Akayed Ullah, Port Authority explosion suspect: What to know

Dec. 12--Federal terrorism charges have been filed against the Brooklyn man who said he was inspired by ISIS to detonate a homemade pipe bomb in a passageway under the Port Authority Bus Terminal, officials said.

Akayed Ullah "went to the Port Authority yesterday with a purpose. The location and timing of his attack was no accident and his motivation was no mystery," Joon H. Kim, the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan said at a midday news conference.

Ullah began researching his attack a year ago, planned his attack for several weeks, began collecting bomb-making material two or three weeks ago, and began making the bomb a week ago, Kim said.

The attack, which happened at about 7:20 a.m. Monday, injured Ullah and three other people, officials said. Ullah, who lives in Flatlands, was taken into custody minutes after the explosion.

He was charged with providing support to a terrorist organization, using a weapon of mass destruction, bombing a public place, destruction of property using an explosive and use of a destructive device, according the the criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

Ullah remained hospitalized the day after the attack, but was expected to be arraigned later Tuesday or Wednesday, Kim said.

Here's what we know about him and the attack:

Ullah was inspired by ISIS

Ullah told officers who interviewed him at the hospital that he was inspired by ISIS to carry out the attack, the criminal complaint said. "I did it for the Islamic State," he said.

He added that he did it in part because of the United State's policies in the Middle East, the complaint said.

His radicalization began in 2014, if not earlier, according to the complaint. "Ullah viewed pro-ISIS materials online, including a video instructing, in substance, that if supporters of ISIS were unable to travel overseas to join ISIS, they should carry out attacks in their homelands," the complaint said.

Investigators also found a handwritten note in his home that read, "O America, die in your rage," the complaint said.

He also mocked President Donald Trump on Facebook before carrying out the attack, according to the criminal complaint.

"Trump you failed to protect your nation," Ullah wrote on his Facebook account, the complaint said.

He researched how to build a bomb online

Ullah began researching how to build IEDs about a year ago, according to the criminal complaint. He began buying the materials to build the bomb used on Monday about two to three weeks before the attack, the complaint said.

The device was described by NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill as "an improvised, low-tech explosive device." It was based on a pipe bomb and strapped to Ullah using Velcro and zip ties, NYPD Deputy Commission of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.

The 12-inch pipe was filled with powder and shrapnel and was detonated by a Christmas ornamental light, a law enforcement source said. The device only partly detonated, cracking the pipe but not exploding it, according to the source.

Additional parts, including metal poles, pieces of wires and metal screws, later found at Ullah's Brooklyn home, the complaint said.

His goal was to terrorize "as many people as possible."

Ullah choose to carry out the attack on a workday because "he believed that there would be more people," the complaint said. He detonated the pipe bomb in the underground passageway that connects the Times Square and Port Authority subway stations during Monday morning's rush hour, police said.

"The location and timing of his planned attack was no accident," Kim said.

He was ultimately not successful in his goal, as the person who suffered the most injuries was himself. He sustained burns to his abdomen and hands as a result of the explosion and was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, officials said.

Three other people suffered minor injuries, the FDNY said.

Ullah came to the U.S. on a F43 family immigrant visa

The 27-year-old is from Chittagong, a port city on the southeastern coast of Bangladesh, according to the country's police chief.

He came to the United States using a passport displaying an F43 family immigrant visa in 2011, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. He was admitted under a process in which immigrants already in the country may sponsor family members, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed.

He last visited Bangladesh on Sept. 8, the country's police chief said.

Ullah currently lives on East 48th Street in Flatlands with his parents and siblings, according to police and neighbors. He had a number of jobs, including working as a licensed livery cab or limousine driver. His Taxi and Limousine Commission "for-hire vehicle" license was in effect between March 2012 and March 2015.

A government source said while Ullah drove limousines in the city he had a clean record, with no citations and only two traffic tickets. He had no known criminal record in Bangladesh or the United States and was not on the radar of the NYPD or FBI, officials said.

Kisslyn Joseph, 19, said she has lived next door to Ullah on East 48th Street, between avenues M and N, for the past month and a half.

"He doesn't talk to anybody. He doesn't say hi or anything. I would say good morning or something and he just ignored me," Joseph said in an interview.

The family kept to themselves, said Stanley Morgan, 59, who has lived on the block for six years.

"They're not friendly at all," he said. "They speak to nobody on the block."

Police searched Ullah's home on East 48th Street Monday, as well as another house on Ocean Parkway in Kensington that is linked to the suspect. Ullah used to attend the Masjid Nur al-Islam mosque on Church and Chester avenues in Kensington, according to the New York Times.

Ullah's family "outraged" by law enforcement conduct

Ullah's family in Brooklyn released a statement following the attack, expressing sorrow for his alleged actions, but also concerns about the investigation.

"We are heartbroken by this attack on our city today and by the allegations being made against a member of our family. Our Family like all families is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all New Yorkers. But we are also outraged by the behavior of law enforcement officials during this investigation," the family said in a statement released by the Council On American-Islamic Relations New York chapter on Monday. "Today, we have seen our children, as young as 4 years old, held out in the cold, detained as their parents were questioned. One teenage relative was pulled out of high school classes and interrogated without a lawyer, without his parents. These are not the actions that we expect from our justice system, and we hope to see better in the days and weeks to come."

A request for comment from the NYPD regarding the Ullah family's statement was not immediately returned.

Meanwhile, police in Bangladesh were questioning Ullah's wife and in-laws, two senior police officials in Bangladesh said on Tuesday.

The two officials, who declined to be identified as they are not permitted to discuss the matter publicly, did not give details of the questioning but said the couple has a 6-month-old boy.

With Rajvi Desai, Newsday and Reuters

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