Charges Filed Against Alleged Bomber Ahmad Rahami

Championing jihad, bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami vowed to martyr himself rather than be caught after setting off explosives in New York and New Jersey, and he'd hoped in a handwritten journal that "the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets," authorities said Tuesday as they filed federal charges against him. The AP reports a criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court provided new chilling descriptions of the motivations that authorities said drove the Afghan-born US citizen to set off explosives in New York and New Jersey, including a bomb that injured more than two dozen people when it blew up on a busy Manhattan street.

Before the federal charges were filed, Rahmani, 28, was already being held on $5.2 million bail, charged with the attempted murder of police officers during the shootout that led to his capture Monday outside a bar in Linden, New Jersey. The court complaint describes Rahami buying bomb-making equipment so openly that he ordered citric acid, ball bearings and electronic igniters on eBay and had them delivered to a New Jersey business where he worked until earlier this month. Federal agents have attempted to question Rahami in the hospital. But Rep. Tom MacArthur, who received a classified briefing from the FBI, said Rahami was not cooperating. (More Ahmad Rahami stories.)