(Foreign-born Muslim) Suspect in New York, N.J. bombings taken into custody - shootout with police

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2016/10/13/chelsea-bomber-pleads-not-guilty-to-attempted-murder-of-cops/

Chelsea bomb suspect pleads not guilty to attempted murder of cops
By Reuven Fenton
October 13, 2016 | 2:53pm

Ahmad Khan Rahimi (on hospital bed) appears via video in court. Photo: Reuters


Accused Chelsea bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami pleaded not guilty in New Jersey on Thursday to the attempted murder of five cops who’d rushed to capture him last month on a Linden street.

Rahami, who was wounded during the shootout with cops, appeared via video hookup in an Elizabeth courtroom, with only his bushy-bearded face visible as he lay under a blanket in a hospital bed. His lawyers were at his side wearing yellow scrubs.

Uniformed and plainclothes cops and their family members filled the courtroom’s front rows. They included Linden Police Officer Angel Padilla, who was hit by a bullet that was stopped by his bulletproof vest during the Sept. 19 confrontation.

Judge Regina Caulfield set bail at $5.2 million.

Rahami, who was shot several times during the arrest, answered “yes” to a series of routine questions, acknowledging that he could hear the judge and had received a copy of the criminal complaint.

His court-appointed defense lawyers did not reveal when he’ll be released from the hospital; he has yet to be charged in Manhattan for the Sept. 17 Chelsea bombing.

News of Rahami’s arraignment pleased bar owner Harinder Bains, who was the one to call cops after finding Rahami sleeping in the vestibule of his Merdie’s Tavern on East Elizabeth Avenue.

Bains had recognized the sleeping suspect from television news accounts of the manhunt, and called Linden police. He hid inside during the ensuing gunfight.

“I”m happy. That’s what I wanted, to see all the charges being filed, to see justice being served,” he said at the tavern later Thursday.

“I think there should be no bail at all though,” he added.

“There’s no point in giving him any opportunity to be free, even with the bail being set so high. I never want to see him on the streets again.

“There should be some provision in the law that offers no bail at all for these kinds of crimes,” he said.

Lately: “I’m going good,” he said.

“I’ve been getting thank you letters from all over the country. People have been sending me postcards from Texas, from Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia. It’s really touching that people are still sending me cards.”

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/10/19/terror-bombing-suspect-moved-from-hospital-to-prison/

Terror Bombing Suspect Moved From Hospital To Prison
October 19, 2016 9:04 AM

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A man accused of setting off bombs in New Jersey and New York, injuring more than 30 people, has been moved from a hospital to a state prison.

New Jersey Corrections Department spokesman Matt Schuman says Ahmad Khan Rahimi was transferred to a state facility on Tuesday instead of a county jail for his safety and security. Schuman would not identify the facility.

Rahimi had been hospitalized with gunshot wounds following a police shootout that led to his capture in Linden on Sept. 19.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges he tried to kill police officers before they captured him.

He is accused of detonating a pipe bomb before a charity race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and a pressure cooker bomb in New York City on Sept. 17.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...New-York-City-Manhattan-Rahimi-400681351.html

Alleged NY, NJ Bomber Faces Terror Charges in NYC Court
He is accused of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey that wounded 31 people last month
By Larry Neumeister
Published 4 hours ago | Updated 11 minutes ago

A man charged with setting off bombs in New Jersey and New York shuffled slowly into a Manhattan courtroom Thursday to face federal terrorism charges as his lawyer expressed worries that a federal lockup could not adequately care for injuries stemming from his shootout with police.

Ahmed Khan Rahimi, 28, listened as U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn read him his rights and the charges against him during a brief morning appearance after he was transferred into federal custody at 5 a.m. No plea was required because he has yet to be indicted.

The Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen was hospitalized for weeks for treatment of multiple bullet wounds after a police shootout during his Sept. 19 capture outside a bar in Linden, New Jersey.

Rahimi is charged with detonating a pipe bomb along a Marine Corps charity race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and planting two pressure cooker bombs in Chelsea.

One of those devices detonated, injuring 31 people and shattering windows more than 100 yards away. All of the victims survived.

Netburn formally notified him that he faced four federal charges: the use of weapons of mass destruction, the bombing of a public place, the destruction of property through fire or explosion and the use of a destructive device during a crime of violence.

Rahimi, speaking softly, acknowledged that he understood the charges while his attorney, David Patton, waived a public reading of them.

Patton told the judge he was worried that Rahimi cannot be adequately treated for his wounds at the Manhattan Correctional Center, a federal lockup next to federal courthouses in lower Manhattan.

He said Rahimi has already undergone eight to 10 surgeries, many for infections resulting from his bullet wounds. Rahimi also has serious liver damage, injuries to his left hand that prevent him from closing it, an open wound on his right leg and serious back and shoulder injuries, he added.

"We have some real concerns about Mr. Rahimi's medical condition," Patton said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew DeFillippis said federal authorities took his injuries into consideration when they decided he was well enough to be transferred to the Manhattan facility.

Outside court, Patton said Rahimi "certainly plans to enter a plea of not guilty at his arraignment," but he declined to discuss anything further about the case or his client's mental condition.

In addition to the federal charges, Rahimi faces five counts of attempted murder of a police officers and weapons offenses in New Jersey. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/11/16/suspect-indicted-in-jersey-shore-manhattan-bombings/

Suspect Indicted In Jersey Shore, Manhattan Bombings
November 16, 2016 8:17 PM

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) — Ahmad Khan Rahimi, accused of injuring 29 people by setting off bombs in New York and New Jersey in September, was charged Wednesday in New Jersey and Manhattan.

Rahimi, who was wounded in a shootout with police before being arrested, faces eight federal counts, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing a place of public use and destroying property by means of fire or explosive, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York.

“Two months ago, Ahmad Khan Rahimi allegedly planted bombs in the heart of Manhattan and in New Jersey,” said Bharara. “Now indicted by a grand jury, Rahimi will face justice in a federal court for his alleged violent acts of terrorism.”

Rahimi also was indicted on 30 counts in a New Jersey state court, including five counts of first-degree attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and multiple counts of second-, third- and fourth-degree aggravated assault, two second-degree weapons offenses, and fourth-degree possession of a high-capacity magazine, according to a statement from the Union County prosecutor’s office.

The statement said bail for Rahimi was set at $5.2 million by Superior Court Judge Regina Caulfield. A first appearance in the case was held via video conference last month, and Rahimi appeared in federal court for the first time last week.

Rahimi has previously pleaded not guilty to New Jersey charges

Authorities said Rahimi detonated bombs the morning of September 17 near the start of a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and that night in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. An unexploded pressure cooker bomb was found several blocks away from the site of the Chelsea blast. On September 19, Rahimi engaged in an exchange of gunfire with Linden police, allegedly shooting a police officer before being shot by police at the scene.

Attorneys for Rahimi were granted a postponement for his hearing that was scheduled for Wednesday. They said they have yet to receive his medical records from the hospital and the prison that treated him in New Jersey. “Without those records, we cannot fully assess the propriety of the care he is receiving,” a letter from the defense attorneys to the United States magistrate judge said.

CNN left messages with Rahimi’s attorneys.

Rahimi will be arraigned before U.S. District Judge Richard Berman on Thursday.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2016/11/17/accused-chelsea-bomber-limps-into-court-to-enter-not-guilty-plea/

Accused Chelsea bomber limps into court to enter not guilty plea
By Lia Eustachewich
November 17, 2016 | 3:26pm

The accused Chelsea bomber, still recovering from gunshot wounds from his September confrontation with cops, arrived to Manhattan federal court Thursday limping and coughing to enter a not-guilty plea.

Ahmad Rahimi, also known as Rahami, hobbled into court looking pale and disoriented. The 28-year-old Elizabeth, NJ, resident also had several coughing fits during the routine proceeding.

“He enters a plea of not guilty on all counts,” his lawyer, Peggy Cross Goldenberg, told Judge Richard Berman.

Rahimi only said, “Yes sir” when the judge asked him if that was how he wanted to plead.

Prosecutors said they’re about to turn over to the defense a slew of evidence, including statements Rahimi made to the FBI, his bloodied journal found on him during his arrest, DNA and a “video montage” of his movements around Elizabeth, Penn Station and West 23 and 27th streets the day of the bombings.

Assistant US Attorney Nick Lewin floated a trial date in late winter or early spring, though one has not yet been set.

Goldenberg and Sabrina Shroff, who also represents Rahimi, had no comment after court.

Goldenberg told the judge that “Mr. Rahimi is in need of many medical services” but didn’t elaborate on his condition.

Rahimi faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted.

Terror suspect Ahmad Khan Rahimi after being taken into custody
Photo: Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com


More than 30 people were injured when pressure cooker bombs that Rahimi allegedly set inside a dumpster on West 23rd Street exploded. Another bomb at West 27th Street failed to detonate.

He is also accused of detonating a pipe bomb along the route of a Marine Corps charity race in Seaside Park, NJ. No one was injured in that blast.

Rahimi was arrested days after the attack following a shootout with police in Linden, NJ. He was shot in the leg and underwent surgery.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2016/12/05/feds-probing-chelsea-bomb-suspects-domestic-terror-ties/

Feds probing Chelsea bomb suspect’s domestic terror ties
By Kaja Whitehouse
December 5, 2016 | 7:44pm

Federal investigators suggested Monday they have their sights on other potential homegrown terrorists tied to ​accused Chelsea bomber Ahmad Rahimi.

The development ​arose at a Manhattan federal court hearing for Rahimi, who stands accused of injuring more than 30 people in September with a pressure cooker bomb that he placed in a dumpster on 23rd Street in Manhattan.

At the hearing, prosecutor Emil Bove told Manhattan federal judge Richard Berman that the government wants to seal evidence in the case, including “evidence of radicalization,” amid “on-going investigations, including some targets that are domestically located.”

Bove didn’t elaborate but he told told the judge that “the interests we have raised with the court are strong.”

As a result, the government is seeking to keep evidence in the case under wraps includes “evidence of radicalization, attack planning, evidence relating to funding and financing, bomb building and communications methods, and evidence relating to communications security,” Bove told the judge.

The government also wants an order of protection placed on “search warrant affidavits” and the material produced from those searches, as well as “lab reports and evidence from crime scenes,” Bove said.

The government also wants to keep confidential grand jury materials that relates to its ongoing investigations,” Bove said.

Bove cited “public safety” as the reason to keep Rahimi’s bomb-making techniques under wraps, but made it clear that prosecutors are seeking to keep other evidence away from public view because of their on-going investigations, including domestic targets.

Lawyers for Rahimi objected to the protective order, which would allow them to share the protected evidence with their client but not with any witnesses. Lawyer Sab​​rina Shroff said she and her team would like to review the evidence in question before being told what they can and cannot share with their witnesses.

“It’s hard to say what a document is about without seeing it,” Shroff told the judge.

Judge Berman ordered to two sides to meet privately before the end of Tuesday and report back to him on their discussions before he makes a ruling.
Rahimi, whose name is also spelled Rahami, has pleaded not guilty.

The Elizabeth, NJ, resident also stands accused of detonating a pipe bomb along the route of a Marine Corps charity race in the Jersey shore town of Seaside Park. No one was injured in the New Jersey blast.

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...t-due-in-new-jersey-courtroom/#comment-346195

Bombing Suspect Due In New Jersey Courtroom
December 20, 2016 7:59 AM

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — The man accused of setting off bombs in New Jersey and New York, injuring more than 30 people, is due in a New Jersey courtroom.

Ahmad Khan Rahimi on Tuesday is scheduled to face charges he tried to kill police officers before they captured him on Sept. 19 outside a bar in Linden.

An attorney in October entered not guilty pleas as the Afghan-born U.S. citizen was hospitalized with gunshot wounds sustained in the police shootout.

He is accused of detonating a pipe bomb along the route of a Marine Corps charity race in Seaside Park and a pressure cooker bomb in New York City on Sept. 17. No one was injured in the New Jersey blast, and 31 people were hurt in the New York blast.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2016/12/20/__trashed-8-57/

Accused Chelsea bomber pleads not guilty
By Priscilla DeGregory and David K. Li
December 20, 2016 | 10:16am | Updated

New Jersey prosecuto​​rs said Tuesday they won’t offer accused Chelsea bomber Ahmad Khan Rahimi any deals on attempted murder charges stemming from his ​shootout with arresting officers.

Rahimi, 28, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in an Elizabeth courtroom, where he’s facing five counts of attempted murder for the violent Sept. 19 ​gun battle with New Jersey cops.

“The people do not intend to extend a plea offer,” ​f​irst ​a​ssistant ​p​rosecutor Ann Luvera told the judge. “Since there is no plea being extended we would ask to move to trial as soon as possible.”

Rahimi limped into his appearance before Union County Superior Court Judge Regina Caulfield.

Court officers had to hold up Rahimi by both arms. He struggled just to take one step up into the jury box where he and officers sat for the brief hearing.

Rahimi, who didn’t utter a word during the arraignment, was shackled by his legs and wrists and was wearing a white hat and a black bulletproof vest.

Security was noticeably tight throughout the​ state courthouse.

Rahimi is also facing federal charges in ​Manhattan for bombs that went off in Seaside Park, NJ, and Chelsea.

Rahimi allegedly placed a pressure-cooker bomb inside a dumpster on West 23rd Street on Sept. 17 that went off and injured more than 30 people. Another bomb, which didn’t detonate, was found on West 27th Street and tied to Rahimi.

He’s also accused of placing a pipe bomb that went off along the route for the Marine Corps Charity race in Seaside on hours before the Chelsea bombing. No one was injured in that incident.

Two days after the bombings, cops found Rahami sleeping in the doorway of an Elizabeth bar, authorities said.

When they woke him, Rahami allegedly pulled a gun and shot an officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, police said. Rahami wounded another cop and aimed at three more before his capture, officials said.

Rahimi is set to appear in the Elizabeth courtroom again on Feb. 28.

Defense lawyer Peter Liguori declined comment after the hearing.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2017/01/05/judge-blasts-accused-chelsea-bombers-lawyers-for-trial-delay/

Judge blasts accused Chelsea bomber’s lawyers for trial delay
By Kaja Whitehouse
January 5, 2017 | 12:07am

Ahmad Khan Rahimi
AP


A Manhattan federal judge scolded lawyers for the accused Chelsea bomber, accusing them on Wednesday of dragging their feet and demanding they hurry up and get ready for trial — by the end of March.

“I can tell you, we’re working hard as we do on every case,” said Peggy Cross-Goldenberg, a lawyer for Ahmad Khan Rahimi.

“This is not every case,” a frustrated Judge Richard Berman shot back.

Rahimi stands accused of setting off pipe bombs in New York and New Jersey in September that injured dozens of people.

Judge Berman has set a trial date for March 27 — four months after Rahimi’s November indictment.

Rahimi was arrested in September in a violent shootout that injured two New Jersey cops.

After the arrest, the feds found Rahimi carrying a handwritten journal lauding al Qaeda leaders like Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, they said.

Rahimi — whose name is also spelled Rahami — faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2017/02/15/chelse...pted-murder-rap-from-police-shootout-dropped/

Chelsea bomb suspect wants attempted murder rap from police shootout dropped
By Lia Eustachewich
February 15, 2017 | 4:52pm

A lawyer for the accused terrorist who set off pipe bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey argued Wednesday to get charges dropped stemming from his New Jersey shootout with police.

Ahmad Rahimi, 28, is charged in state court with five counts of attempted murder for the Sept. 19 melee with Linden, NJ cops – on top of a long list of federal charges he faces for the bombings.

His lawyer, Peter Ligouri, argued in New Jersey Superior Court that prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence to support charges he tried to kill the police officers.

Rahimi is accused of planting two bombs in Chelsea last September, one of which that detonated and injured 30 people. He also set off two bombs in New Jersey – one in Seaside Park at a charity run and another in a trash can in Elizabeth.

Days later, the Afghan-born man was wounded and captured after exchanging gunfire with cops.

Two officers were also injured, including one who encountered Rahimi — who sometimes goes by the last name Rahami – sleeping in the outdoor vestibule of a bar. The second officer was hurt when a bullet went through the window of his police car.

Rahimi’s next hearing in state court is Feb. 28.

His federal trial in Manhattan is scheduled for October.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2017/03/02/accused-chelsea-bombers-lawyers-want-case-moved-out-of-state/

Accused Chelsea bomber’s lawyers want case moved out of state
By Kaja Whitehouse
March 2, 2017 | 2:33pm

Lawyers for accused Chelsea bomber Ahmad Rahimi are testing New Yorkers for bias against their client, amid plans to persuade a Manhattan federal judge to move his case out of state.

Federal defender Sabrina Shroff said her team has hired a professional survey taker “to test for bias or prejudice” against Rahimi, who stands accused of setting off bombs in New York and New Jersey in September, injuring dozens of people.

The survey, which is being conducted by phone, kicked off Wednesday, lawyers said.

If the survey results suggest residents of the Big Apple harbor bias against Rahimi, who injured dozens of people in the Sept. 17 blast, his lawyers will request a change of venue, Shroff said.

“If they test and find no bias or prejudice, we won’t make the motion,” Shroff told Manhattan federl court Judge Richard Berman.

Rahimi’s trial is set for Oct. 2nd.

Rahimi, whose name is also spelled Rahami in some documents, stands accused of setting off a pressure-cooker bomb in Chelsea, which injured more than 30 people on Sept. 17th.

Another bomb, which didn’t detonate, was found on West 27th Street.

The Elizabeth, NJ, resident is also charged with detonating a pipe bomb along the route of a Marine Corps charity race in the Jersey shore town of Seaside Park. No one was injured in the New Jersey blast.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2017/05/05/accuse...bi-agent-tricked-him-into-giving-hair-sample/

Accused Chelsea bomber says FBI agent tricked him into giving hair sample
By Kaja Whitehouse
May 5, 2017 | 9:21pm

Ahmad Khan Rahimi, the man accused of setting off bombs in New Jersey and New York's Chelsea neighborhood, injuring 30 people in September, sits in court in Elizabeth, N.J on December 20, 2016. Mel Evans


The accused Chelsea bomber says an FBI agent tricked him into giving up hair samples by pretending to be part of his legal team, court papers show.

In a tale that reads like a scene from a TV legal drama, Ahmad Rahimi says a man he didn’t know visited him in a downtown prison in December and suggested he was part of Rahimi’s legal team.

“Did Sabrina tell you I was coming?” the unidentified man said when he met Rahimi at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Dec. 28, according to court papers.

Rahimi’s lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said she later learned the mystery visitor was an FBI agent. Rahimi’s lawyers have asked the Manhattan federal judge overseeing his case to ban the hair evidence because it was obtained without their knowledge.

A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment.

Rahimi, whose name is sometimes spelled Rahami, was arrested last year and charged with setting off homemade bombs in Chelsea and New Jersey that injured dozens of people.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2017/05/08/chelsea-bombing-suspect-will-have-to-face-justice-in-new-york/

Chelsea bombing suspect will have to face justice in New York
By Kaja Whitehouse
May 8, 2017 | 1:48pm | Updated

A Manhattan federal judge on Monday rejected accused Chelsea bomber Ahmad Rahimi’s request to move his high-profile trial from New York to a state where publicity over the bombings was less pronounced, like Vermont.

New York City hosts a population that “is vastly if not more than sufficient to find fair and impartial jurors,” Judge Richard Berman said in rejecting Rahimi’s change-of-venue request.

“This court has little or no doubt that a fair and impartial jury can be found in this case and that the defendant Rahimi will receive a fair trial,” Berman said in his ruling from the bench.

Rahimi requested that his trial be moved to Vermont or Washington, D.C. earlier this year after his lawyers surveyed New Yorkers and determined that Manhattanites have an “overwhelmingly negative view of Mr. Rahimi.”

Specifically, 45 percent of Manhattan respondents said “that they have already judged Mr. Rahimi to be guilty, while 64 percent “acknowledged harboring a negative view of him,” according to the change-of-venue request by federal defender Sabrina P. Shroff.

“In light of the prejudicial publicity and attitudes of the venire, this court should find that there is a presumption of prejudice in this district compelling a change of venue,” Shroff wrote.

Rahimi, whose trial is set for Oct. 2nd, became the target of a massive manhunt after a pressure-cooker bomb in Chelsea injured more than 30 people in Sept. 2016.

Another bomb, which didn’t detonate, was found on West 27th Street. Pipe bombs were also found along the route of a Marine Corps charity race in the Jersey shore town of Seaside Park.

No one was injured in the New Jersey blast, but Rahimi, whose name is also spelled Rahami, faces charges in Newark federal court over a violent shootout during his arrest that injured two New Jersey cops.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...empted-Murder-Charges-Dropped--422433043.html

Lawyer for Bombing Suspect Ahmad Rahimi Wants Attempted Murder Charges Dropped
Ahmad Rahimi is accused of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey that wounded 31 people in September, as well as trying to kill police officers during his capture
Published 4 hours ago

Ahmad Khan Rahimi, the man accused of setting off bombs in New Jersey and New York in September, injuring more than 30 people, is led into court Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)


A lawyer for a man accused of setting off bombs last year in New Jersey and New York, injuring more than 30 people, has asked a judge to dismiss attempted murder charges stemming from a shootout with police.

Deputy Public Defender Peter Liguori argued Monday there's no evidence Ahmad Rahimi intended to kill officers during a Sept. 19 gunbattle in Linden. He says the evidence might support a lesser charge of aggravated assault.

Liguori says Rashimi was "firing over his shoulder" as he fled. But prosecutors say police testified Rahimi was aiming at them.

At the time, Rahimi was being sought for allegedly planting two bombs in Manhattan and two in New Jersey.

The judge plans to rule on the dismissal motion later this month.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...Laden-Lesson-Ahmad-Khan-Rahimi-429807583.html

Lawyer for Bomb Suspect: Jury Doesn't Need Bin Laden Lesson
By Larry Neumeister
Published 4 hours ago

American jurors no longer need to be schooled about al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and other significant icons of the terrorism world, a lawyer for a man accused of plotting bomb attacks in New Jersey and New York that injured 30 people told a judge on Tuesday.

Assistant federal defender Sabrina Shroff cited bin Laden and others as she argued for the exclusion of the government's terrorism expert from the trial this fall of Ahmad Khan Rahimi.

"I think everybody knows who bin Laden is, or was," Shroff said of the leader of al-Qaida during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, who was killed in a May 2011 raid on his compound in Pakistan by U.S. special forces.

She said prosecutors wanted to use the terrorism expert "to add on to the indictment this gloss of terrorism."

"They want to inject that into a case that is already volatile enough," she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Crowley said the terrorism expert was necessary in part to explain references Rahimi made in an eight-page document that the defendant had included in a notebook he kept.

Crowley said the document shows that he started studying terrorist propaganda in 2012 and within a couple of years was learning to create the kind of bombs he used last September.

"It's the defendant's claims of responsibility, telling the world, telling the United States government ... what he did and why he did it," Crowley said.

Rahimi, a 29-year-old Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen, has pleaded not guilty to detonating a pipe bomb near a charity run in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and planting two pressure cooker bombs in Manhattan on Sept. 17.

The Seaside Park bomb didn't hurt anyone. One of the Manhattan bombs didn't explode, but the other detonated in the Chelsea neighborhood, causing the injuries.

Rahimi's trial is scheduled to start days after the anniversary of his arrest, which came two days after the bombings when he was severely injured during a shootout with police outside a bar in Linden, New Jersey.

Defense lawyers also are seeking to strike down the last two counts of an eight-count indictment. They are charges that could result after conviction in a mandatory life prison sentence.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman in Manhattan said he'll rule Thursday.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2017/09/27/potential-chelsea-bomber-jurors-reveal-hatred-for-isis/

Potential Chelsea ‘bomber’ jurors reveal hatred for ISIS
By Kaja Whitehouse
September 27, 2017 | 10:06pm

Ahmad Rahimi AP


Some New Yorkers called to jury selection in the case of the Chelsea bombing suspect Ahmad Rahimi expressed doubt that they could be impartial in a case that involves ISIS.

“In my personal opinion, they’re just terrorists, OK?” one potential juror said in Manhattan federal court when asked if he had opinions of ISIS that could affect his ability to be fair. “They’re capable of destroying the country.”

Another woman said she has “pretty strong feelings about ISIS” because her husband worked for the State Department in the Obama administration.

Other jurors told the judge they were familiar with the bombings or knew people affected by them, but no one was officially dismissed Wednesday.

Roughly 140 potential jurors filled the courtroom for what is expected to be two full days of jury selection. Opening arguments are set for Oct. 2.

 

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http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...-New-Jersey-Pipe-Bomb-Attacks--448988293.html

Accused NYC, NJ Bomber Thrown Out of Court as Trial Begins
Defense lawyers have argued the government is trying to wrongly paint a picture of Rahimi, an Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen, as an extremist. They say federal lawyers have drummed up a "radicalization" theory
By Colleen Long
Published 3 hours ago | Updated 47 minutes ago

The man accused of setting off a pipe bomb in New York City that injured 30 people was escorted out of court on the first day of his trial when he tried to speak to jurors.

Ahmad Khan Rahimi walked into court Monday and repeatedly asked to speak to the jury, NBC News reported from inside the courtroom. The judge asked him to sit down, but Rahimi continued trying to speak.

That's when he was escorted out of the court room.

While Rahimi has not been charged with terrorism, federal lawyers say his interest in jihad, terrorist attacks and terrorist organizations vastly influenced his plans.

The government said it is seeking to have an expert witness testify about al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders as a primer for jurors and to help explain some writings he made in a journal.

Defense lawyers have argued the government is trying to wrongly paint a picture of Rahimi, an Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen, as an extremist. They say federal lawyers have drummed up a "radicalization" theory.

"To make its case more 'compelling, dramatic, and seductive,'" the lawyers wrote in court papers.

Rahimi, 29, who lived with his family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is charged with detonating a pipe bomb along a charity race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and planting two pressure cooker bombs in Manhattan on Sept. 17, 2016.

One device did not explode. The other one detonated in Chelsea.

Rahimi was shot by law enforcement during his arrest two days after the attacks. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

Jurors were expected to see various terrorism-related videotapes, a book, a blood-stained journal with a bullet hole in it and two 2012 emails found during the investigation, after U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman ruled the evidence could be included because they might show motive, intentions, preparation and knowledge of the bombings.

They also may hear details of a bomb left in an Elizabeth, New Jersey, trash can, along with video recordings of Rahimi in New Jersey and New York on Sept. 17 and setting off explosives in his backyard two days before the bombing.

Prosecutors have said they're not planning to introduce statements Rahimi made in the days after his arrest, gleaned while he was hospitalized and medicated with a breathing tube down his throat. Investigators asked him yes or no questions and had Rahimi nod his head. His lawyers said he was improperly interrogated.

Berman rejected a request to move the trial from New York to Vermont or Washington, D.C.

Rahimi also has been charged with attempted murder in New Jersey, because authorities say he shot at police officers during his arrest. Details of the shootout won't be included in the federal trial.

 

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http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...er-Pipe-Bomb-Ahmad-Khan-Rahimi-449185263.html

Trial for Accused New York City, New Jersey Bomber Reaches Second Day
Defense lawyers have argued the government is trying to wrongly paint a picture of Rahimi, an Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen, as an extremist. They say federal lawyers have drummed up a "radicalization" theory
Published 3 hours ago

Testimony continues Tuesday in the trial of the accused New York City bomber.

Ahmad Khan Rahimi, 29, is accused of setting off a pressure cooker bomb that injured 30 people in Chelsea. Federal prosecutors said at the start of his trial Monday that he was a "soldier in a holy war" bent on carrying out a murderous plot with maximum carnage.

Rahimi researched online, bought ingredients and assembled bombs after watching how-to videos, they said.

He was briefly thrown out of court before the trial started when he tried to address jurors, saying he hadn't been allowed to see his wife and children for almost all of the last year.

Rahimi planted a pipe bomb at a charity race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, that exploded but didn't injure anyone, officials said. He went back home, then took a train into Manhattan and planted two pressure cooker bombs; one didn't go off, they said. The other, hidden near a large trash bin, burst at about 8:30 p.m. sending the 100-pound trash bin flying into the air. The blast shattered windows and sent bits of metal into the air.

The 29-year-old who lived with his family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is not charged with terrorism, but he has been charged with crimes including bombing a public place, using a weapon of mass destruction and interstate transportation of explosives.

He was shot by law enforcement during his arrest two days after the attacks. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

Rahmini's defense attorney, Meghan Gilligan, asked jurors to keep an open mind about the case and said the government would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her client is guilty.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2017/10/03/dramatic-footage-shows-moment-of-chelsea-terror-blast/

Dramatic footage shows moment of Chelsea terror blast
By Kaja Whitehouse and Bruce Golding
October 3, 2017 | 1:49pm

The feds on Tuesday released a chilling video that shows innocent pedestrians recoiling in shock and fleeing in fear when a terrorist bomb blast rattled Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood last year.

The 24-second clip shows a man and a woman casually strolling through a sidewalk shed toward a surveillance camera, then crouching and covering their ears as dust blows toward them.

They quickly run away in the opposite direction, followed by another couple who also flee with their hands over their ears.

The video was among several introduced as evidence at the trial of alleged ISIS supporter Ahmad Rahimi, 29, who’s accused of setting the bomb that exploded inside a Dumpster on West 23rd Street around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17, 2016.

The powerful blast — which injured 31 people — sent the metal trash bin flying more than 100 feet and shattered windows along the block.

Other videos played for the Manhattan federal jury on Monday show Rahimi pulling a pair of roller suitcases along a crowded sidewalk and leaving one bag next to a utility pole on West 27th Street.

The feds say each case contained a bomb, but the one on West 27th failed to detonate.

A video clip also shows two men rummaging through the suitcase that held that device — which was made with a pressure-cooker — and removing the bomb before making off with the bag.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2017/10/10/accused-chelsea-bombers-fingerprints-are-all-over-explosives-expert/

Accused Chelsea bomber’s fingerprints are all over explosives: expert
By Kaja Whitehouse
October 10, 2017 | 8:46pm

A whopping 44 out of 50 fingerprints found on explosive devices and other evidence from last year’s bombings in NY and NJ are linked to Ahmad Rahimi, an FBI fingerprint expert told a Manhattan federal jury Tuesday.

FBI forensic analyst D.J. Fife said he found Rahimi’s finger prints on cell phones, parts of pressure-cooker bombs and other evidence collected after 31 people were injured in Manhattan’s posh Chelsea neighborhood last year.

Rahimi, 29, stands accused of planting the bombs in Chelsea and Seaside Park, NJ, on Sept. 17th 2016 — injuring dozens and causing millions in property damage. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Separately, the feds showed the jury a second video of Rahimi igniting an incendiary device in his backyard — just two days before the devastating Chelsea explosion sent a dumpster flying 120 feet across W. 23rd St.

The video, shot by the cell phone of an unknown woman, shows Rahimi and the woman giggling after a small, black object bursts into flames.

“Oh s–t,” the woman repeats as her phone follows the trail of smoke created by the device, which the feds have since identified as a rock tumbler, which is used to clean rocks.

The feds have yet to explain the purpose of his backyard pyrotechnics except to say that Rahimi set the rock tumbler aflame along with a cell phone and some papers, based on evidence the FBI collected when they searched his Elizabeth, NJ, backyard following the attack.

The feds are expected to rest their case as soon as Wednesday.