The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
http://nypost.com/2017/10/12/prosec...-was-act-of-war-in-dramatic-closing-argument/
Prosecutor says Chelsea bombing was ‘act of war’ in dramatic closing argument
By Priscilla DeGregory
October 12, 2017 | 7:41pm
In a dramatic two-and-a-half-hour closing argument, a federal prosecutor told jurors of accused “Chelsea bomber” Ahmad Rahimi, “He built these bombs for months with guidance from terror organizations…it is nothing short of a miracle that no one died in this attack.”
“Who did these things? This man did these things, the defendant Ahmad Khan Rahimi conducted these bombings… with evil in his heart,” assistant US attorney Emil Bove said standing mere inches from Rahimi.
“He wanted to maximize the death, devastation and destruction,” Bove later added.
At one point during the remarks Bove even forcefully placed a pressure cooker and ball bearings before jurors to demonstrate the intent and destruction Rahimi hoped to cause.
“The defendant was proud of his bombs, proud of his plan. It was an act of war,” Bove said.
“There is no miracle defense. It is not a defense that no one died. It is not a defense that these bombs didn’t go off while being transported. It’s not a defense that the bomb at 27th street was defused before it could go off,” Bove argued.
Earlier, the final witness took the stand and tearfully recounted being stopped at a red light when the West 23rd Street bomb detonated, shattering the windows of the car she was in.
Tsitsi Merritt began crying as the jury was shown a video of the white Toyota Prius that a friend was driving with Merritt and her 11-year-old son as passengers when the bomb went off on Sept. 17, 2016.
Prosecutors say Ahmad Rahimi, 29, placed a series of bombs in Chelsea and in Seaside, NJ.
The video shows the car stopped at a light and its back window bursting out, while bystanders start running in panic as debris falls around them.
“We heard a loud sound and the car we were in jumped and was shaking — I relate it to an earthquake. We heard people running and screaming. The back seat windows shattered onto [my son], some rear view mirror damaged,” Merritt said in Manhattan federal court on Thursday.
Merritt said the driver and her son were dazed after the explosion. “[My friend] drove past the traffic light because when the explosion happened she was in a daze. She was not responding to me. I said, ‘Get out of here!’ At Houston [Street] she stopped. I was telling my son, ‘You’re OK,’” Merritt said.
“My ears were ringing. A lot of vibration going on in my head. I felt like I had an alien head. I couldn’t really grasp how I was feeling,” Merritt said of her injuries.
After the prosecution rested, Rahimi’s defense team did the same after deciding not to put their client on the stand.
The defense is expected to begin its closing arguments Friday morning and jurors could begin deliberating in the afternoon.
Prosecutor says Chelsea bombing was ‘act of war’ in dramatic closing argument
By Priscilla DeGregory
October 12, 2017 | 7:41pm
In a dramatic two-and-a-half-hour closing argument, a federal prosecutor told jurors of accused “Chelsea bomber” Ahmad Rahimi, “He built these bombs for months with guidance from terror organizations…it is nothing short of a miracle that no one died in this attack.”
“Who did these things? This man did these things, the defendant Ahmad Khan Rahimi conducted these bombings… with evil in his heart,” assistant US attorney Emil Bove said standing mere inches from Rahimi.
“He wanted to maximize the death, devastation and destruction,” Bove later added.
At one point during the remarks Bove even forcefully placed a pressure cooker and ball bearings before jurors to demonstrate the intent and destruction Rahimi hoped to cause.
“The defendant was proud of his bombs, proud of his plan. It was an act of war,” Bove said.
“There is no miracle defense. It is not a defense that no one died. It is not a defense that these bombs didn’t go off while being transported. It’s not a defense that the bomb at 27th street was defused before it could go off,” Bove argued.
Earlier, the final witness took the stand and tearfully recounted being stopped at a red light when the West 23rd Street bomb detonated, shattering the windows of the car she was in.
Tsitsi Merritt began crying as the jury was shown a video of the white Toyota Prius that a friend was driving with Merritt and her 11-year-old son as passengers when the bomb went off on Sept. 17, 2016.
Prosecutors say Ahmad Rahimi, 29, placed a series of bombs in Chelsea and in Seaside, NJ.
The video shows the car stopped at a light and its back window bursting out, while bystanders start running in panic as debris falls around them.
“We heard a loud sound and the car we were in jumped and was shaking — I relate it to an earthquake. We heard people running and screaming. The back seat windows shattered onto [my son], some rear view mirror damaged,” Merritt said in Manhattan federal court on Thursday.
Merritt said the driver and her son were dazed after the explosion. “[My friend] drove past the traffic light because when the explosion happened she was in a daze. She was not responding to me. I said, ‘Get out of here!’ At Houston [Street] she stopped. I was telling my son, ‘You’re OK,’” Merritt said.
“My ears were ringing. A lot of vibration going on in my head. I felt like I had an alien head. I couldn’t really grasp how I was feeling,” Merritt said of her injuries.
After the prosecution rested, Rahimi’s defense team did the same after deciding not to put their client on the stand.
The defense is expected to begin its closing arguments Friday morning and jurors could begin deliberating in the afternoon.
