(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File). Criminal complaints in Manhattan and New Jersey federal courts provided chilling descriptions of what authorities say drove the Afghan-born US citizen to set off explosives in NY and New Jersey, including a bomb that injured over two dozen people when it blew up on a busy Manhattan street. A short time later, two men remove the device from its bag, but leave the device.
Advertisement
Mosque leaders called bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, an Afghanistan-born USA citizen whose father is an active member of the mosque, misguided and said people who follow extremist teachings are criminals.
The father said he believes he did the right thing by telling authorities about his son. “If anyone kills a non-Muslim citizen, paradise will be done for him”.
The elder Rahami had revealed Tuesday that he warned authorities about his son in August 2014 but he had refused, until now, to say what he specifically told them.
Rahami has been unconscious and intubated for much of the time since undergoing surgery, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a court filing.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted past year for his role in the Boston Marathon attacks and sentenced to death, also first faced charges in his hospital bed while he was still recovering from injuries sustained in a gunfight with police. The federal complaint alleges that event took place two days before the bombings in New Jersey and NY, and describes how laughter is heard on the video before Rahami returns into the frame and is seen picking up the object.
The FBI said that Rahami was arrested by police in New Jersey and remained in the custody of that state, not the federal government.
“I found a change in his personality”. His mind was not the same.
Asia Bibi Rahami arrived in NY late Wednesday night, officials said.
Ahmad Rahami, now accused of carrying out Saturday’s bombings in Chelsea and Seaside Park, NJ, had been locked up at the time on weapons and aggravated-assault charges for allegedly stabbing his brother in the leg. The FBI initiated contact because the father had expressed concern to someone following that episode over his son’s internet use and some of his associates.
Rahami’s father insisted he told the Federal Bureau of Investigation his son was a terrorist.
It says the writer lauded Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. -born cleric killed in a 2011 drone strike, and Nidal Hasan, the former U.S. Army major who went on a 2009 rampage at the Fort Hood military installation. No one was hurt in that blast.
“I condemn the act of my son, and I am sad over injuries caused to people”, he said, adding that he was cooperating fully with investigators. Members of the Muslim Community Center of Union City, New Jersey say that Mohammed is a well-known member of the Muslim community and participates in board activities. Friday prayer in Elizabeth draws the mosque’s biggest crowd, including people from other towns.
“[Ahmed Rahami] told me he was basically left there”, Ehsan told CNN. “We especially educate our younger kids on that matter and what the Islamic teachings are”.
Advertisement
He also said that contrary to reports in USA media, Rahami’s wife, Asia Bibi Rahami, is not a citizen of Pakistan.
