The man accused of a bombing rampage in New York and New Jersey mentioned an eclectic mix of terrorist inspirations, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State, in a journal recovered as evidence, authorities revealed Wednesday.

In the journal, which Ahmad Khan Rahami had with him during his shootout with police, the 28-year-old wrote about al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, radical American preacher Anwar al-Awlaki and Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, authorities said.

He also alluded to the Boston Marathon bombing and the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas, authorities said.

On Wednesday, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, displayed an image of one bloody, apparently bullet-damaged page from the journal, which has offered officials the most detailed window yet into what might have motivated Rahami.

In the journal, Rahami appears to refer to guidance from Adnani to “clearly attack the kuffar in their backyard.” Kuffar is an Arabic term for nonbelievers.

Rahami, who remained hospitalized with wounds from that encounter, is charged in two federal courts – in Manhattan and in Newark – with nine counts stemming from the attacks, including using weapons of mass destruction and bombing a public place.

Advertisement

He is accused of planting several bombs – first in Seaside, New Jersey, along a scheduled race route, in a trash container and along the street in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, and at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Thirty-one people were hurt in the Chelsea blast; no one was injured in the others.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the Manhattan case would be the first to proceed and that prosecutors there had filed a writ with the U.S. Marshals Service in the hope of bringing Rahami to court soon.

If convicted, Rahami could be sentenced to life in prison.

Investigators, meanwhile, continued to probe how Rahami carried out the attacks, whether he acted alone and what direction or inspiration he might have drawn from trips overseas.

Rahami, a naturalized citizen born in Afghanistan, traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2011 and 2014, including a stay in Quetta, Pakistan, a stronghold of militant groups.

In 2014, the FBI conducted an “assessment” on Rahami – a very low-level probe in response to a tip to determine whether there is cause to open a preliminary investigation.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.