And yet Senior writer for the Weekly Standard and regular panelist on Fox News’ Special Report Stephen HayesFBI officials said Rahami was not on any terror watch list but he had traveled multiple times to Afghanistan
hno:
ended up on the Department of Homeland Security’s terrorist watch list supposedly because he took a one-way
flight to Turkey and returned on a flight from Athens.
WTF is wrong with that picture?
'Americans must not give in to fear': Barack Obama says citizens must remain strong for 'days and years to come' in wake of NY and NJ bombings - but doesn't call attacks 'terrorism'
Barack Obama has said that Americans must remain 'tough and resolute' after bombings in New York and New Jersey - but never called the bombings 'terrorism.' Obama, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, said in a brief speech that the recent bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey should not cause citizens to give in to fear. 'They want to inspire fear in all of us and disrupt the way we live, undermine our values even as we are vigilant and aggressive in preventing senseless acts of violence,' Obama said.
Barack Obama has said that Americans must remain 'tough and resolute' after bombings in New York and New Jersey - but never called the bombings 'terrorism.' Obama, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, said in a brief speech that the recent bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey should not cause citizens to give in to fear. 'They want to inspire fear in all of us and disrupt the way we live, undermine our values even as we are vigilant and aggressive in preventing senseless acts of violence,' Obama said.
[h=1]Terror suspect was arrested for STABBING but a grand jury let him walk despite cop's warning he was 'a danger' - as it's revealed he was a deadbeat dad who hated America and gays[/h]
PUBLISHED: 23:43, 19 September 2016 | UPDATED: 02:46, 20 September 2016
The 28-year-old man suspected of planting bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey over the weekend was previously arrested for stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm in 2014, DailMail.com has learned.
But a grand jury let him walk, despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was likely 'a danger to himself or others.'
Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was arrested on Monday in Linden, N.J., after a manhunt ended in a shootout with police, was also a deadbeat dad who didn't like America and hated gays, according to the mother of his young daughter.
Rahami is accused of planting multiple homemade bombs in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, which injured 29 on Saturday night, as well as explosives near a train station in Elizabeth, N.J. that were disarmed by law enforcement on Sunday.
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Firearm possession: Ahmad Rahami was arrested on Monday morning after a shootout with police. He had been arrested before for firearms possession and an alleged stabbing
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Firearm charge: This was the criminal complaint brought against Ahmad Rahami which alleged possession of a firearm
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Also arrested: This was the criminal complaint brought against Rahami for allegedly stabbing someone in the leg. A grand jury declined to indict him
This was not the first arrest for Rahami, a New Jersey resident who emigrated from Afghanistan and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Criminal court filings obtained by DailyMail.com show he has previous arrests for assault and gun charges.
However, in that case a grand jury failed to indict Rahami and he was let back out onto the streets.
On August 22, 2014, Rahami was arrested for aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a knife after allegedly stabbing an individual named Nasim Rahami in the left leg in an 'attempt to cause serious bodily injury.'
A neighbor told Haartz newspaper that Rahami has a brother named Nasim Rahami, while the case was classified as domestic violence in the complaint and arrest warrant.
Rahami was also arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm 'with a purpose to use it unlawfully against the person or property of Nasim Rahami'.
'Clown': Ahmad Rahami ( left, and on his arrest mugshot for attempted murder, right) was once a class clown - but now he's under arrest in connection with the New York and New Jersey bomb attacks
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Rahami (pictured in his year book in 2007) is said to have changed after returning from a trip back to Afghanistan
According to the arrest warrant, 'the officer has reason to believe that the person [Ahmad Rahami] is a danger to himself, others, or property.'
But despite the warning, Rahami was never charged by a grand jury, according to officials at the criminal court division of the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth, N.J.
Rahami, who came over to America with his family, aged seven, as asylum seekers in 1995.
At high school he became known as the 'class clown' before he went to work at his family's chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey from 2002.
But his former partner - and mother to his child - described Rahami as a deadbeat dad who failed to pay his child support and had a deep seated mistrust of the West.
Maria, who declined to give her first name, told FoxNews.com that she and the 28-year-old had been high school sweethearts after they met at Edison High School.
While he was critical of American culture compared to the strict Islamic rules of his homeland, Maria never believed he'd never go as far as to hurt innocent people.
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Shot: Rahami was shot in the arm and leg before being arrested Monday. He had become 'serious' and 'closed off' after a visit to Afghanistan, one childhood friend said
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Captured: This was the moment Ahmad Rahami was arrested after a shoot-out Monday. Friends said he only became religious after visiting Afghanistan years ago
'He seemed standoffish to American culture, but I never thought he would cross the line,' she said. 'I never thought he would do something like this,' she said through tears. 'I think he was brainwashed.'
The couple had a child together but Maria said that Rahami would fail to pay his child support and would take trips back to Afghanistan - staying weeks or even months at a time.
Right before their daughter was born, Maria said Rahami had been stuck in the Middle Eastern country after authorities seized his passport although she says she was never clear as to why.
The last trip that Maria, 26, was aware of Rahami went back to his homeland was nine years ago - when he brought back a new wife and another child.
But while they were together, she says he would often compared American culture to life in Afghanistan, saying how 'there weren't homosexuals in Afghanistan.'
He was also heavily critical of the military, once pointing out a military character as 'the bad person' to his young daughter.
Maria wouldn't reveal why she and Rahami broke up but did say that she did not want him anywhere near their daughter.
'I didn't want him to see my daughter,' she said. 'If he loved her, he would have paid child support. My greatest fear is that he would try to take my daughter.'
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Confused: Rahami's father, Mohammad Sr (right) said he didn't know of his son's alleged plans, and that he's 'not sure what's happening exactly'
Other friends describe noticing a marked change in Rahami after he returned from a long trip back to the Middle East two years ago.
'At one point he left to go to Afghanistan, and two years ago he came back, popped up out of nowhere and he was real religious,' his friend Flee Jones, 27, told the Boston Herald.
'And it was shocking. I'm trying to understand what's going on. I've never seen him like this.'
Jones told The New York Times that after returning Rahami became 'a completely different person' who was 'closed off' and started praying in the back of the family's chicken restaurant.
Rahami has made 'multiple' visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years.
Authorities told CNN that Rahami had spent a year, between 2013 and 2014, in Pakistan where he traveled to a Taliban stronghold.
When he returned to the United States, he went through routine questioning but was not picked up as a potential terrorist. He was not placed on any terrorist watch list.
He also married a Pakistani woman, CNN's Situation Room reported.
One friend told CNN that Rahami's father had wanted him to go back to Afghanistan to learn discipline.
Today, his father Mohammad Sr, 53, denied all knowledge of the plot.
When asked by MSNBC whether he knew of his son's alleged plot, he shook his head and replied 'No'.
Reporters asked whether Mohammad Snr. believed whether the allegations against his son might be true. He said: 'I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not sure what's happening exactly.
'But I think so. It's very hard right now to talk, okay?'
A neighbor to the family, former Marine Jonathan Wagner, told Haaretz that he'd known the family for two decades and went to school with a brother of Rahami - named Nasim.
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Family business: The Rahami family owned and ran First American Fried Chicken. The suspect was often seen serving in it, while his father, Mohammad, was a constant presence.
He claimed that the bomber's father 'used to be a Mujahedeen in Afghanistan.' 'He is from the same city where I was deployed as a marine,' he said.
A Mujahedeen is the term for one engaged in Jihad. There is no evidence that Mohammad Snr. engaged in any terror-related activities.
Wagner said that Mohammad Snr. used to say the Taliban was ruining Afghanistan.
And a person who appeared to be related to Rahami and apparently shared his home posted pro-Islamist militancy images on Facebook, AOL reported.
The site said someone of the same name as Rahami posted an image of foreign fighters training in Syria along with a quote by Khalid Bin Walid, named in the Koran as a military commander and companion of the Prophet Muhammad.
The quote reads: 'I bring the men who desire death as ardently as you desire life.'
Ahmad and the other men working in the shop had largely worn Western clothing - until recently, one local, who did not wish to be identified, told Dailymail.com. However, his Pakistani wife had always worm the traditional hijab/
'Up until recently they wore regular clothes like us and then they started dressing in their culture's clothes,' they said.
But as a boy at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, he was a 'class clown' who messed around with classmates and talked sports, a friend told Buzzfeed News.
'He was in my 9th grade English class,' Hakeem Ezzouhairy, 27, of Maplewood, said. 'Very funny, class clown. Got along with everyone, was a very nice kid.
'Never would I [have] thought years later he would be capable of something like this.'
That was a sentiment shared by Rahami's father, Mohammad Sr, who shook his head and said 'No' when asked by MSNBC whether he knew of his son's alleged plot.
And when asked whether he believed whether the allegations against his son might be true, the man said: 'I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not sure what's happening exactly.
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Ahmad Rahami had lived in these Perth Amboy, New Jersey apartments up until three months ago
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Investigators have searched the home Ahmad Khan Rahami in Elizabeth, New Jersey
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FBI agents are seen carrying out evidence from the home of the bomber in New Jersey
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Mohammed Rahami (R), the father of Ahmad Khan Rahami has denied all knowledge of the terror plot
And despite the horrors he would be accused of, some said he was friendly in the restaurant.
Ryan McCann, a local who ate at the shop, told BBC Worldwide: 'He'd always talk about his cars. He loved Civics, he loved going fast, that's what he did, he'd talk about his cars.'
But Rahami and his family didn't fit perfectly into the Elizabeth community.
In 2011 his father brought a lawsuit on his own behalf and that of his two sons against his local police department, claiming they discriminated against him for being Muslim.
The lawsuit was filed by Mohammad Sr., 53, and Ahmad's brother Mohammad Q Rahami.
In the lawsuit, the Rahamis claimed that a chicken restaurant the family owned - America First Fried Chicken - was selectively targeted by law enforcement for staying open past 10 p.m., despite having a permit to operate.
The lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Newark, says that the family are from Afghanistan and are all Muslims who have owned the chicken restaurant since 2002.
They alleged that for two years beginning in April 2009 they were unfairly targeted for staying open past 10pm despite being permitted to do so.
The lawsuit says that the police had a 'reckless disregard and deliberate indifference for plaintiff's constitutional rights of liberty, due process and equal protection'.
The Elizabeth police department allegedly 'embarked on a course to harass, humiliate, retaliate against and force their business to close at 10pm'.
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Evidence: Teams continued to investigate West 23 Street Monday. Evidence indicted Rahami was the New York and New Jersey bomber, the FBI claimed Monday
+20
Damage: The explosion injured 29 people and caused a large amount of damage. Other bombs were found in NY and New Jersey, all of which have been blamed on Rahami
The lawsuit also claimed that the officers told them there was 'too much crime around here' and that the area around the restaurant was 'known for criminal activity'.
One of Ahmed's brothers got into a fight with a police officer who tried to shut down the restaurant, BBC Worldwide reported, but fled to Afghanistan before he could be prosecuted.
The Rahamis alleged they were being subject to 'selective enforcement' that was 'solely based on an animus against plaintiff's religion, creed, race and national origin'.
They claim that as a result of the police shutting them down at 10pm, despite other businesses being allowed to stay open at that time, they suffered economic hardship.
The court documents confirm that Ahmad was also arrested for obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, although they do not specify when or what the outcomes were.
The family also claimed that they suffered racist abuse at the hands of James McDermott, the owner of Dean Relay Press and Radio, a photo agency that is near to the Rahami's chicken restaurant.
He allegedly told them: 'You are Muslims...Muslims make too much trouble in this country.'
McDermott is alleged to have told them that 'Muslims should not have businesses here', 'Muslims are trouble' and 'Muslims don't belong here'. He rejects all claims.
The 11 count lawsuit names the City of Elizabeth, the Elizabeth Police Department, six Elizabeth police officers, chief of police Ronald Simon and police director James Cosgrove.
They say the harassment was 'baseless and without probable cause' and breached the family's constitutional rights.
The Rahamis claimed that it also claim it was 'discrimination', 'false arrest' and 'abuse of process' that left them suffering distress, embarrassment and damage to their reputation.
Court records show that the complaint was dismissed with prejudice in 2012, meaning that it could not be brought again.
McDermott told DailyMail.com that the claims against him were absolutely untrue.
Elizabeth Mayor J Christian Bollwage said in a press event Monday that the closures were effected by local authorities because the restaurant was attracting a noisy crowd late at night, causing a 'quality of life issue.'
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The case was dismissed with prejudice.
The Rahami family is made up of Mohammad snr, 53, his wife, two adult sons, Ahmad and Mohammad Qasim, 25, apparently known as Qasim, and two adult daughters, Aziza, and Zobyedh.
Zobyedh is a student at a nearby campus of Rutgers university, studying towards a B.S. in public health.
She is a writer on the university newspaper, the Daily Targum, and had previously worked as an assistant at the Asian American Cultural Center at the university, and had posted anti-Donald Trump material on social media.
Neighbors on the same block as First American Fried Chicken told DailyMail.com that the family largely isolated from the community.
One woman who lives in the street said: 'Mohammad [Ahmad] is a very nice man, always wearing white and he would pray in the back of the shop.
'I would wait at the counter for him to finish and he would come and take the orders.'
She said that during a visit to the shop in the last few weeks, she had seen two new men behind the counter who she had never seen before and that Ahmad Rahami was cooking food in the back of the store.
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Family: Among the Rahami family is daughter Zobyedh, who is a public health student at nearby Rutgers University
Plea: The suspected bomber's sister issued this appeal on social media.
A young teenage boy who often worked in the store served her.
She said the other men who were behind the counter spoke to Ahmad Rahami in a language the young boy didn't understand.
Another neighbor said that the father was always in the shop working, and that the other brothers were not seen as frequently.
Of the father, the neighbor said: 'He was clearly very devoted to his religion. He was very quiet and seemed very nice. You would see him praying sometimes.'
Federal authorities launched a public manhunt for Rahami, after reportedly spotting him on surveillance video planting the homemade pressure-cooker bombs in Chelsea on Sunday. His fingerprints were also allegedly found on one of the explosives.
Rahami, who was described by authorities as 'armed and dangerous,' was captured on Monday morning after he was reportedly discovered sleeping on a street in Linden, N.J. He opened fire on police when they approached, and was wounded in an ensuing gunfight before being taken into custody around 11 a.m.
Federal authorities said they have not found any indication yet that Rahami was operating as part of a larger terror cell and are still investigating whether there was a potential foreign link for the terror attack.
Rahami is currently being held on $5.2 million bail and remains in hospital. Police say he is refusing to cooperate with the authorities.
He is charged with five counts of attempted murder, and two gun charges.
Federal charges in the bombings have yet to be filed.
- Criminal court documents show Ahmad Rahami was arrested for stabbing someone in the leg and possession of a firearm in 2014
- Grand jury let him walk despite the arresting officer saying Rahami was likely 'a danger to himself or others'
- The 28-year-old suspected New York and New Jersey bomber was accused of attacking Nasim Rahami - it is believed they are brothers
- His former partner and mother of his daughter described Rahami as a deadbeat dad who failed to pay child support
- Maria, who was his high school sweetheart, says her ex would disappear to Afghanistan for months at a time and was critical of America
- She said he hated the U.S. military and homosexuals in Western culture
- Friends described him as a 'class clown' who changed after a trip back to Afghanistan two years ago
- Authorities say Rahami also spent a year, between 2013 and 2014, in Pakistan where he traveled to a Taliban stronghold
- His father Mohammad Snr. denied all knowledge of the terror plot
- Rahami used a firearm when he was cornered by police on Monday morning in Linden, N.J. - two officers were injured in shoot-out
- He's charged with five counts of attempted murder and two gun charges
PUBLISHED: 23:43, 19 September 2016 | UPDATED: 02:46, 20 September 2016
The 28-year-old man suspected of planting bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey over the weekend was previously arrested for stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm in 2014, DailMail.com has learned.
But a grand jury let him walk, despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was likely 'a danger to himself or others.'
Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was arrested on Monday in Linden, N.J., after a manhunt ended in a shootout with police, was also a deadbeat dad who didn't like America and hated gays, according to the mother of his young daughter.
Rahami is accused of planting multiple homemade bombs in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, which injured 29 on Saturday night, as well as explosives near a train station in Elizabeth, N.J. that were disarmed by law enforcement on Sunday.
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Firearm possession: Ahmad Rahami was arrested on Monday morning after a shootout with police. He had been arrested before for firearms possession and an alleged stabbing
+20
Firearm charge: This was the criminal complaint brought against Ahmad Rahami which alleged possession of a firearm
+20
+20
Also arrested: This was the criminal complaint brought against Rahami for allegedly stabbing someone in the leg. A grand jury declined to indict him
This was not the first arrest for Rahami, a New Jersey resident who emigrated from Afghanistan and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Criminal court filings obtained by DailyMail.com show he has previous arrests for assault and gun charges.
However, in that case a grand jury failed to indict Rahami and he was let back out onto the streets.
On August 22, 2014, Rahami was arrested for aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a knife after allegedly stabbing an individual named Nasim Rahami in the left leg in an 'attempt to cause serious bodily injury.'
A neighbor told Haartz newspaper that Rahami has a brother named Nasim Rahami, while the case was classified as domestic violence in the complaint and arrest warrant.
Rahami was also arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm 'with a purpose to use it unlawfully against the person or property of Nasim Rahami'.
'Clown': Ahmad Rahami ( left, and on his arrest mugshot for attempted murder, right) was once a class clown - but now he's under arrest in connection with the New York and New Jersey bomb attacks
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Rahami (pictured in his year book in 2007) is said to have changed after returning from a trip back to Afghanistan
According to the arrest warrant, 'the officer has reason to believe that the person [Ahmad Rahami] is a danger to himself, others, or property.'
But despite the warning, Rahami was never charged by a grand jury, according to officials at the criminal court division of the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth, N.J.
Rahami, who came over to America with his family, aged seven, as asylum seekers in 1995.
At high school he became known as the 'class clown' before he went to work at his family's chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey from 2002.
But his former partner - and mother to his child - described Rahami as a deadbeat dad who failed to pay his child support and had a deep seated mistrust of the West.
Maria, who declined to give her first name, told FoxNews.com that she and the 28-year-old had been high school sweethearts after they met at Edison High School.
While he was critical of American culture compared to the strict Islamic rules of his homeland, Maria never believed he'd never go as far as to hurt innocent people.
+20
Shot: Rahami was shot in the arm and leg before being arrested Monday. He had become 'serious' and 'closed off' after a visit to Afghanistan, one childhood friend said
+20
Captured: This was the moment Ahmad Rahami was arrested after a shoot-out Monday. Friends said he only became religious after visiting Afghanistan years ago
'He seemed standoffish to American culture, but I never thought he would cross the line,' she said. 'I never thought he would do something like this,' she said through tears. 'I think he was brainwashed.'
The couple had a child together but Maria said that Rahami would fail to pay his child support and would take trips back to Afghanistan - staying weeks or even months at a time.
Right before their daughter was born, Maria said Rahami had been stuck in the Middle Eastern country after authorities seized his passport although she says she was never clear as to why.
The last trip that Maria, 26, was aware of Rahami went back to his homeland was nine years ago - when he brought back a new wife and another child.
But while they were together, she says he would often compared American culture to life in Afghanistan, saying how 'there weren't homosexuals in Afghanistan.'
He was also heavily critical of the military, once pointing out a military character as 'the bad person' to his young daughter.
Maria wouldn't reveal why she and Rahami broke up but did say that she did not want him anywhere near their daughter.
'I didn't want him to see my daughter,' she said. 'If he loved her, he would have paid child support. My greatest fear is that he would try to take my daughter.'
- SHARE PICTURE
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Confused: Rahami's father, Mohammad Sr (right) said he didn't know of his son's alleged plans, and that he's 'not sure what's happening exactly'
Other friends describe noticing a marked change in Rahami after he returned from a long trip back to the Middle East two years ago.
'At one point he left to go to Afghanistan, and two years ago he came back, popped up out of nowhere and he was real religious,' his friend Flee Jones, 27, told the Boston Herald.
'And it was shocking. I'm trying to understand what's going on. I've never seen him like this.'
Jones told The New York Times that after returning Rahami became 'a completely different person' who was 'closed off' and started praying in the back of the family's chicken restaurant.
Rahami has made 'multiple' visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years.
Authorities told CNN that Rahami had spent a year, between 2013 and 2014, in Pakistan where he traveled to a Taliban stronghold.
When he returned to the United States, he went through routine questioning but was not picked up as a potential terrorist. He was not placed on any terrorist watch list.
He also married a Pakistani woman, CNN's Situation Room reported.
One friend told CNN that Rahami's father had wanted him to go back to Afghanistan to learn discipline.
Today, his father Mohammad Sr, 53, denied all knowledge of the plot.
When asked by MSNBC whether he knew of his son's alleged plot, he shook his head and replied 'No'.
Reporters asked whether Mohammad Snr. believed whether the allegations against his son might be true. He said: 'I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not sure what's happening exactly.
'But I think so. It's very hard right now to talk, okay?'
A neighbor to the family, former Marine Jonathan Wagner, told Haaretz that he'd known the family for two decades and went to school with a brother of Rahami - named Nasim.
+20
Family business: The Rahami family owned and ran First American Fried Chicken. The suspect was often seen serving in it, while his father, Mohammad, was a constant presence.
He claimed that the bomber's father 'used to be a Mujahedeen in Afghanistan.' 'He is from the same city where I was deployed as a marine,' he said.
A Mujahedeen is the term for one engaged in Jihad. There is no evidence that Mohammad Snr. engaged in any terror-related activities.
Wagner said that Mohammad Snr. used to say the Taliban was ruining Afghanistan.
And a person who appeared to be related to Rahami and apparently shared his home posted pro-Islamist militancy images on Facebook, AOL reported.
The site said someone of the same name as Rahami posted an image of foreign fighters training in Syria along with a quote by Khalid Bin Walid, named in the Koran as a military commander and companion of the Prophet Muhammad.
The quote reads: 'I bring the men who desire death as ardently as you desire life.'
Ahmad and the other men working in the shop had largely worn Western clothing - until recently, one local, who did not wish to be identified, told Dailymail.com. However, his Pakistani wife had always worm the traditional hijab/
'Up until recently they wore regular clothes like us and then they started dressing in their culture's clothes,' they said.
But as a boy at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, he was a 'class clown' who messed around with classmates and talked sports, a friend told Buzzfeed News.
'He was in my 9th grade English class,' Hakeem Ezzouhairy, 27, of Maplewood, said. 'Very funny, class clown. Got along with everyone, was a very nice kid.
'Never would I [have] thought years later he would be capable of something like this.'
That was a sentiment shared by Rahami's father, Mohammad Sr, who shook his head and said 'No' when asked by MSNBC whether he knew of his son's alleged plot.
And when asked whether he believed whether the allegations against his son might be true, the man said: 'I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not sure what's happening exactly.
+20
Ahmad Rahami had lived in these Perth Amboy, New Jersey apartments up until three months ago
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Investigators have searched the home Ahmad Khan Rahami in Elizabeth, New Jersey
+20
FBI agents are seen carrying out evidence from the home of the bomber in New Jersey
+20
Mohammed Rahami (R), the father of Ahmad Khan Rahami has denied all knowledge of the terror plot
And despite the horrors he would be accused of, some said he was friendly in the restaurant.
Ryan McCann, a local who ate at the shop, told BBC Worldwide: 'He'd always talk about his cars. He loved Civics, he loved going fast, that's what he did, he'd talk about his cars.'
But Rahami and his family didn't fit perfectly into the Elizabeth community.
In 2011 his father brought a lawsuit on his own behalf and that of his two sons against his local police department, claiming they discriminated against him for being Muslim.
The lawsuit was filed by Mohammad Sr., 53, and Ahmad's brother Mohammad Q Rahami.
In the lawsuit, the Rahamis claimed that a chicken restaurant the family owned - America First Fried Chicken - was selectively targeted by law enforcement for staying open past 10 p.m., despite having a permit to operate.
The lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Newark, says that the family are from Afghanistan and are all Muslims who have owned the chicken restaurant since 2002.
They alleged that for two years beginning in April 2009 they were unfairly targeted for staying open past 10pm despite being permitted to do so.
The lawsuit says that the police had a 'reckless disregard and deliberate indifference for plaintiff's constitutional rights of liberty, due process and equal protection'.
The Elizabeth police department allegedly 'embarked on a course to harass, humiliate, retaliate against and force their business to close at 10pm'.
+20
Evidence: Teams continued to investigate West 23 Street Monday. Evidence indicted Rahami was the New York and New Jersey bomber, the FBI claimed Monday
+20
Damage: The explosion injured 29 people and caused a large amount of damage. Other bombs were found in NY and New Jersey, all of which have been blamed on Rahami
The lawsuit also claimed that the officers told them there was 'too much crime around here' and that the area around the restaurant was 'known for criminal activity'.
One of Ahmed's brothers got into a fight with a police officer who tried to shut down the restaurant, BBC Worldwide reported, but fled to Afghanistan before he could be prosecuted.
The Rahamis alleged they were being subject to 'selective enforcement' that was 'solely based on an animus against plaintiff's religion, creed, race and national origin'.
They claim that as a result of the police shutting them down at 10pm, despite other businesses being allowed to stay open at that time, they suffered economic hardship.
The court documents confirm that Ahmad was also arrested for obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, although they do not specify when or what the outcomes were.
The family also claimed that they suffered racist abuse at the hands of James McDermott, the owner of Dean Relay Press and Radio, a photo agency that is near to the Rahami's chicken restaurant.
He allegedly told them: 'You are Muslims...Muslims make too much trouble in this country.'
McDermott is alleged to have told them that 'Muslims should not have businesses here', 'Muslims are trouble' and 'Muslims don't belong here'. He rejects all claims.
The 11 count lawsuit names the City of Elizabeth, the Elizabeth Police Department, six Elizabeth police officers, chief of police Ronald Simon and police director James Cosgrove.
They say the harassment was 'baseless and without probable cause' and breached the family's constitutional rights.
The Rahamis claimed that it also claim it was 'discrimination', 'false arrest' and 'abuse of process' that left them suffering distress, embarrassment and damage to their reputation.
Court records show that the complaint was dismissed with prejudice in 2012, meaning that it could not be brought again.
McDermott told DailyMail.com that the claims against him were absolutely untrue.
Elizabeth Mayor J Christian Bollwage said in a press event Monday that the closures were effected by local authorities because the restaurant was attracting a noisy crowd late at night, causing a 'quality of life issue.'
+20
The case was dismissed with prejudice.
The Rahami family is made up of Mohammad snr, 53, his wife, two adult sons, Ahmad and Mohammad Qasim, 25, apparently known as Qasim, and two adult daughters, Aziza, and Zobyedh.
Zobyedh is a student at a nearby campus of Rutgers university, studying towards a B.S. in public health.
She is a writer on the university newspaper, the Daily Targum, and had previously worked as an assistant at the Asian American Cultural Center at the university, and had posted anti-Donald Trump material on social media.
Neighbors on the same block as First American Fried Chicken told DailyMail.com that the family largely isolated from the community.
One woman who lives in the street said: 'Mohammad [Ahmad] is a very nice man, always wearing white and he would pray in the back of the shop.
'I would wait at the counter for him to finish and he would come and take the orders.'
She said that during a visit to the shop in the last few weeks, she had seen two new men behind the counter who she had never seen before and that Ahmad Rahami was cooking food in the back of the store.
+20
+20
Family: Among the Rahami family is daughter Zobyedh, who is a public health student at nearby Rutgers University
Plea: The suspected bomber's sister issued this appeal on social media.
A young teenage boy who often worked in the store served her.
She said the other men who were behind the counter spoke to Ahmad Rahami in a language the young boy didn't understand.
Another neighbor said that the father was always in the shop working, and that the other brothers were not seen as frequently.
Of the father, the neighbor said: 'He was clearly very devoted to his religion. He was very quiet and seemed very nice. You would see him praying sometimes.'
Federal authorities launched a public manhunt for Rahami, after reportedly spotting him on surveillance video planting the homemade pressure-cooker bombs in Chelsea on Sunday. His fingerprints were also allegedly found on one of the explosives.
Rahami, who was described by authorities as 'armed and dangerous,' was captured on Monday morning after he was reportedly discovered sleeping on a street in Linden, N.J. He opened fire on police when they approached, and was wounded in an ensuing gunfight before being taken into custody around 11 a.m.
Federal authorities said they have not found any indication yet that Rahami was operating as part of a larger terror cell and are still investigating whether there was a potential foreign link for the terror attack.
Rahami is currently being held on $5.2 million bail and remains in hospital. Police say he is refusing to cooperate with the authorities.
He is charged with five counts of attempted murder, and two gun charges.
Federal charges in the bombings have yet to be filed.
[h=6]- SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 -[/h][h=1]TRUMP’S WINNING TERRORIST NARRATIVE: JAMES ROBBINS[/h]USA Today
"For more than a year, Donald Trump has been raising an alarm about the upswing of terrorism in the United States, promising to address it head-on without any of Washington’s usual political pieties. Jargon-laden responses to terror attacks from the White House and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign only tend to confirm Trump voters' worst fears about the Washington establishment, rather than build support for the Obama-Clinton approach to fighting the Islamic State terrorist group.
...
The White House response that America is successfully challenging ISIL’s "narrative" is cold comfort when explosion devices are blowing up on American streets.
...
Clinton’s charge against Trump of what amounts to treason has to be weighed against a grim reality. This weekend’s attacks were much closer to Trump’s worldview than that of the Democrats. The pattern — domestic terrorism allegedly committed by radical Muslim immigrants connected to, or inspired by, ISIL ideology — tracks the type of extremist threat Trump has been warning the country about all along. In addition, incidents over the last year in Chattanooga, San Bernardino and Orlando show similar attacker profiles and motivations. The problem isn’t an image-driven contest of conflicting narratives; it is a fundamental failure to secure America from violent radicals."
To the full op-ed, click on the link:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/09/19/isis-terrorism-narrative-new-york-jersey-afghan-robbins-column/90704756
"This weekend’s attacks were much closer to (Donald Trump's) worldview than that of the Democrats."
"For more than a year, Donald Trump has been raising an alarm about the upswing of terrorism in the United States, promising to address it head-on without any of Washington’s usual political pieties. Jargon-laden responses to terror attacks from the White House and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign only tend to confirm Trump voters' worst fears about the Washington establishment, rather than build support for the Obama-Clinton approach to fighting the Islamic State terrorist group.
...
The White House response that America is successfully challenging ISIL’s "narrative" is cold comfort when explosion devices are blowing up on American streets.
...
Clinton’s charge against Trump of what amounts to treason has to be weighed against a grim reality. This weekend’s attacks were much closer to Trump’s worldview than that of the Democrats. The pattern — domestic terrorism allegedly committed by radical Muslim immigrants connected to, or inspired by, ISIL ideology — tracks the type of extremist threat Trump has been warning the country about all along. In addition, incidents over the last year in Chattanooga, San Bernardino and Orlando show similar attacker profiles and motivations. The problem isn’t an image-driven contest of conflicting narratives; it is a fundamental failure to secure America from violent radicals."
To the full op-ed, click on the link:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/09/19/isis-terrorism-narrative-new-york-jersey-afghan-robbins-column/90704756
[h=6]- SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 -[/h][h=1]PENCE: CLINTON, OBAMA DON’T REALIZE “THAT WE’RE AT WAR”[/h]Washington Examiner
"Two days after attacks on New York City, New Jersey and Minnesota, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence questioned the responses from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and President Obama, saying that he's not sure they realize "we're at war."
Pence called into Rush Limbaugh's radio program Monday afternoon, during which he panned the two Democrats, who both responded to the attacks Monday morning in press conferences. In Clinton's press conference, she went after Donald Trump for aiding the Islamic State with his rhetoric, saying he is giving "aid and comfort" to the group.
"I'm not sure that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama know that we're at war," Pence said before training his fire on White House press secretary Josh Earnest. "The White House spokesman actually said today that we're in a 'narrative fight,' in a 'narrative battle'... I don't even know what that is. To be honest, I was just mystified by it."
...
"The truth is that this culture of political correctness that has tied the hands of law enforcement around this country, who are constantly walking on egg shells and not wanting to give offense to anyone, and all the while we see these terrorists in our midst," Pence told Limbaugh."
To read the full article, click on the link:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/pence-clinton-obama-dont-realize-that-were-at-war/article/2602227
"We are at war with the ISIS caliphate that's spraying out because Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama precipitously withdrew all American forces from Iraq,"- Gov. Pence
"Two days after attacks on New York City, New Jersey and Minnesota, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence questioned the responses from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and President Obama, saying that he's not sure they realize "we're at war."
Pence called into Rush Limbaugh's radio program Monday afternoon, during which he panned the two Democrats, who both responded to the attacks Monday morning in press conferences. In Clinton's press conference, she went after Donald Trump for aiding the Islamic State with his rhetoric, saying he is giving "aid and comfort" to the group.
"I'm not sure that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama know that we're at war," Pence said before training his fire on White House press secretary Josh Earnest. "The White House spokesman actually said today that we're in a 'narrative fight,' in a 'narrative battle'... I don't even know what that is. To be honest, I was just mystified by it."
...
"The truth is that this culture of political correctness that has tied the hands of law enforcement around this country, who are constantly walking on egg shells and not wanting to give offense to anyone, and all the while we see these terrorists in our midst," Pence told Limbaugh."
To read the full article, click on the link:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/pence-clinton-obama-dont-realize-that-were-at-war/article/2602227
[h=1]Furious Trump says Manhattan bomber should be stripped of his constitutional rights and bemoans the 'amazing' hospital care and 'outstanding lawyer' he will get[/h]
- Donald Trump spoke to a crowd in Florida about the New York and New Jersey bombing suspect on Monday
- Trump told the crowd suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami will likely receive 'room service' as he is treated for gunshot wounds following his capture
- GOP presidential candidate also said Rahami would be treated by 'some of the best doctors in the world' and represented by 'an outstanding lawyer'
- Rahami, who is a U.S. citizen, has the right to due process under the Fifth Amendment
- Other Republicans asked the Obama administration to classify Rahami as an enemy combatant, which would remove his constitutional rights
- Later on Monday, Trump's campaign said the Republican nominee told Egypt's president that he has 'high regard for peace-loving Muslims'
- On Tuesday NY Governor Andrew Cuomo said that all citizens - Rahami included - were innocent until proven guilty
EXCLUSIVE: New York 'bomber' pictured in Pakistan on 'radicalization' trip as his brother and SISTER revealed to have posted jihadi messages online
- Ahmad Rahami was pictured in Pakistan with his brother, Mohammad Khan Rahami, as the pair cooked kebobs
- The 2013 trip was one of a series of lengthy visits he made to the country and to Afghanistan which are now under FBI scrutiny
- It is unclear exactly where picture was taken but he is known to have spent time in Quetta, a hotbed of fundamentalism
- His brother and sister have both posted what appear to be pro-jihadi material, with his sister Aziza posting: 'No to democracy.'
- Married sister, who has lived in Quetta, also posted video from pro-ISIS website showing destruction of New York
- Ahmad's mother and Pakistani wife both left the country in recent weeks
PUBLISHED: 18:21, 20 September 2016 | UPDATED: 21:31, 20 September 2016
This is the alleged New York and New Jersey bomber pictured during a trip he made to Pakistan - where law enforcement fear he was radicalized.
In the picture, Ahmad Rahami squats on a small stool in front of a sizzling grill of kebobs while his brother, Mohammad Khan Rahimi, attends to the meats.
The tubby alleged bomber has a thick beard and is wearing traditional long, black robes with a skull cap and large scarf wrapped around his neck.
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Ji-fati: Tubby 'terrorist' Ahmad Khan Rahami and his brother Mohammad Khan Rahami are seen cooking during time spent in Pakistan
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Family affair: Ahmad Khan Rahami posted this image on social media shortly after the picture he posted of him and his brother enjoying kebobs in Pakistan. It is associated with jihadi groups
Brother: Mohammad Khan Rahami, who at some point lived in Pakistan, posted the picture of his brother. Recent images (left) show he had begun to wear traditional clothing
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Enemy of America: The suspected New York and New Jersey bomber's sister Aziza - who called herself Masood Maymunah online - posted a message from Anwar al Waklaki, the notorious American preacher who was killed by a drone strike in Yemen on the orders of President Obama
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Anti-democracy: Aziza, who called herself Masood Maymunah, also posted this picture, an adaptation of an Egyptian anti-government protest symbol, which contained a pro-jihadi message calling for an Islamic caliphate
New York destroyed: One of the images in a video which was posted by the alleged terrorist's sister on social media, part of a video suggesting that the end of the world is coming
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Shared: Aziza, who called herself Masood Maymunah, shared the video from this Facebook group, which has posted ISIS propaganda, including this video it posted on the 14th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks
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Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was taken into custody on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. He is seen above being taken from the scene on a stretcher
The brother he is with posted the picture in April 2013, during one of Rahami's lengthy trips out of the U.S.
Days later Mohammad Khan Rahami posted a message linked to jihadi causes.
Mohammad Khan has not been arrested or charged and it is unclear if he is currently in the United States.
Social media suggests that he had split his time between New Jersey and Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The most recent posting he made suggests that, like Ahmad, he had started wearing traditional garb - something which a neighbor told DailyMail.com the brothers had started doing recently.
Mohammad Khan Rahim's Facebook account was deleted after his brother's arrest.
Ahmad is currently awaiting questioning by the FBI and facing five attempted murder charges in New Jersey.
He had yet to be read his rights and had not been released from the hospital in New Jersey where he was taken after the shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, on Monday in which he was captured.
The brothers are from a large family, with the father Mohammad Rahami said by a neighbor to have has many as 11 children.
One of them, daughter Zobyedh, who is a public health student at nearby Rutgers University, posted a plea for privacy on social media on Monday, after her brother's arrest.
One of their sisters, Aziza, who called herself Masood Maymunah on Facebook, also posted a pro-jihad message endorsing an 'Islamic caliphate' and saying 'no to democracy'. She was addressed online by Mohammad Khan Rahami as 'sis'.
It is an adaptation of a symbol commonly used during anti-government protests by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 2013, known as R4BIA, but with the addition of the messages which suggest support for al-Qaeda or ISIS.
ISIS claims to be a caliphate and had just begun its rise in 2013, but it is not clear that the adapted version of the R4BIA logo is pro-ISIS. It may also be pro al Qaeda.
Maymunah appears to have lived in Quetta, Pakistan with her husband and young children, although again it is unclear if she remains there.
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Involvement: Mohammad Rahimi snr, seen outside the family home and business on Tuesday, said he told the FBI two years ago that his son was a terrorist
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Family home: The Rahami family live above the chicken shop run by the father, Mohammad Rahami.
