New York: He bought bomb ingredients on eBay and recorded a mirthful video of himself igniting a blast in a backyard. In a handwritten journal, he warned that bombs would resound in the streets and prayed he'd be martyred rather than caught, authorities say.
Ahmad Khan Rahami's jihad journal ended with a stark message, according to court papers: "Death to your oppression."
Federal court complaints filed yesterday gave a chilling glimpse into what authorities say motivated the Afghan-born US citizen to set off explosives last weekend in New York City and New Jersey, including a bomb that injured 31 people in Manhattan.
The blasts came two years after the FBI looked into him but came up with nothing tying him to terrorism. Rahami remains hospitalized with gunshot wounds from a shootout with police that led to his capture Monday outside a bar in Linden, New Jersey.
It wasn't immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could comment on the charges against him, which include federal terror crimes and state charges of attempting to
murder police officers.
Rahami ordered citric acid, ball bearings and electronic igniters on eBay and had them delivered to a Perth Amboy, New Jersey, business where he worked until September 12, the court complaints said.
San Jose, California-based eBay Inc. noted that the products are legal and widely available and said the company had worked with law enforcement on the investigation.
Just two days before Saturday's bombings, a relative's cell phone recorded Rahami igniting incendiary material in a cylinder buried in a backyard, the fuse being lighted, a loud noise and flames, "followed by billowing smoke and laughter," the complaints said.
And the complaints said in his bloodied journal damaged by shots from his gun battle with police he fumed that the US government was slaughtering Muslim holy warriors and alluded to plans for revenge.
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