NYC/NJ bombing suspect Rahami's notebook full of Al-Qaeda, jihadist messages – report
NYC and New Jersey bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami carried a notebook full of “ramblings about terrorists,” according to a CNN report citing a police source.
The notebook was discovered with a bullet hole, which may have occurred during the shoot-out while he was being detained.
The law-enforcement source said that the notebook contained “ramblings about terrorists” and references to Boston marathon bombers and an Al-Qaeda recruiter and preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a US drone strike in 2011.
In the notebook, Rahami wrote that the US government carries out “slaught” [sic] aimed at jihadists, despite Osama having proposed what he puts as “a truce,” as quoted by Breitbart.
Later, he threatened the US with “the sounds of bombs in the streets”, “gun shots to police” and death to “oppression.”
Rahami also wrote about being chased by the FBI and Homeland Security.
He provided details of the attack, seemingly writing about the marathon in New Jersey that they “are planning to run a mile,” and adding the types of bombs he would use.
It seems Rahami was preparing to die during the attack, as he mentioned praying to Allah, and begging for martyrdom.
The Afghan Taliban has denied any connection with Rahami, too, according to the group's spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, as quoted by US media.
Experts say that this evidence shows Rahami is more of a lone wolf than a part of an organization.
He seemingly “didn't have a plan B or a plan C,” and the events have “the flavor of someone who was self-radicalized and perhaps who was inspired but not instructed,” former New York State homeland security adviser Michael Balboni told CNN.
This may be proved by the fact that the explosives design looked a lot like that from an Al-Qaeda article called ‘Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom’.
“Nearly every piece of the bombs recovered is readily available at sporting goods stores, corner convenience stores or on the internet. The instructions for building them is a mere Google search away,” NBC News reported.
The US authorities are planning to investigate whom Rahami was meeting when he was abroad, and if they could have taught him how to make a bomb, according to CNN.
READ MORE: Ahmad Rahami: From New Jersey fried chicken restaurant to Chelsea attack
Rahami spent a few weeks in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Quetta, Pakistan, in 2011. Two years later, he returned to Pakistan and stayed there until March 2014, according to a law enforcement official who examined his travel record, as cited by CNN.
Rahami’s father was reportedly a part of Afghan mujahideen, who fought the Soviet Army, the New York Times reported, citing a family friend of Rahamis.
The younger Rahami was arrested on Monday, after a shootout with police, and is now being held on $5.2 million bail. He has been charged with five counts of attempted murder during the gunfight with police, with federal charges pending.
Two bombs exploded in New Jersey and New York City on Saturday. The first explosive went off in a garbage container near a Marine Corps charity run in New Jersey at around 9:30am local time. Later, investigators in New Jersey discovered three pipe-bomb-type devices close to the boardwalk.
On Saturday evening, a second bomb exploded in Chelsea, an upscale Manhattan neighborhood, injuring 29 people.
