The man who allegedly planted the bombs in Chelsea and NJ was a dead-beat dad who hated gays, the military and American culture. His high school girlfriend and baby-mama, Maria told FoxNews that Ahmad Khan Rahami, would,
“…speak often of Western culture and how it was different back home. How there weren’t homosexuals in Afghanistan.
One time, he was watching TV with my daughter and a woman in a [military] uniform came on and he told her, ‘That’s the bad person.’”
The explosion on Saturday took place in Chelsea, one of the main gay neighborhoods in NYC, but it’s not clear if that factored into his plans. The dumpster that exploded was also near the PATH train to New Jersey, so it could have just been a convenient location.
Maria, who thinks Rahami was “brainwashed,” said he came back from a trip to Afghanistan nine years ago with a new a wife and kid. The terror suspect is 28 and a naturalized U.S. citizen whose family was granted asylum in 2011. He made multiple trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last 10 years, according to Rep. Peter King. He became noticeably devout after returning from a visit to his homeland two years ago, friends and law enforcement sources said.
Flee Jones, 27, a childhood pal of Rahami, told The Post.
“He had changed. He dressed differently, more religiously, the robe and everything. I really never expected it from him. He was always this fun loving guy, but now he was all quiet. He had found religion. It’s mind blowing.”
A law enforcement source said,
“The sister is shocked. She can’t believe what he’s done.”
Rahami’s relationship with his family was rocky. In 2014 he was arrested on assault charges for allegedly attempting to stab his sister. He later dropped the charges, but he spent over two months behind bars at Union County Jail, law enforcement sources said.
Regulars at his family’s restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, were shocked by Ahmad Rahami’s arrest, describing him as a friendly guy who would sometimes give out free food to cash-strapped customers.
He has fascination with cars — fast ones, several people said. Ryan McCann said,
“All this guy ever talks about is his cars. 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.”
His sister, Zobyedh Rahami, posted on Facebook saying,
“I would like people to respect my family’s privacy and let us have our peace after this tragic time.”
(via NY Post)
