2017 New York City attempted bombing
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On December 11, 2017, a pipe bomb partially detonated in the
subway station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...
adjoining the Port Authority Bus Terminal in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
, New York City, injuring four people including the bomber. Mayor
Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
described the incident as "an attempted terrorist attack". The bomber was identified by police as 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, a
Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh; he was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison in 2021.


Bombing

At approximately 7:20 a.m., during morning rush hour, a pipe bomb partially detonated in the
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
's Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal station, within the underground passageway between the Seventh and Eighth Avenue subway lines. There were four non-life-threatening injuries. The suspected bomber was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment. According to the city's fire department commissioner, the suspect suffered burns to his hands and torso while three bystanders had "ringing ears and headaches". The bombing severely disrupted subway service for several hours, leading to lower-than-normal ridership that day.


Perpetrator

After the incident, the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) arrested a "would-be suicide bomber" armed with a pipe bomb (which was filled with
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
and
Christmas tree lights Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom goe ...
) and a battery pack. The suspect was identified as 27-year-old Brooklyn resident Akayed Ullah. Ullah is a permanent U.S. resident. His uncle won a
diversity visa lottery The Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the green card lottery, is a United States government lottery program for receiving a United States Permanent Resident Card. The Immigration Act of 1990 established the current and permanent ...
which enabled him to bring Ullah to the United States under the family reunification provisions of the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...
. He was a licensed cab driver from March 2012 to March 2015. One year after he arrived in the U.S., his father died. He subsequently converted to
Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islah, reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three g ...
and pressured his family to pray regularly and adopt conservative religious beliefs. Ullah's wife and child live in Bangladesh, where he kept books by
Muhammad Jasimuddin Rahmani Muhammad Jasimuddin Rahmani is chief of the Al Qaeda affiliated, radical Islamist organization Ansarullah Bangla Team. He is currently in custody in Bangladesh charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act. He advocated the murder of atheists. Militant ...
, the spiritual leader of extremist group
Ansarullah Bangla Team The Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), also called Ansar Bangla is a terrorist organization in Bangladesh, implicated in crimes including some brutal attacks and murders of atheist bloggers from 2013 to 2015 and a bank heist in April 2015. The gang was ...
which is linked to the terror group
al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countri ...
. Ullah had at times frequented the Masjid Nur Al Islam, a mosque in Kensington, Brooklyn, which was placed on the NYPD Intelligence Division's "Mosques of Interest" list in 2004. Four members of the mosque are also on the NYPD's "Most Dangerous" list. He wrote handwritten notes on his passport, including "O AMERICA, DIE IN YOUR RAGE." He had posted a warning on Facebook, "Trump you failed to protect your nation", before the attack. Prosecutors allege he told police after the blast "I did it for the Islamic State." After being questioned, Ullah reportedly said he was "following ISIS on the internet and reading '' Inspire'' magazine". Through online instructions, he learned how to make the explosive device. A law enforcement source told CNN that Ullah said he carried out the attack in response to recent Israeli actions in
Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon * Ghazzeh, a village in ...
over Donald Trump's
recognition Recognition may refer to: *Award, something given in recognition of an achievement Machine learning *Pattern recognition, a branch of machine learning which encompasses the meanings below Biometric * Recognition of human individuals, or biomet ...
of Jerusalem as Israel's
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. The Associated Press, however, reported law enforcement sources told them he was retaliating against U.S. military aggression. Authorities believed he also sought reprisal for American air attacks on Muslims in
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and elsewhere. According to statements by law enforcement officials, reported in '' The New York Times'', he chose the Times Square area because of its Christmas-themed advertising. During court proceedings, Ullah denied being an ISIS sympathizer, saying he "was angry with Donald Trump because he said he will bomb the Middle East and protect his nation".


Legal proceedings

Ullah was charged with possessing a criminal weapon, making terroristic threats and supporting an act of terrorism. In early November 2018, he was found guilty on all counts. He was scheduled to be sentenced on April 5, 2019. His sentencing was delayed to April 22, 2021, when he was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 30 years.


Reaction

President Donald Trump said, "There have now been two terrorist attacks in New York City in recent weeks carried out by foreign nationals here on green cards. The first attacker came through the visa lottery, the second came through chain migration. We’re going to end both of them." He called for the end of the Diversity Immigrant Visa and chain migration after this attack, and had made a similar statement following the October 31, 2017, truck attack in
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
. The Bangladeshi consulate in New York City condemned the attack and reiterated the Bangladeshi government policy of zero tolerance against terrorism. Bangladeshi-Americans in New York City denounced the attack, as well as President Trump's suggestion to end chain migration. Bangladesh's Counterterrorism Police stated that they did not find a link between Ullah and domestic terrorist groups in Bangladesh. The counterterrorism police also said that they had placed his family members under surveillance after the attack.


See also

* List of terrorist incidents in December 2017 *
List of terrorist incidents in New York City New York City, the largest and most populous city in the United States, has been the target of numerous acts of terrorism throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The city, in particular, was one of the targets of the September 11 attacks, ...


References

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