Al Queda-inspired 'Chelsea bomber' found guilty

SCREEN CAPTURE

Ahmad Khan Rahimi during his trial.

THE SO-CALLED "CHELSEA BOMBER," who was acting as a one-man terrorist cell, was found guilty for the 2016 bombing in New York City, planting additional explosive devices throughout the city and New Jersey and firing on police officers.

On Oct. 16, a jury returned a guilty verdict against Ahmad Khan Rahimi, aka, “Ahmad Rahami,” 29, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in Manhattan federal court on all eight counts of the Indictment, which charged him with offenses related to his execution and attempted execution of bombings in New York City on Sept. 17, 2016.  

The Afghanistan-born “Ahmad Khan Rahimi constructed bombs with high explosives and shrapnel to inflict maximum damage to innocent victims in multiple locations,” said Dana Boente, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. 

“The defendant's bombs caused injuries to numerous people.  Thanks to outstanding investigative work, the defendant was identified and arrested before he could do any more harm," said Boente.

“On September 17, 2016, Ahmad Khan Rahimi attacked our country and our way of life,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim for the Southern District of New York.   

“Inspired by ISIS and al Qaeda, Rahimi planted and detonated bombs on the streets of Chelsea, in the heart of Manhattan, and in New Jersey, hoping to kill and maim as many innocent people as possible. 

"Today’s verdict is a victory for New York City, a victory for America in its fight against terror, and a victory for all who believe in the cause of justice.”

“Ahmed Rahimi deliberately placed two bombs on the streets of Chelsea in the dark of night with the intention of maiming and killing innocent New Yorkers enjoying a September Saturday night,” NY Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill.  “The fact that victims were not killed when one bomb exploded and another failed to detonate is miraculous.  

As set forth in the Complaint, Indictment and the evidence presented at trial:

On Sept. 17, 2016, Rahimi transported two improvised explosive devices from New Jersey to New York, 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 of New York (the “27th Street Bomb”). 

Ahmad Khan Rahimi was seen leaving the scene of one of his bombing targets.

Around 8:30 p.m., the 23rd Street Bomb – containing a high explosive main charge – detonated, causing injuries to over 30 people and multimillion-dollar property damage across a 650-foot crime scene.  

The explosive components appear to have been placed inside a pressure cooker and left near a dumpster.  The explosion propelled a more-than-one-hundred-pound dumpster – which was introduced as an exhibit at trial – 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 identified by a civilian who promptly called 911, which recorded call was introduced in evidence and played at trial.  The 27th Street Bomb, which was rendered safe prior to detonation, 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. on Sept. 17, 2016, another improvised explosive device, which had been planted by Rahimi in the early morning hours, 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.  Had the race started on time, the bomb would have detonated as runners were passing by where Rahimi had planted it. 

On Sept. 18, 2016, at approximately 8:40 p.m., six 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 defuse it.

The next morning, 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 (including “The sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets” and “Bombs set off in the streets they plan to run a mile”),  and praised Usama Bin Laden, the former leader of al Qaeda, Anwar al-Awlaki, a former senior leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Mohammed al-Adnani, a former senior leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham and Nidal Hasan, who shot and killed 13 people in Foot Hood, Texas.

Rahimi, who faces mandatory sentence of life in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 18, 2018.