The attempted suicide bombing suspect was charged Tuesday in connection to Monday’s attack in New York City, and he apparently trolled President Trump on social media before the pipe bomb explosion.
Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant, is accused of attempting to set off a pipe bomb strapped to his body in the subway station near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in busy midtown Manhattan. Mr. Ullah was the only one seriously harmed when the bomb did not go off as planned.
He was charged in federal court with criminal possession of a weapon, supporting an act of terrorism and making a terroristic threat, according to the New York City Police Department.
Prior to the attack, Mr. Ullah wrote a sinister message aimed at President Trump, and expressed Islamic State sympathies to law enforcement officers at the hospital where he was taken after the bomb went off.
“Trump you failed to protect your nation,” he wrote on his Facebook according to The Associated Press.
The report also states that authorities found anti-American sentiments in his apartment, including a passport with “O America, die in rage,” written on it.
The U.S. District Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York said that Mr. Ullah is unlikely to appear in court because of his injuries, and will have a bedside presentment either late Tuesday or sometime Wednesday.
Authorities declined to add more detail to Mr. Ullah’s alleged terrorist sympathies, but did say the suspect chose the time and location because he knew it was a busy time of day and more people would be on the subway.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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