Chelsea bomb suspect found religion after trip to Afghanistan
The Chelsea bombing suspect is an Afghan native who studied criminal justice and liked fast cars — and friends said he became deeply religious after returning from a trip home two years ago.
“He came back, popped up out of nowhere and he was real religious,” friend Flee Jones, 27, told the Boston Herald of 28-year-old suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami. “And it was shocking. I’m trying to understand what’s going on. I’ve never seen him like this.”
Rahami traveled to Afghanistan multiple times in past years, according to CNN. He’d also been posting radical Islamic writings on a personal website, sources told DNAInfo.
Rahami, who’s suspected of setting off explosions in Manhattan and New Jersey that left 29 wounded, worked at his family’s restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
But he was the “black sheep” of his family and didn’t get along with his dad, his sister told FBI investigators.
“The sister is shocked. She can’t believe what he’s done,” a source said.
Rahami has been arrested on domestic violence charges for allegedly attempting to stab his sister, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told CNN.
Law enforcement sources said he spent a little over two months behind bars at Union County jail on a weapons and aggravated assault charge in 2014.
Rahami graduated from Edison High School in 2007 and attended Middlesex Community College between 2010 and 2012. He was a criminal justice major until he dropped out.
Customers at his family’s restaurant described Rahami as a seemingly friendly person with a car obsession.
“All this guy ever talks about is his cars,” said Ryan McCann, 33. “He loves fixing cars up and making them fast. All I ever heard him talk about was Honda Civics, Honda Accords, maybe an Acura. He would soup them up.”
When business was slow, Rahami would often pull out his Koran and play Middle Eastern music, said customer Brayant Ocampo, 17.
“One day I asked him about it and he said it’s like a Bible for our religion,” Ocampo recalled. “He was into his religion.”
The Chelsea bombing suspect is an Afghan native who studied criminal justice and liked fast cars — and friends said he became deeply religious after returning from a trip home two years ago.
“He came back, popped up out of nowhere and he was real religious,” friend Flee Jones, 27, told the Boston Herald of 28-year-old suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami. “And it was shocking. I’m trying to understand what’s going on. I’ve never seen him like this.”
Rahami traveled to Afghanistan multiple times in past years, according to CNN. He’d also been posting radical Islamic writings on a personal website, sources told DNAInfo.
Rahami, who’s suspected of setting off explosions in Manhattan and New Jersey that left 29 wounded, worked at his family’s restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
But he was the “black sheep” of his family and didn’t get along with his dad, his sister told FBI investigators.
“The sister is shocked. She can’t believe what he’s done,” a source said.
Rahami has been arrested on domestic violence charges for allegedly attempting to stab his sister, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told CNN.
Law enforcement sources said he spent a little over two months behind bars at Union County jail on a weapons and aggravated assault charge in 2014.
Rahami graduated from Edison High School in 2007 and attended Middlesex Community College between 2010 and 2012. He was a criminal justice major until he dropped out.
Customers at his family’s restaurant described Rahami as a seemingly friendly person with a car obsession.
“All this guy ever talks about is his cars,” said Ryan McCann, 33. “He loves fixing cars up and making them fast. All I ever heard him talk about was Honda Civics, Honda Accords, maybe an Acura. He would soup them up.”
When business was slow, Rahami would often pull out his Koran and play Middle Eastern music, said customer Brayant Ocampo, 17.
“One day I asked him about it and he said it’s like a Bible for our religion,” Ocampo recalled. “He was into his religion.”
