A 29-year-old Elizabeth man who placed two pressure-cooker bombs on New York City streets was convicted today.
After a two-week trial, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, of Elizabeth, was convicted of using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a public place, which carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.
According to prosecutors Rahimi,’inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, considered himself "a soldier in a holy war against Americans".
The decision was made following the amount of evidence obtained which included Rahimi’s fingerprints and DNA found on bombs, videos that captured Rahimi dragged the bombs in suitcases through Manhattan streets.
In this incident, Rahimi was responsible for injuring 30 people when one of two bombs detonated.
Charges for the following incidents in New Jersey remain pending.
-A pipe bomb that demoted in Seaside Park, just before the start of a Marine Corps charity run. There were no injuries reported.
-An improvised explosive device found on Sept. 19 on an Elizabeth street which detonated as bomb robot to examined the bag.
-Hours after the explosive device was found in Elizabeth, a shootout ensued in Linden. Rahimi was ultimately taken into custody but not before wounding two officers during the encounter.