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.
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“Inshallah (God willing), the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets”.
The arrival of police spurred a gun battle that left both Rahami and a Linden police officer shot and another officer injured by glass.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was arrested Monday morning in connection with the blasts in Chelsea and Seaside Park.
The attacks in NY and New Jersey were the latest in a series in the United States inspired by Islamic militant groups including al Qaeda and Islamic State.
Rahami was born in Afghanistan, came to the U.S.at age 7 and became a naturalized American citizen.
Federal prosecutors said Rahami injured 31 people in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood with a homemade bomb on Saturday night in a case that investigators now regard as terrorism.
An explosive device went off in a New Jersey train station as the NY bomb squad was attempting to disarm it with a robot.
William Sweeney, the FBI’s assistant director in NY, said on Monday that that at the time of the bombing, Rahami apparently was not on the FBI’s radar. Earlier in the investigation, officials had withheld such an assessment until they could discern a motive.
“It does appear this was an act of terrorism and that’s why the investigation is being conducted the way that it is”, Josh Earnest, White House spokesman said.
At least one victim in the Chelsea blast was knocked unconscious and another hospitalized to remove ball bearings from her body, metal fragmentation from her ear and wood shards from her neck, the charging documents say.
The charges, filed in a Manhattan court by US Attorney Preet Bharara, also include bombing, destruction of property and use of a destructive device, according to the 14-page indictment.
Prior to his capture on September 19, Rahami was involved in a shootout with responding New Jersey officers and has since been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement official.
In a bloodied journal recovered by investigators, Rahami made references to Osama bin Laden, American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and former Army officer Nidal Hasan, who went on a shooting rampage in Ford Hood, Texas, according to a federal complaint.
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.
The Republican lawmaker also says Rahami is not co-operating with investigators.
His father, Mohammad Rahami, told reporters outside his family’s chicken restaurant on Tuesday that he had called the Federal Bureau of Investigation about two years ago to report concerns about his son’s involvement with militants.
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Mena said she and Ahmad Khan Rahami have a child together, but that “neither my child nor I have had any physical contact with him in more than two years”. Federal agents have tried to question Rahami in the hospital, but New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur, who said he received a classified briefing from the FBI, said Rahami was not cooperating.
