Court Papers Offer Chilling Insight into NYC Bomber's Motives
Newly revealed federal court papers give a chilling glimpse into motives of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man charged in the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey that injured 31 people.
In his journal, Rahami promised to martyr himself rather than be caught. He raged against the U.S, writing, "You (the U.S. government) continue your…slaughter against the mujahedeen (holy warriors), in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Palestine..."
"Death to your oppression," he concluded.
He praised Osama bin Laden, radical Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike, and Nidal Hasan, the former Army officer who went on a deadly shooting rampage in 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas.
Rahami openly bought his bomb-making equipment on eBay, including ball-bearings and igniters.
The FBI confirms it knew about Rahami and spoke with his father, Mohammad Rahami, in 2014 after he expressed concerns that his son could be a terrorist. Mohammad told a reporter, "I called the FBI two years ago. I told them you got (to connect) with this guy."
He later took back those comments, saying his son had simply fallen in with a bad crowd, and the FBI never questioned his son. Rahami was also accused of stabbing his brother and hitting his mother. But a grand jury declined to indict him.
A neighbor of Rahami and former policeman, David Yanvary, said Rahami seemed normal and asked him about becoming a police officer.
"We would just talk like I'm talking to you now, just back and forth like 'Hey, what's up, how are you doing today, what you doing today, oh I'm going down to the shore, I'm going to do this' - never said anything bad about the government, never asked to see my weapon or anything, nothing. I mean, just a quiet kid," Yanvary recalled.
Rahami also worked as a security guard in New Jersey, and co-workers say he often expressed sympathy for the terrorist group, the Taliban.
A key part of the investigation will be Rahami's year-long trip to Pakistan.
While overseas, Rahami married and had two children. The FBI questioned his wife overseas. She went to her native Pakistan in June.
