{"id":11984,"date":"2016-09-21T05:26:55","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T05:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=11984"},"modified":"2016-09-21T05:45:55","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T05:45:55","slug":"ahmad-khan-rahami-charged-in-new-york-and-new-jersey-bombings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/ahmad-khan-rahami-charged-in-new-york-and-new-jersey-bombings.html","title":{"rendered":"Ahmad Khan Rahami Charged in New York and New Jersey Bombings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahmad Khan Rahami Charged in New York and New Jersey Bombings<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ahmad Khan Rahami Charged in New York and New Jersey Bombings<\/strong> : The man who the authorities say set off powerful bombs in Manhattan and on the Jersey Shore over the weekend planned the attacks for months, conducted a dry run just days before unleashing his assault and took inspiration from \u201cBrother Osama bin Laden\u201d and other international terrorists, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The man, Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was charged with several crimes, including use of weapons of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, and the criminal complaint against him outlines how close the attacks came to causing death and even more destruction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bomb in Manhattan\u2019s Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday night was powerful enough to vault a heavy steel Dumpster more than 120 feet through the air, according to the complaint. Windows shattered 400 feet from where the explosion went off, and pieces of the bomb were recovered 650 feet away. Among the 31 victims \u2014 two more than first reported \u2014 one had to have multiple ball bearings removed from her body as well as bits of metal from an ear and wood shards from her neck, the complaint says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The charges came on a day when it was revealed that Mr. Rahami\u2019s father told the authorities two years ago that he feared his son was a terrorist, prompting a review by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that did not find any basis for a fuller inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\n

The complaint says Mr. Rahami was motivated by an extremist Islamic ideology that he recorded in a notebook he had with him when he was shot and wounded by the police in Linden, N.J., on Monday morning before being then taken into custody.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pierced by a bullet and splattered with blood, the journal contains screeds against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In one handwritten message, Mr. Rahami pleads that he not be caught before carrying out his planned attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart I pray to the beautiful wise ALLAH,\u201d he wrote. \u201cTo not take JIHAD away from. I beg.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the notebook, the complaint says, he refers to pipe bombs and pressure cookers as well as to shooting police officers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Rahami writes of \u201ckilling the kuffar,\u201d or unbelievers, and praises terrorists figures, including Anwar al-Awlaki, once Al Qaeda\u2019s leading propagandist, who died in a drone strike in Yemen, as well as the soldier in the Fort Hood shooting, among the deadliest of the so-called lone wolf attacks inspired by Al Qaeda.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Rahami had been meticulously planning his attack since at least June, according to the complaint, acquiring the materials he used to construct his weapons, often via eBay, where he was registered as \u201cahmad rahimi.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While items like \u201cAmmo Slingshot Steelies\u201d and electric igniters used for fireworks displays might seem harmless, in Mr. Rahami\u2019s hands, they were combined to create tools of potential carnage, the complaint says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days before the bombing in Chelsea, according to the complaint, Mr. Rahami recorded video of himself igniting an incendiary device in the backyard of his Elizabeth, N.J., home.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lighting of a fuse, the complaint says, is followed by \u201cbillowing smoke and laughter,\u201d before Mr. Rahami is seen entering the frame and picking up the device.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Patton, the chief federal defender in Manhattan, said on Tuesday that his lawyers\u2019 immediate goal was for Mr. Rahami, who remains in the hospital, to appear before a judge \u201cso that he can be informed of the charges against him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Late on Tuesday Mr. Patton wrote to the court, asking that Mr. Rahami be given a court appearance on Wednesday at the earliest possible time. If he cannot travel to Manhattan for medical reasons, Mr. Patton proposed a hearing by phone or video conference.<\/span><\/p>\n

The complaint leaves unanswered questions about when Mr. Rahami began to harbor such apparent antipathy for the country he had lived in for years and where he had become a naturalized citizen.<\/span><\/p>\n

As happened with those involved in terrorism-related cases in Orlando, Fla.; San Bernardino, Calif.; and Boston, federal authorities had looked into Mr. Rahami\u2019s life well before he launched his assaults.<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal agents first became aware of Mr. Rahami two years ago, when his father shared with them his concerns that his son might be involved in terrorism.<\/span><\/p>\n

The F.B.I., which had been notified about Mr. Rahami by the local police after a domestic dispute involving the family, said in a statement that it conducted a review \u2014 checking its databases, contacting other agencies and conducting interviews. But the review did not turn up anything that warranted further inquiry, and the matter was closed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigators have not discovered any ties between Mr. Rahami and known terrorist groups, and no one has claimed responsibility for his attacks. While the Islamic State is usually quick to claim credit for attacks around the world, organizations linked to Al Qaeda vary widely in when or if they do so.<\/span><\/p>\n

One key area of the investigation involves whether Mr. Rahami had help building the bombs or if anyone knew what he was doing and did not report it. In all, he is linked to 10 explosive devices found in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among those Mr. Rahami praises in his notebook, according the complaint, is Mr. Awlaki, whose lectures and jihadist declarations are widely available on the web. So, too, is Inspire magazine, which has published detailed instructions for making pipe bombs as well as more sophisticated explosive devices using pressure cookers and Christmas lights, the components used in the New York-area bombs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite being killed in a drone strike ordered by President Obama, Mr. Awlaki remains a powerful influence on would-be jihadists, especially in the English-speaking West. Among his documented admirers were Syed Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino; Omar Mateen, who fatally shot 49 people in an Orlando nightclub; and Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who staged an attack at the finish line of the Boston Marathon with pressure-cooker bombs in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

The authorities are also scrutinizing a number of trips Mr. Rahami made overseas, particularly several to Pakistan. In May 2011, he made a three-month trip to Quetta, according to law enforcement officials, citing Customs and Border Protection records. In April 2013, he traveled to Quetta again and did not return until March 2014, according to information provided to customs authorities by the New York City police.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Rahami\u2019s wife, Asia, who left the country days before the bombing, is now in the United Arab Emirates. She provided a statement to the F.B.I., according to officials, and the authorities are working to bring her back into the country as soon as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

The F.B.I. believes Mr. Rahami acted alone but is trying to speak with everyone who knew him.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was unclear when Mr. Rahami married his wife, but after returning from a nearly yearlong visit to Pakistan in March 2014, he was increasingly desperate to get her into the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was still in Pakistan when he emailed Representative Albio Sires, Democrat of New Jersey, asking for help getting her a visa, the congressman said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Rahami\u2019s Pakistani passport had expired, and agents at the United States Embassy in Islamabad discovered that she was 35 weeks pregnant, Mr. Sires said. Ms. Rahami was told she would need to wait until her baby was born before she could apply for United States visas for her and the child. She eventually came to the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was unclear when her visa issue was resolved. But in August 2014, Mr. Rahami got into a fight with his family, during which he stabbed his brother in the leg with a knife, court records show.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the police arrived, Mr. Rahami\u2019s father told them of his concerns about his son\u2019s possible involvement in terrorism. The information was passed to the Joint Terrorism Task Force led by F.B.I. in Newark. Officers opened what is known as an assessment, the most basic of F.B.I. investigations, and interviewed the father multiple times.<\/span><\/p>\n

They never interviewed Mr. Rahami, who was in jail at the time, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The father, Mohammad Rahami, said in an interview that at the time he told F.B.I. agents about his concerns his son was going through a difficult period.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years ago I go to the F.B.I. because my son was doing really bad, O.K.?\u201d he said. \u201cBut they check almost two months, they say, \u2018He\u2019s O.K., he\u2019s clean, he\u2019s not a terrorist.\u2019 I say O.K.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added: \u201cNow they say he is a terrorist. I say O.K.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One official familiar with the inquiry said that the elder Mr. Rahami, after his initial comments about his son, recanted and said he had spoken out of anger.<\/span><\/p>\n

The assessment of Mr. Rahami illustrates the challenges the F.B.I. faces as it solicits information from the public about people who might pose a threat and then must sort through what is credible, while balancing the need to protect the country without overstepping its authority.<\/span><\/p>\n

Depending on the intensity and urgency of an inquiry, there are three types of investigations the F.B.I. can undertake with varying levels of intrusive techniques.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first is an assessment, in which agents use basic techniques like conducting interviews, talking to confidential informers, using physical surveillance and checking databases and public records.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next come preliminary and full investigations, which can be initiated if agents believe a federal crime has been committed or there is a threat to national security. Those investigations can involve polygraphs, undercover agents and mail searches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both assessments and preliminary inquiries have time limits.<\/span><\/p>\n

A full investigation has no such time limits, but does eventually require review and employs powerful electronic surveillance tools, requiring the approval of a court warrant. Among other things, it allows for the secret interception of international communications.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Mr. Rahami, one of the Boston bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was the subject of an assessment in 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

And just as with Mr. Rahami, the F.B.I. did not generate any additional leads that would have prompted a more serious investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Tsarnaev assessment was one of approximately 1,000 the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Boston carried out that year.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Orlando nightclub attack this year, the circumstances were different.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Mateen, who carried out the deadly assault, had made highly inflammatory comments, which came to the attention of investigators, raising the profile of his case to a preliminary inquiry. He told colleagues he had family ties to Al Qaeda and was a member Hezbollah. During the 10-month investigation, Mr. Mateen was interviewed twice, and the F.B.I. used confidential informers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, the bureau found no evidence that his statements were credible or that he had ties to terrorism.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the federal assessment of Mr. Rahami was closed weeks after it began, he did face criminal charges of aggravated assault and illegal weapons possession stemming from the domestic dispute, according to court records. He spent over three months in jail, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. A grand jury, however, declined to indict Mr. Rahami.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/strong> : http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/09\/21\/nyregion\/ahmad-khan-rahami-suspect.html?_r=0<\/span><\/p>\n

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