Bombing Suspect's 'Journal' Recovered, Officials Say

Officials say Ahmad Rahami referred to American al-Qaeda cleric.

ByABC News
September 20, 2016, 11:52 AM

— -- A "journal" belonging to New York City bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami has been recovered by authorities, two federal officials told ABC News.

The writings were apparently on Rahami when he allegedly engaged in a firefight with police, and the pages were shot through with a bullet. The officials said that in them, Rahami refers to the late American al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, whose sermons and writings have been linked to a number of terrorist attacks and plots in the U.S.

A federal complaint filed against Rahami late Tuesday said that in the journal, he also praised Nidal Hasan, the 2009 Fort Hood shooter, and al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.

"You (USA Government) continue your [unintelligible] slaught[er] against the mujahidean [Islamic warriors] be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Sham [Syria], Palestine..." part of the journal reads, according to the complaint. "[God willing] the sounds of the bombs will be heard in the streets. Gun shots to your police. Death to your OPPRESSION."

Investigators have also seized "a lot of papers" at a home linked to Rahami, a source told ABC News.

As of late Monday, authorities had not determined a motive for Rahami, who has been linked to bombings over the weekend in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea and in New Jersey. Though two of the explosives were housed in pressure cookers, as was the case in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the officials said there was no mention in Rahami's purported writings of the perpetrators of that attack, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Today officials said they're also investigating a possible link to five unexploded pipe bombs recovered in Elizabeth, N.J.

Rahami has been charged with attempted murder related to the shootout with police just before he was apprehended Monday.

Michele McPhee is a Boston-based freelance journalist and frequent ABC News contributor.

Related Topics