The father of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect police arrested Monday in connection with the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey, reportedly told New Jersey police two years ago that his son "was a terrorist," The New York Times reported Tuesday. Mohammad Rahami's accusation followed an incident in 2014 where Ahmad tried to stab his brother.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force was informed of Mohammad's accusation, but he later recanted the claim in an interview. The Times reports that an official from the task force "said the father made the comment out of anger at his son."
When police took Ahmad into custody Monday after a shootout in New Jersey, they found him carrying a notebook that suggests he sympathized with "jihadist causes." The notebook also reportedly contains an entry discussing "'killing the kuffar,' or the unbeliever," the Times said.
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Ahmad has already been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer after two police officers were injured in the New Jersey shootout. Ahmad is being investigated for the bombings in New Jersey's Seaside Park, on the Jersey Shore, and in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. Though two bombs were planted in Chelsea, only one detonated, injuring 29 people.
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