Ahmad Rahami's dad accused son of being a terrorist in 2014
ELIZABETH, N.J. — Bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami surfaced on the FBI’s radar about two years ago when Rahami’s father allegedly referred to his son as a terrorist, federal law enforcement officials told USA TODAY on Tuesday.
Federal investigators also are seeking to question Rahami’s wife, who recently left the country to visit relatives in Pakistan, according to the officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly. The wife’s travel, while of interest, did not immediately appear to be related or timed to Rahami’s alleged bombing campaign, they said.
Authorities arrested Rahami, 28, on Monday following a shootout with police in nearby Linden, and charged him with multiple counts of possessing a weapon without a permit and attempting to use it to kill the officers who apprehended him. He is a suspect in the New York City bombing that wounded 29 people Saturday in addition to other bomb incidents in the city and nearby New Jersey in which no one was hurt.
Mohammad Rahami, his father, made the terrorist claim during a domestic quarrel in which Ahmad Rahami was allegedly brandishing a knife in a confrontation with a brother, according to the official. During the incident, the official said, a neighbor heard Mohammad Rahami order his son out of the house, calling him a terrorist.
Local police were called and, as part of the investigation, the neighbor’s statement was passed to the FBI as part of the bureau’s "guardian" program, which pursues tips from the public about possible terror activity.
The official said the FBI reviewed Ahmad Rahami’s prior activity and interviewed the father twice. The father told agents, according to the official, that he made the terrorist claim out of anger, though he did express concerns about Rahami’s choice of friends.
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The matter was closed when authorities found nothing to support any terrorist ties involving Rahami, who had been arrested related to the suspected domestic assault, the officials said.
The FBI’s review did not trigger his placement on a government watch list because information gathered by authorities at the time found nothing to support such a placement, a second federal official told USA TODAY.
On Tuesday, Mohammad Rahami was walking to his car near the family’s home here when reporters asked him if he believed his son was a terrorist.
The answer: “No.”
He also responded to reports that Ahmad Rahami stabbed his brother, Nasim, in the leg during the altercation in 2014, when the family lived in nearby Perth Amboy. Mohammad Rahami acknowledged the incident occurred, adding “there was no reason.”
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Federal authorities are continuing to pursue a possible motive or source of radicalization. One of the federal officials told USA TODAY that a rambling note was allegedly found with Rahami when he was arrested.
The note, the official said, made references to the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, where 13 people were killed after Army Maj. Nidal Hasan opened fire on colleagues.
The writings also referenced al-Qaeda strategist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a 2011 U.S. drone strike and the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that left three dead and involved pressure-cooker devices similar to those allegedly planted by Rahami.
Rahami has had a bumpy legal ride as an adult in the U.S., records show. He was accused of violating a domestic violence restraining order in February 2012, according to court documents obtained by the USA TODAY Network. A complaint and warrant filed in the Elizabeth Municipal Court said a Union County Sheriff's officer observed Rahami violating the order. The documents did not provide any further information, but bail was set at $1,000.
In August 2008, Superior Court in Middlesex County ordered Rahami to undergo genetic testing to determine paternity in a family court matter where he had been named defendant. Court documents identify the woman who brought the complaint as Maria J. Mena, who later was granted "residential custody" of a child.
Rahami was also ordered to pay child care and the costs of the genetic testing, in addition to having part of his wages subject to garnishment, court papers say.
In other documents, Mena in 2011 asked the courts to prevent the minor child from spending overnights at the home of Rahami's parents on Elmora Avenue in Elizabeth. A judge denied the request, however, saying she had not shown evidence that Rahami was planning to take the child out of the country.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he was confident as early as Saturday that investigators would track down the person responsible for the bombings. Christie, speaking on The Boomer and Carton Show on WFAN on Tuesday, said authorities told him there was sufficient evidence left at a pipe bomb explosion in Seaside Park on Saturday morning to jump-start an investigation.
The blast in the Chelsea section of Manhattan came later Saturday, and an unexploded device was found hours later a few blocks away. On Monday, several pipe bombs were found in a bag in a trash can at the Elizabeth train station. One of them blew up while being disarmed by a robot.
“We had been pretty optimistic, almost from the beginning of the weekend – when the first explosion happened in Seaside,” Christie said. “Within a few hours, my guys were saying to me ‘there is a lot of evidence here, we’re going to be able to find this guy.’ ”
Johnson writes for USA TODAY; Zehawi and Wyrich for The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record. Contributing: John Bacon, USA TODAY; Jeff Pillets, The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record
