It is not clear if officers ever interviewed Ahmad Rahami, but as investigators turn their focus to what might have motivated, inspired or led him to plant bombs in Chelsea in Manhattan and on the Jersey Shore, new clues are emerging indicating that he may have been increasingly receptive to extremist ideology.
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The official, and other United States security sources, said Rahami underwent additional security screening upon returning from overseas but passed each time.
Other physical evidence links Rahimi to the pressure cooker bombs that went off or were found in NY and New Jersey, a senior law enforcement official said.
A law enforcement official told the Times that the father may have called this son a terrorist in anger.
Ahmad has been charged with attempted murder after he shot two police officers during a shootout with cops, who took him into custody Monday in Linden, New Jersey.
The suspect held on suspicion of carrying out weekend bomb attacks in NY and New Jersey is in critical but stable condition in a hospital, police said Tuesday. Police believe he was also behind several bombs planted in New Jersey, including one near a US Marines charity run in Seaside Park.
Federal agents opened an investigation into Ahmad Khan Rahami in 2014 after they received a call from Mohammad Rahami, two unidentified senior law enforcement officials told The New York Times.
While the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an assessment of Rahami, they concluded that he did not possess extremist leanings that may lead to terrorist activities, saying he posed no threat. No one was injured. According to an official speaking to the Daily Beast, Rahami made “at least three and possibly four trips to Pakistan over the past 10 years”.
People are now coming and going as usual in the Manhattan neighborhood rocked by a bomb – although jarring reminders of the weekend blast remain.
Late Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth train station.
The court complaints describe Rahami buying bomb-making equipment so openly between June and August that he ordered citric acid, ball bearings and electronic igniters on eBay and had them delivered to a Perth Amboy, New Jersey, business where he worked until earlier this month.
“A lot of technology involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too”, New York Police Commissioner James O’Neill said Monday.
Officials said they have no other suspects at large but cautioned they are still investigating.
“The investigation is active and ongoing, and it is being investigated as an act of terror”, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in Lexington, Kentucky. At the time, he said, the consulate advised Rahami to travel to Karachi, Pakistan, but Rahami said it was too unsafe.
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The suspect had “legitimate” reasons for traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Burr noted, without ruling out the possibility that there were also other motivations.
