Never before seen footage and images of a near-fatal terror attack last year in the Chelsea district of Manhattan was released on Tuesday.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi, 29, is accused of of setting off bombs in New York City and New Jersey in September 2016 and wounding 30 people.
Prosecutors at Union County Superior Court in New Jersey submitted evidence showing the moment a homemade explosive blasted through the Midtown neighborhood, making the clip publicly available for the first time.
Rahimi is facing multiple felony counts including attempted murder and using a weapon of mass destruction. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
On Sept. 17, 2016, Rahimi allegedly detonated a bomb he made with a pressure cooker and a cellphone timer in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi allegedly detonated a bomb he made with a pressure cooker and a cellphone timer in the Chelsea neighborhood on September 17
Rahimi, an Afghan-born US citizen accused of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey, appeared in Union County Superior Court for the first day of deliberations on Monday
Never before seen footage and pictures of a near-fatal terror attack last year in the Chelsea made public for first time on Tuesday
Rahimi, 29, is accused of of setting off bombs in New York and New Jersey in September 2016 which resulted in 30 people being wounded
Rahimi is facing multiple felony counts including attempted murder and using a weapon of mass destruction among others
‘It blew people off their feet, burned their faces, bloodied their limbs,’ Assistant US Attorney Shawn Crowley told jurors.
Just minutes later, Rahimi is suspected of planting a second bomb several blocks away, which was found by two EgyptAir guards and removed by authorities before it could explode.
The Afghanistan-born US citizen is thought to have placed another bomb in New Jersey which injured no one and other devices that did not detonate.
Rahimi was captured two days later in New Jersey following a violent shootout between himself and local authorities.
Two officers were wounded in the altercation, which erupted on the streets of Linden, New Jersey.
Rahimi is also suspected of planting a second bomb several blocks away, which was found by two EgyptAir guards and removed by authorities
He was captured two days after the bombings in New Jersey following a violent shootout with police, with Rahimi being shot eight to 12 times
The Afghanistan-born US citizen has plead not guilty to all the charges in the case, which began on Monday with a disruptive start
The defendant ordered to leave the courtroom after trying to address the court without permission, being led out by officers in the court
Rahimi stood and began to speak shortly after jurors entered the room to hear lawyers’ opening arguments, refusing to sit down when ordered by US District Judge Richard Berman
Rahimi was shot between eight and 12 times, according to court documents.
When Rahimi was arrested, he was found carrying a notebook in which he wrote that he was motivated by a radical anti-American ideology inspired by Osama bin Laden and others, prosecutors said.
Proceedings in Rahimi’s trial got off to a disruptive start on Monday, with the defendant ordered to leave the courtroom after trying to address the court without permission.
After that statement, with jurors out of the room, Rahimi came back and complained about the terms and conditions of his imprisonment
Rahimi stood and began to speak shortly after jurors entered the room to hear lawyers’ opening arguments, refusing to sit down when ordered by US District Judge Richard Berman.
He was escorted from the room by US marshals and remained outside as a prosecutor delivered her opening statement.
After that statement, with jurors out of the room, Rahimi came back and told Berman he had wanted to complain that his brother and three children had recently lost the right to visit him, and his wife had never been allowed to visit. He said prison officials had not explained why.
‘I have kept quiet for the entire year,’ Rahimi said.
Berman reprimanded Rahimi for talking out of turn, but said he would investigate.
‘You have my assurance that now that the issue is on the table, I will intervene,’ he said.
Meghan Gilligan, a lawyer for Rahimi, told jurors in her brief opening that there were ‘some serious questions about the reliability of certain witnesses and certain exhibits’ which prosecutors planned to use.
‘He is, at the end of the day, a person,’ she said of Rahimi. ‘And he is a person who is presumed innocent.’
Rahimi told Berman he had wanted to complain that his brother and three children had recently lost the right to visit him, and his wife had never been allowed to visit
Berman reprimanded Rahimi for talking out of turn, but said he would investigate the matter saying that he would intervene on his behalf