Ahmad Khan Rahimi, the al-Qaeda-inspired bomber whose homemade explosive injured 31 people in the Chelsea section of Manhattan in 2016, was sentenced to multiple life terms in federal court on Tuesday.
Rahimi told the court that he doesn't "harbor hate for anyone" — an assertion that runs counter to the image prosecutors presented of a calculated Islamic extremist who not only set two bombs in Chelsea, one of which exploded, but also two additional incendiary devices in New Jersey.
The law mandated that Rahimi, who was convicted in October, face at least a life sentence. But the fact that Rahimi will never again be a free man is not stopping prosecutors from pursuing further convictions. He faces federal charges in New Jersey for setting up a bomb in a garbage can outside the Elizabeth train station, which was discovered by a passersby before it exploded, and another at a Marine Corps 5K race in Seaside Park, which didn't injure anyone after it detonated.
Additionally, Rahimi may soon stand trial in state court in Union County, New Jersey for shooting and injuring four police officers after they found him outside a bar in Linden during a manhunt on the weekend of the bombings.
The officers were not seriously injured, but two did not return to the force and recently retired. Rahimi pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of the officers.
Prosecutors said Rahimi still holds firm to his extremist ideology. While in jail, they said he sought out others charged with terrorism offenses and passed along extremist propaganda, like Osama bin Laden’s speeches.
Rahimi was born in Afghanistan and became a naturalized American citizen after moving to Elizabeth, where his father owned a chicken restaurant.
At the time of the bombing, the attack caused more injuries than any other terrorist attack in New York City since Sept. 11. Then this past October, the city faced a deadly terror attack when an extremist drove a truck into people on the West Side Highway, killing eight. Sayfullo Saipov is looking for a deal in that case — he wants to plead guilty, avoid trial and go to prison for life if prosecutors agree not to seek the death penalty. But prosecutors said victims’ families deserve the closure of a trial.
