Bombing Suspect’s Father Called Him Terrorist In Recanted Statement

Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Linden, N.J. Rahami was wanted for questioning in the bombings that rocked the Chelsea neighborhood of New York and the ... Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Linden, N.J. Rahami was wanted for questioning in the bombings that rocked the Chelsea neighborhood of New York and the New Jersey shore town of Seaside Park. (Moshe Weiss via AP) MORE LESS
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Two years before Ahmad Khan Rahami allegedly planted homemade bombs in New York City and New Jersey, his father reportedly said Rahami was a terrorist in a statement that he later recanted.

There were conflicting reports about the conditions under which Rahami’s father, Mohammad, made the remark.

Rahami, who was captured on Monday after a massive manhunt and shootout with police, was arrested in 2014 for a domestic incident in which he was accused of stabbing his brother, the New York Times reported. According to that report, his father called Rahami a terrorist to local police.

New Jersey police passed that information to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. The JTTF then opened an assessment, which the Times notes is the bureau’s most basic investigation. Officials interviewed Mohammad Rahami, who later recanted the statement, but it’s unclear whether they interviewed Ahmad Rahami.

An anonymous official told the newspaper that the father made the “terrorist” remark out of anger at his son.

The Times report does not say what became of the JTTF investigation.

But NBC News’ Pete Williams reported on-air that during the domestic incident, a neighbor heard Mohammad Rahami call his son a terrorist. The neighbor called police and reported the remark to responding officers.

When JTTF investigators interviewed Rahami’s father, he said the remark was an outburst and that he did not believe his son was a terrorist but didn’t like the people his son spent time with.

Citing anonymous law enforcement sources, Williams reported Rahami was jailed for the domestic incident. The assessment concluded there was no evidence of a terrorism connection, he reported, and the case was closed.

This story has been updated.

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Notable Replies

  1. Hey, at least Gary “Aleppo” Johnson is still on top of some things, but apparently its only his bong.

    Gary Johnson Makes Another Blunder on Live TV

    Libertarian Nominee Gary Johnson has gotten himself in hot water yet again after claiming “nobody got hurt” in the recent attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota.

  2. Avatar for meta meta says:

    Just your enhanced-basic familial dysfunction, nothing more.

  3. Avatar for paulw paulw says:

    Hmm, what other words shouldn’t you use when you’re in a rage at someone, lest you and they end up on a watch list?

  4. This one seems to be right up TPM’s alley. Mr. Marshall’s raison d’etre is cleaning the bullshit off MSM “products” so they can be understood and the truth known. From what I get it seems the Mr. Kahn called his kid a terrorist 2 years ago when the boy stabbed his brother. “you are acting like a terrorist” or “You are a terrorist”. Something like that. Then he called the cops. But it doesn’t seem he told the cops he thought his son was a terrorist or that he thought his son was an aspiring one. So as best as I can piece it together the “terrorist” thing he yelled at his kid was hyperbole and was never said to the cops. Is that it?

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