Ahmad Khan Rahami disliked America, homosexuals and western culture in general, the mother of Rahami’s daughter told Fox News.
Rahami was arrested Monday in connection with this weekend’s bombings in New York and New Jersey.
Rahami’s high school sweetheart and mother of his daughter, whom Fox News identified only as “Maria,” said Rahami would often rail against American culture and homosexuals.
“He would speak often of Western culture and how it was different back home,” Maria told Fox News. “How there weren’t homosexuals in Afghanistan.”
She claimed to have not seen Rahami in two years. (RELATED: Rahami’s Father Says He Had ‘No Idea’ About Son’s Alleged Bomb Plot)
In the interview with Fox News, Maria recalled an incident that exhibited the animosity Rahami felt towards the U.S. military.
“One time, he was watching TV with my daughter and a woman in a [military] uniform came on and he told [their daughter], ‘That’s the bad person,'” Maria said.
She told Fox News that she would never have expected him to “cross the line” into terrorism.
“He seemed standoffish to American culture, but I never thought he would cross the line.” (RELATED: NYC Bombing Suspect Sued Police For Anti-Muslim Discrimination)
In 2011, Rahami sued the local police in his hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey for alleged anti-Muslim persecution. His father and brother joined him in the suit, accusing police of trying to shut down their chicken restaurant early every night.
The three men claimed that local residents would racially abuse them by saying things such as, “Muslims don’t belong here,” the Daily Mail reported.
That same year, Rahami traveled to Quetta, Pakistan, according to UK newspaper The Telegraph.
He reportedly became radicalized after several long trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. At some point along the way he grew a beard and began wearing traditional Muslim garb.
The Telegraph reports that Rahami’s older brother, Qasim Rahami, is believed to have returned to Afghanistan.
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