Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged the Afghan-born man suspected of weekend bombings in NY and New Jersey with 10 counts including use of weapons of mass destruction, portraying him as a jihadist who begged for martyrdom and praised Osama bin Laden. He has been charged in two federal courts, Manhattan and Newark, on nine counts.
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Complaints filed in federal court in Manhattan and New Jersey contain details from the investigation and Rahami’s handwritten journal, which was damaged from a shootout with police.
Rahami was charged for bombing a public place and for using weapons of mass destruction.
Rahami was apprehended on Monday in Linden, New Jersey, after a shootout with police that left him with multiple gunshot wounds.
Rahami faces further charges for the the bombings in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey, on Saturday.
That second device was tested for fingerprints, and the criminal complaint said all 12 prints found were matches for Rahami. The blast propelled the dumpster 100 feet and shattered windows 400 feet above the detonation. 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.
The messages include praise of American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who killed by a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011, and “Brother Osama Bin Laden”, the former head of al-Qaida who was killed by USA forces in Pakistan in 2011. There are mentions of pipe bombs, a pressure cooker bomb and a partial sentence, “in the streets they plan to run a mile”.
“Inshallah (God willing), the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets”. Gun shots to your police. “Death To Your OPPRESSION”, one message reads.
The FBI looked into NY bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami two years ago – and came up with nothing alarming – after his father expressed concerns his son might be a terrorist, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
The FBI interviewed Rahami’s father in 2014 after a violent domestic dispute.
During the inquiry, the father backed away from talk of terrorism and told investigators that he simply meant his son was hanging out with the wrong crowd, including gang members, and acting like a thug, the officials said.
AP global security chief Danny Spriggs said Rahami worked night shifts and often engaged colleagues in long political discussions, expressing sympathy for the Taliban and disdain for US military action in Afghanistan. His father told reporters that he contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and expressed his concern after the dispute.
‘He seemed standoffish to American culture, but I never thought he would cross the line, ‘ she said.
‘I didn’t want him to see my daughter, ‘ she said.
Meanwhile, investigators are looking into Rahami’s overseas travel, including a visit to Pakistan, and possible funding or training from extremist organisations.
The couple got married in 2011 while in Pakistan and had a child together, officials said. That same year, he filed paperwork to bring her back to the USA, and it was approved in 2012. On a trip to Pakistan in 2014, Rahami emailed his local congressman seeking help because his pregnant wife had an expired passport. She was told she would need a visa for the baby as well.
Rahami’s wife met with USA law enforcement officials while in the United Arab Emirates and voluntarily gave a statement, a law enforcement official said.
She has been in contact with authorities and sources told CBS News she is cooperating.
The FBI has said Rahami apparently was not on its radar at the time of the bombing. An explosion rocked the block of West 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
The image of the two unidentified men is taken from CCTV recordings between 8pm and 9pm on West 27th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.
Authorities revealed his identity on Monday morning.
After he returned to the US, Ahmad lobbied for his wife to join him in New Jersey. Police found him after a bar owner spotted him sleeping in the doorway of his bar. The officers’ injuries weren’t life-threatening.
It still remains unclear how and why exactly Rahami allegedly become radicalized, and whether he definitively acted alone.
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His bail has been set at $5.2 million.
