Alleged New York Bomber Had Sued NYPD and Visited Afghanistan

Almad Rahami is now in custody for his alleged execution of the explosions that shook Chelsea and Seaside Park last Saturday, and now for his gun battle with police as he resisted arrest.

Rahami was charged in Union County with five counts of attempted murder of law enforcement, as well as charges of unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Federal authorities are also preparing a terrorism case against him.

So this suspect worked at a family chicken restaurant, and patrons noticed a change in his behavior after his visit to Afghanistan.

Ryan McCann, of Elizabeth, said that he often ate at the restaurant and recently began seeing the younger Rahami working there more.

“He’s always in there. He’s a very friendly guy,” McCann said. “That’s what’s so scary. It’s hard when it’s home.”

Officials also said Rahami had traveled to Afghanistan at least once in recent months. Friends said Rahami had changed since the visit — noticing that his personality had become more stern and he had grown a beard.

Rahami has also traveled to Pakistan, sources told CBS News.

All of this was preceded by complains against the restaurant by neighbors and a lawsuit filed by Rahami claiming the police were harassing him because he is a Muslim.

Ahmad Rahami said in a lawsuit that cops in Elizabeth, New Jersey subjected him and his family to discrimination and ‘selective enforcement’ based on their religion.

The family claimed that police tried to shut down their chicken restaurant, called First American, too early each night with ‘baseless’ tickets and summonses.

So for five years, Rahami and his brother have been having disputes with area residents and city officials.

The lawsuit was filed in 2011 and reveals that Ahmad has a long history of grievances with city officials, their local police force and people who lived close to them.

Although not a proof of guilt, Rahami’s brother’s troubles with the law don’t help his cause.

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.

There’s Afghanistan again.

There’s a lot more to this story of the Rahami family’s disputes with both area residents and the police.   We’ll just focus on a couple of points we find especially interesting.

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.

A neighbor adds this interesting information — and there’s Afghanistan popping up again.

‘Up until recently they wore regular clothes like us and then they started dressing in their culture’s clothes,’ they said.

A childhood friend of Ahmed’s told the Boston Herald that the young man had undergone a dramatic change two years ago, when he visited Afghanistan.

‘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,’ said Flee Jones, 27.

‘And it was shocking. I’m trying to understand what’s going on. I’ve never seen him like this.’

Makes you wonder what Ahmed Rahami was doing in Afghanistan, doesn’t it?  Whatever it was that he was doing there it clearly it didn’t turn him into a peace-loving individual, one who is an asset to his community.  Instead he allegedly set off bombs and got into a shoot-out with the police.

Just the sort of person the Obama administration does not want vetted before being allowed into the country.  Makes you wonder what Obama’s motivations are as well.

Source:  CBS New York

Source:  The Daily Mail