29 injured in explosion in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood
- Thread starter spaminator
- Start date
Feds: Manhattan bomber trying to radicalize other inmates
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
December 22, 2017
Updated:
December 22, 2017 11:03 PM EST
In this Dec. 20, 2016 file photo, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, the man accused of setting off bombs in New Jersey and New York's Chelsea neighborhood in September, sits in court in Elizabeth, N.J. Mel Evans / AP
NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors say the man who was convicted of setting off a bomb in Manhattan that injured 30 people last year has been attempting to radicalize fellow jail inmates.
The New York Times reports that the government says Ahmad Khan Rahimi gave other inmates access to speeches by Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki and materials including bomb-making instructions.
The allegations came in a letter Friday from the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim to Judge Richard Berman.
Berman is to sentence Rahimi on Jan. 18 after a jury convicted him in October of all the charges against him.
Prosecutors say the inmates Rahimi shared the materials with included Sajmir Alimehmeti, a Bronx man who has been charged with providing material support to the Islamic State.
Feds: Manhattan bomber trying to radicalize other inmates | Toronto Sun
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
December 22, 2017
Updated:
December 22, 2017 11:03 PM EST
In this Dec. 20, 2016 file photo, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, the man accused of setting off bombs in New Jersey and New York's Chelsea neighborhood in September, sits in court in Elizabeth, N.J. Mel Evans / AP
NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors say the man who was convicted of setting off a bomb in Manhattan that injured 30 people last year has been attempting to radicalize fellow jail inmates.
The New York Times reports that the government says Ahmad Khan Rahimi gave other inmates access to speeches by Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki and materials including bomb-making instructions.
The allegations came in a letter Friday from the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim to Judge Richard Berman.
Berman is to sentence Rahimi on Jan. 18 after a jury convicted him in October of all the charges against him.
Prosecutors say the inmates Rahimi shared the materials with included Sajmir Alimehmeti, a Bronx man who has been charged with providing material support to the Islamic State.
Feds: Manhattan bomber trying to radicalize other inmates | Toronto Sun
Bomber gets life in prison for New York, New Jersey attacks
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
February 13, 2018
Updated:
February 13, 2018 11:09 PM EST
In this Dec. 20, 2016, file photo, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, center, is led into court in Elizabeth, N.J. Rahimi, who set off small bombs on a New York City street and at a charity race in New Jersey, is set to be sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, by a federal judge in Manhattan.Mel Evans / AP
NEW YORK — A New Jersey man who set off small bombs in two states, including a pressure cooker device that blasted shrapnel across a New York City block, was sentenced Tuesday to multiple terms of life in prison by a judge who repeatedly called it a miracle nobody was killed.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, was criticized by a prosecutor for failing to show remorse and was scolded by a victim for not apologizing to the 30 people he injured.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman in Manhattan said it was hard to reconcile the “reasonable enough” man he saw in court with the terrorist who tried to kill as many people as he could when he left his home early the morning of Sept. 17, 2016, with two pressure-cooker explosives and a bag full of smaller bombs.
“You sound like most people and yet your actions are totally at odds with your voice,” Berman said.
“We saw videos,” he said, referencing multiple videos at his fall trial that showed Rahimi dragging bombs in two suitcases and a backpack through Manhattan streets, setting one down a half hour before it exploded in the upscale Chelsea neighbourhood and another a few blocks away that was discovered and disabled before it could explode.
“It’s really hard to square the way you appear in court to that other behaviour,” Berman said.
Regardless, the judge said, Rahimi deserved multiple life prison terms. One life term was mandatory but the judge exercised his discretion by imposing life sentences for counts that Rahimi’s defence lawyer said deserved only a 15-year sentence. He also ordered $562,803 in restitution.
Berman called Rahimi, 30, a “clear and present danger” and said it was too big a risk not to impose a life sentence, especially after Rahimi offered “not an ounce of justification” for his crimes.
The Chelsea explosion happened just hours after a small pipe bomb exploded along a Marine Corps road race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, frightening participants but injuring no one.
The bombings triggered a two-day manhunt that ended in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. Rahimi was shot several times but survived. Police officers also were injured.
Given a chance to speak, Rahimi, shackled at the ankles, portrayed himself as a victim, saying he came to America as a 7-year-old boy with no hatred for anyone and was raised by a father in a household where there was no mention of what his father experienced during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
He described how his father went to law enforcement on multiple occasions to report suspicious behaviour he had seen in his son, but ultimately felt let down.
“I don’t harbour hate for anyone,” Rahimi said before describing how he believed law enforcement targeted him once he became a practicing Muslim.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Crowley immediately followed Rahimi, saying he had just “blamed everyone else” after causing so much destruction through crimes “fueled by hate.”
“He has shown no remorse,” Crowley said. “He’s proud of what he has done.”
She described Rahimi’s efforts to radicalize fellow prisoners at the federal jail in New York where he has been imprisoned since his arrest.
Rahimi, prosecutors said, gave inmates copies of terrorist propaganda and jihadist materials, including speeches and lectures by al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric who inspired attacks on America and was killed in a U.S. airstrike in September 2011.
Rahimi also allowed some inmates to view materials on his laptop or provided electronic copies as he spread “The Book of Jihad,” bomb-making instructions and various issues of a propaganda magazine.
Defence attorney Xavier Donaldson called it ironic that his client had once aspired to be a police officer and worked as a security guard after studying criminal justice at a community college.
He urged a sentence not based on what people think terrorists might inspire or the fear they may cause.
After the sentence was announced, Berman invited several victims watching the proceedings to speak.
Pauline Nelson, 48, of Brooklyn, stepped to the podium. She was hospitalized when the car she was driving was jolted by the explosion. She’s still being treated for muscle spasms in her back.
“You never apologized to anyone in the courtroom,” she said, staring at the bearded Rahimi, who sat at the defence table, shackles on his ankles. “You have no remorse for what you did.”
Bomber gets life in prison for New York, New Jersey attacks | Toronto Sun
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
February 13, 2018
Updated:
February 13, 2018 11:09 PM EST
In this Dec. 20, 2016, file photo, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, center, is led into court in Elizabeth, N.J. Rahimi, who set off small bombs on a New York City street and at a charity race in New Jersey, is set to be sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, by a federal judge in Manhattan.Mel Evans / AP
NEW YORK — A New Jersey man who set off small bombs in two states, including a pressure cooker device that blasted shrapnel across a New York City block, was sentenced Tuesday to multiple terms of life in prison by a judge who repeatedly called it a miracle nobody was killed.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, was criticized by a prosecutor for failing to show remorse and was scolded by a victim for not apologizing to the 30 people he injured.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman in Manhattan said it was hard to reconcile the “reasonable enough” man he saw in court with the terrorist who tried to kill as many people as he could when he left his home early the morning of Sept. 17, 2016, with two pressure-cooker explosives and a bag full of smaller bombs.
“You sound like most people and yet your actions are totally at odds with your voice,” Berman said.
“We saw videos,” he said, referencing multiple videos at his fall trial that showed Rahimi dragging bombs in two suitcases and a backpack through Manhattan streets, setting one down a half hour before it exploded in the upscale Chelsea neighbourhood and another a few blocks away that was discovered and disabled before it could explode.
“It’s really hard to square the way you appear in court to that other behaviour,” Berman said.
Regardless, the judge said, Rahimi deserved multiple life prison terms. One life term was mandatory but the judge exercised his discretion by imposing life sentences for counts that Rahimi’s defence lawyer said deserved only a 15-year sentence. He also ordered $562,803 in restitution.
Berman called Rahimi, 30, a “clear and present danger” and said it was too big a risk not to impose a life sentence, especially after Rahimi offered “not an ounce of justification” for his crimes.
The Chelsea explosion happened just hours after a small pipe bomb exploded along a Marine Corps road race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, frightening participants but injuring no one.
The bombings triggered a two-day manhunt that ended in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. Rahimi was shot several times but survived. Police officers also were injured.
Given a chance to speak, Rahimi, shackled at the ankles, portrayed himself as a victim, saying he came to America as a 7-year-old boy with no hatred for anyone and was raised by a father in a household where there was no mention of what his father experienced during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
He described how his father went to law enforcement on multiple occasions to report suspicious behaviour he had seen in his son, but ultimately felt let down.
“I don’t harbour hate for anyone,” Rahimi said before describing how he believed law enforcement targeted him once he became a practicing Muslim.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Crowley immediately followed Rahimi, saying he had just “blamed everyone else” after causing so much destruction through crimes “fueled by hate.”
“He has shown no remorse,” Crowley said. “He’s proud of what he has done.”
She described Rahimi’s efforts to radicalize fellow prisoners at the federal jail in New York where he has been imprisoned since his arrest.
Rahimi, prosecutors said, gave inmates copies of terrorist propaganda and jihadist materials, including speeches and lectures by al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric who inspired attacks on America and was killed in a U.S. airstrike in September 2011.
Rahimi also allowed some inmates to view materials on his laptop or provided electronic copies as he spread “The Book of Jihad,” bomb-making instructions and various issues of a propaganda magazine.
Defence attorney Xavier Donaldson called it ironic that his client had once aspired to be a police officer and worked as a security guard after studying criminal justice at a community college.
He urged a sentence not based on what people think terrorists might inspire or the fear they may cause.
After the sentence was announced, Berman invited several victims watching the proceedings to speak.
Pauline Nelson, 48, of Brooklyn, stepped to the podium. She was hospitalized when the car she was driving was jolted by the explosion. She’s still being treated for muscle spasms in her back.
“You never apologized to anyone in the courtroom,” she said, staring at the bearded Rahimi, who sat at the defence table, shackles on his ankles. “You have no remorse for what you did.”
Bomber gets life in prison for New York, New Jersey attacks | Toronto Sun