Who Is Ahmad Khan Rahami, Suspect Arrested In Chelsea Bombing Case?

Ahmad Khan Rahami is currently the main suspect in the bombing that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City Saturday night. He was taken into custody on Monday morning by FBI agents.

Ahmad Khan Rahami Arrested In Chelsea Bombings

Rahami, 28, was born in Afghanistan in 1988, and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, according to the FBI. Rahami’s last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was driving a 2003 Honda Civic with New Jersey license plates. According to the FBI’s security alert, Rahami is about 5-foot-6 and 200 pounds with brown hair, a brown beard and brown eyes.

On Saturday night, on 23rd St. and 6th Ave. in Manhattan, a bomb went off, injuring 29 people. Earlier in the day on Saturday, a garbage can exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, near the start of a Marine Corps charity run. On Sunday evening, a backpack containing multiple bombs was discovered in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

While it’s unconfirmed, evidence suggests that all of the bombs were connected. “There might have been a common linkage,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “[I] wouldn’t be surprised if it zeroes in on a particular individual, today even. Wouldn’t be surprised if we found a foreign connection to the act.”

Rahami was identified as a suspect over the weekend when surveillance video was uncovered that showed a man with his likeness dragging a duffel bag near the location of the Chelsea bombing.

ISIS has yet to claim responsibility for the act, and no other motive has been confirmed. However, it has been reported that Rahami’s family had an uneasy relationship with the police in Elizabeth, where they run the First American Fried Chicken restaurant.

A few years back, the City Council passed an ordinance to force the restaurant to close by 10 p.m. because of rowdy crowds, reports The New York Times. The family did not comply, and Rahami’s older brother once had a confrontation with police over the issue and fled home to Afghanistan before the case was resolved. Rahami’s father ultimately sued the city, alleging discrimination.

“It was neighbor complaints, it had nothing to do with his ethnicity or religion,”  Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage told the Times . “It had to do with noise and people congregating on the streets.”