NYC Bombing Suspect Came to US in 2011

Akayed Ullah carried bomb on 55-minute subway ride
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 12, 2017 1:43 AM CST
NYC Bombing Suspect Came to US in 2011
This undated photo provided by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission shows Akayed Ullah, the suspect in the explosion near New York's Times Square on Monday.   (New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission via AP)

The man accused of detonating a bomb in a subway corridor near Times Square Monday morning carried the device strapped to himself on a 55-minute subway ride from his Brooklyn home, law enforcement officials say. Akayed Ullah, who came to the US from Bangladesh in 2011, injured himself and three others in the blast. Law enforcement officials tell the New York Daily News that the 27-year-old, who says he was inspired by ISIS, decided to set off the bomb in a commuter-packed passageway connecting three stations after seeing a Christmas poster. The pipe bomb was packed with explosive powder and detonated with a broken Christmas light, authorities say, but the explosion was not powerful enough to turn the pipe into deadly shrapnel. After the blast, Ullah was subdued by four Port Authority police officers.

Ullah, who's expected to face numerous federal charges, was hospitalized with serious burns, while another three people received minor injuries. Law enforcement officials tell the New York Times that Ullah, who apparently worked for a car service after arriving in the US and more recently worked as an electrician, has told them he was radicalized online and found bomb-making instructions on the internet. Ullah came to the US on a preferential visa for people with relatives already in the US, and President Trump says the attempted terrorist attack is another reason to tighten immigration rules, the Washington Post reports. "Today's terror suspect entered our country through extended-family chain migration, which is incompatible with national security," he said Monday. (More Akayed Ullah stories.)

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