizabeth, which earlier this week became the epicenter of police efforts to track down the bombing suspect. She said she has full confidence in prosecutors’ ability to bring Rahami “to justice for his heinous actions”.
Ahmad Khan Rahami’s journal revealed that he accused the USA of slaughtering Islamist fighters in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and the Palestinian territories.
The FBI on Wednesday announced it was looking for two people spotted on surveillance video opening a suitcase containing a pressure cooker bomb in New York City on Saturday night – taking the bag with them but leaving the device on the sidewalk.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said the two men were being treated as “witnesses” and that, should they talk to the police, they need not worry about any charges related to the missing bag.
Federal court complaints filed Tuesday gave a chilling glimpse into what authorities say motivated Rahami, an Afghan-born USA citizen. The images were taken from surveillance video that shows them walking on 27th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue in the Chelsea section of Manhattan between 8 and 9 p.m. Saturday. “Gun shots to your police”. The journal ended with the message “Death to your oppression”, according to court filings.
Journal entries from the bloodied book showed his disdain for the United States government and included references to Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Muslim cleric who was killed in a 2011 drone strike, the Boston Marathon bombings, the 2009 Fort Hood shootings in Texas and Osama bin Laden.
The improvised explosive device (IED) was discovered hours after an explosion in Chelsea that injured 31 people. They still are trying to find out whether he received any help in planning his attack or building the bombs.
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Some of the radical Islamic rhetoric written in the journal could point to Rahami’s motivation to plant the bombs. The 27th Street bomb never exploded.
