Ahmad Khan Rahami’s father warned police that his son was a terrorist a full two years before his son allegedly engaged in a bombing spree across New York City and New Jersey, according to a report by the New York Times published Tuesday.
Mohammad Khan Rahami made the allegations against his son in 2014 after police responded to a domestic violence call which led to Ahmad’s arrest for stabbing his brother. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark, New Jersey, subsequently opened up an assessment investigation on Ahmad. His father later recanted his claim, which he said he made out of anger, an official told the NYT. It is unclear if the FBI interviewed Ahmad as well.
“I called the FBI two years ago,” Mohammad Rahami told reporters outside his Elizabeth, N.J., restaurant Tuesday.
When a reporter asked if he thought his son Ahmad was a terrorist, Mohammad replied with “No … and the FBI, they know that.”
Ahmad Rahami spent three months in jail on charges related to the stabbing, but a grand jury did not indict him. (RELATED: Suspected NYC Bomber’s Brother Also Has A History Of Radicalism)
Rahami made several trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan beginning in 2011, leading to speculation from investigators that he may have been radicalized abroad. After returning from Pakistan, he was put through a secondary screening after officials discovered he had visited areas of Pakistan with known Taliban presence. Rahami claimed he was simply visiting family. He went on a second visit to Pakistan from April 2013 to March 2014 and was again put through secondary screening, this time claiming he was visiting his Pakistani wife.
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