- Title: Accused New York bomber faces charges in federal court
- Date: 10th November 2016
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 10, 2016) (REUTERS) TILT DOWN OF FEDERAL COURTHOUSE AT 500 PEARL STREET
- Embargoed: 25th November 2016 17:55
- Keywords: Ahmad Khan Rahimi Rahimi Chelsea bomb homemade bomb
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA00157V5D1J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The man accused of injuring more than two dozen people in September bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey made his first appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday (November 10) to face charges of using a weapon of mass destruction.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi, 28, did not enter a plea during a brief morning hearing. He was charged with injuring 30 people by setting off a homemade bomb on a crowded sidewalk in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood on the night of Saturday, Sept. 17.
The attack came hours after federal prosecutors contend a pipe bomb planted by Rahimi went off along the course of a charity road race by the New Jersey shore, without injuring anyone. Prosecutors say he was driven by a radical jihadist ideology.
Rahimi sat quietly during the proceedings, dressed in beige prison clothing.
He was arrested two days after the bombing following a gunfight with police, who found him sleeping in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey.
His court-appointed attorney, David Patton, said Thursday he was concerned Rahimi would not receive adequate care for his wounds.
The 28-year-old, Afghan-born naturalized U.S. citizen "nearly lost the use of one of his hands," has an open wound and "is suffering from serious liver damage," Patton said.
U.S. Magistrate Sarah Netburn scheduled a follow-up hearing for Wednesday.
In addition to the bombs that went off, Rahimi is charged with planting another pressure-cooker bomb in Chelsea that did not go off, and with leaving several devices at a train station in Elizabeth in New Jersey.
He faces four criminal counts in New York, including use of a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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