The federal charges come after the father of Rahami, the naturalised American citizen captured on Monday in New Jersey after a shootout with police, said he had reported concerns about his son being involved with militants to the Federal Bureau of Investigations two years ago. But the father later retracted the claim and told investigators he just meant his son was hanging out with the wrong crowd.
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In 2014, Rahami’s father, Muhammed Rahami, says he reported his son to authorities as a possible terrorist.
The officials were not authorized to publicly reveal details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Talking to reporters outside his home, Mohammad R. Rahami said he had called police on his son because he “stabbed my son” and “hit my wife”.
Ahmad Rahami was taken into custody again Monday after a short but intense manhunt, and was charged later that day with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two counts related to possession of a weapon.
Rahami was charged Tuesday in federal court in both NY and New Jersey with using weapons of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, in addition to other charges.
The FBI has faced questions before about whether it could have done more ahead of time to determine whether attackers had terrorist aspirations. Justice Department guidelines restrict the types of actions agents may take; they can not, for instance, record phone calls without obtaining a higher level of approval or developing more grounds for suspicion.
Mr Rahami is still in hospital, recovering from injuries sustained during the shootout that led to his arrest.
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.
He stood trial in front of a grand jury but was not indicted.
The FBI released a surveillance image of two unidentified men who apparently made off with a bag that had contained one of the explosive devices allegedly planted by Chelsea bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami.
“To place bombs down the Jersey Shore, in New York City, and in Elizabeth took some time to do”, said Payne, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security emergency preparedness subcommittee.
An explosion in Manhattan on Saturday injured 29 people. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was also found blocks away.
On Sunday night, five explosive devices were found near an Elizabeth, New Jersey, train station. A notebook found on Rahami’s person when he was arrested included pledges to commit jihad, according to the affidavit.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Justice Department intends in the “near future” to bring Rahami to NY to face charges there. One of the officials, who specializes in counter-terrorism, said the “secondary” screening included asking Rahami where he had gone and for what objective.
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Asia Bibi Rahami went to the United Arab Emirates a few days before the bombings but is expected to fly back to the USA this week to chat with authorities.
