Rahimi Allegedly Detonated and Attempted to Detonate Bombs
on Public Streets in the Chelsea Neighborhood of Manhattan
Ahmad Khan Rahimi aka Ahmad Rahami, 28, of Elizabeth, New
Jersey, was charged today in Manhattan federal court in an eight-count
indictment for offenses related to his alleged execution and attempted
execution of bombings in New York City on Sept. 17, announced Acting Assistant
Attorney General for the National Security Division Mary B. McCord and U.S.
Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge
Richard M. Berman for the Southern District of New York.
“Ahmad Khan Rahimi has been indicted in New York and
separately charged in New Jersey for allegedly planting and detonating bombs
that resulted in numerous injuries,” said, Acting Assistant Attorney General
McCord. “It was through world class investigative
work that the defendant was identified and arrested before he could do any more
harm. Pursuing those who seek to conduct
attacks on our homeland will always remain the highest priority of the National
Security Division.”
“Two months ago, Ahmad Khan Rahimi allegedly planted bombs
in the heart of Manhattan and in New Jersey,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “The bomb that exploded in Chelsea shattered
windows hundreds of yards away and propelled a 100-pound dumpster over 120
feet, injuring over 30 people. Now
indicted by a grand jury, Rahimi will face justice in a federal court for his
alleged violent acts of terrorism.”
As alleged in the criminal complaint that was filed on Sept.
20 and the indictment that was filed today:
On Sept. 17, Rahimi transported two improvised explosive
devices from New Jersey to New York.
Rahimi placed one of the devices in the vicinity of 135 West 23rd Street
in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York (the 23rd Street Bomb) and the other in
the vicinity of 131 West 27th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood (the 27th
Street Bomb).
At approximately 8:30 p.m., the 23rd Street Bomb –
consisting of a high explosive main charge – detonated, causing injuries to
over 30 people and multiple millions of dollars of property damage across a
650-foot crime scene. The injuries
included, among other things, lacerations to the face, abdomen, legs and arms
caused by flying glass; metal shrapnel and fragmentation embedded in skin and
bone and various head injuries. The
explosive components appear to have been placed inside a pressure cooker and
left in a dumpster. The explosion
propelled the more than 100-pound dumpster more than 120 feet. The blast shattered windows as far as
approximately 400 feet from the blast site and, vertically, more than three
stories high.
Shortly after the 23rd Street Bomb detonated, the 27th
Street Bomb was located by law enforcement.
The 27th Street Bomb, which failed to detonate, consisted of, among
other things, a pressure cooker connected with wires to a cellular telephone,
likely to function as a timer, and packaged with an explosive main charge, ball
bearings and steel nuts.
Earlier that day, at approximately 9:35 a.m., another
improvised explosive device, which also was planted by Rahimi, detonated in the
vicinity of Seaside Park, New Jersey, along the route for the Seaside Semper
Five Marine Corps Charity 5K race. The
start of the race – which was scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. – was delayed on
account of other law enforcement activity.
On Sept. 18, at approximately 8:40 p.m., additional
improvised explosive devices that Rahimi also planted were found inside a
backpack located at the entrance to the New Jersey Transit station in
Elizabeth. One of these devices
detonated as law enforcement used a robot to attempt to defuse it.
On Sept. 19, at approximately 9:30 a.m., Rahimi was arrested
by police in Linden, New Jersey. Rahimi
fired multiple shots at police, striking and injuring multiple police officers
before he was himself shot, subdued and placed under arrest. In the course of Rahimi’s arrest, a
handwritten journal was recovered from Rahimi’s person. Written in the journal were, among other
things, mentions of explosive devices and laudatory references to Usama Bin
Laden, the former leader of al Qaeda, Anwar al-Awlaki, a former senior leader
of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Nidal Hasan, who shot and killed 13
people in Foot Hood, Texas.
*
* *
Rahimi is charged in
the indictment with one count of using a weapon of mass destruction, one count
of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, one count of bombing a place
of public use, one count of destroying property by means of fire or explosive,
one count of attempting to destroy property by means of fire or explosive, one
count of interstate transportation and receipt of explosives and two counts of
using of a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence, namely,
the use and attempted use of weapons of mass destruction.
The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress
and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of
the defendant will be determined by the judge.
In addition to the pending charges in Manhattan federal
court, Rahimi also has been charged in the federal court for the District of
New Jersey in a complaint with offenses in connection with his alleged efforts
to detonate explosives in Seaside Park and Elizabeth and in New Jersey state
court for attempted homicide of police officers during his arrest.
U.S. Attorney Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of the
FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force.
U.S. Attorney Bharara also thanked the Counterterrorism Section of the
Department of Justice’s National Security Division for its assistance.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the
Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas J. Lewin,
Emil J. Bove III, Andrew J. DeFilippis and Shawn G. Crowley are in charge of
the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Brian K. Morgan of the
National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
The charges contained in the complaint and the indictment are
merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty.
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