He also said he did it because “they’ve been bombing in my country and I wanted to do damage here.” Apparently he is retailing a whole laundry list of jihadi grievances. The pretexts always shift — jihadis are always taking revenge for this or that — but underneath them all, the jihad imperative remains the same.
“New York explosion: Man detonates pipe bomb in ‘attempted terrorist attack,’ officials say,” by Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN, December 11, 2017:
(CNN)A man wearing a homemade pipe bomb detonated his explosive in a walkway at the Port Authority Bus Terminal near Times Square on Monday, injuring three people and causing chaos in one of the busiest commuter hubs in the city, officials said.
Authorities called the explosion in the terminal at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue an “attempted terrorist attack” and police identified the suspect in custody as Akayed Ullah, 27. They said the attack appears to be isolated.
Motive: Ullah told investigators that he carried out the attack because of recent Israeli actions in Gaza, a law enforcement source said.
More on suspect: He is of Bangladeshi descent and lives in Brooklyn, two law enforcement sources told CNN. Ullah held a Taxi & Limousine Commission license from March 2012 to March 2015, after which the license was not renewed, TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg said. It’s unclear “whether he drove for any particular base, or whether he simply got the license but didn’t drive at all,” Fromberg said.
What his neighbor says: Alan Butrico owns a Brooklyn building next to the home where he says Ullah lives with his family. He told CNN that Ullah lives in the basement, while his sister and brother live above him. “He wasn’t friendly at all. The family was very quiet themselves. They don’t talk to nobody. They just stay there,” he said, adding that his tenants reported hearing “screaming and yelling” coming from Ullah’s home the last two nights. The tenants did not call police, he said.
Type of device: Ullah wore an “improvised low-tech explosive device attached to his body,” which he intentionally detonated, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. The device, a pipe bomb, was attached to Ullah with Velcro and zip ties, said John Miller, NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.
How bomb was made: According to a senior New York law enforcement official and a city official being briefed on the investigation, Ullah told police he made the device at his workplace. It’s unclear where he’s employed. Added Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a news conference, “Anyone can go on the Internet and download garbage and vileness on how to put together an amateur-level explosive device, and that is the reality that we live with.”
Being treated: Ullah is now at Bellevue Hospital, where he is being treated for lacerations and burns to his hands and abdomen, New York City Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
Other injuries minor: Two victims at Mount Sinai West and one at Mount Sinai Queens are being treated for headaches and ringing in the ears, Nigro said.Suspect affiliations: It’s unclear if Ullah is linked to any terror organization, but when asked if Ullah was connected to ISIS, O’Neill responded only that Ullah “did make statements, but we will not talk about that.”…