Ahmad Khan Rahami (ABC photo)

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is suspected of being involved in the bombing incidents over the weekend in New York and New Jersey, was arrested after being shot multiple times and wounded in a shootout with police in Linden, N.J. on Monday, ABC News and the New York Times report.

The confrontation happened about 10:30 a.m. after an owner of a bar in Linden reported that someone was sleeping in a hallway of his establishment, ABC News reports.

“One of our police officers went to investigate and to wake him up, and realized that he was [Rahami], the suspect that had been being sought in the bombings,” the mayor told WABC. “He realized it was the suspect and, within moments, the suspect fired on him. And thank God that he had his vest on. And I think that was very helpful for him. I think that saved his life.”

The New York Times reports that Capt. James Sarnicki of the Linden Police Department told reporters “the officer returned fire” and  Rahami fled, “indiscriminately firing his weapons at passing vehicles.”

Other officers joined the chase, and Rahami was shot multiple times. At least one other officer was injured during the confrontation.

Donald Trump

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Donald Trump once again appeared to invoke violence against Hillary Cinton when he suggested her Secret Service bodyguards disarm.

“Let’s see what happens,” Trump said, falsely suggesting Clinton wanted to ban the Second Amendment.

At a rally in Miami on Friday night, Trump called on Clinton’s Secret Service agents to “drop all weapons.”

“What do you think, yes?” he asked the crowd. “Take their guns away. She doesn’t want guns. Let’s see what happens to her. Take their guns away, OK? It would be very dangerous.”

Clinton’s campaign responded that Trump’s comments show he is unfit to hold office.

“Whether this is done to provoke protesters at a rally or casually or even as a joke, it is an unacceptable quality in anyone seeking the job of commander in chief,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement.

“I think they should disarm immediately,” Trump told elected supporters.

Border Patrol Agent Joel Luna

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A Border Patrol agent who patrolled ranch land for smugglers of drugs and humans is accused of helping his brothers run a criminal family business responsible for a decapitated corpse found off the Texas coast during spring break.

Joel Luna, 31, has been charged with capital murder as part of a drug trafficking conspiracy, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Luna’s attorney said his client never killed anyone, and it was his brothers, Fernando and Eduardo, who are to blame for the slayings.

“There’s an argument to be made against my client that’s guilt by association. People get swept up with those who are really guilty. It’s family,” said Joel’s attorney, Carlos A. Garcia. “Associating or going to a quinceañera is not a crime. He was just a family man, a working man. Think about how many Border Patrol members who live on the border have relatives here without visas.”

While Joel was for in San Juan but raised south of the border, his brothers were born in Mexico.

At the time of his hiring by Border Patrol, Luna appeared to be a great hire: He was an Army combat veteran and a high school ROTC standout.

The Los Angeles Times wrote:

In 2013, Joel notified Border Patrol officials that Eduardo had been temporarily abducted by cartel leaders in Reynosa who knew Joel was an agent and had threatened his family there, according to Cameron County Assistant Dist. Atty. Gustavo “Gus” Garza.

Eduardo, Fernando and their families crossed into the U.S. illegally to live at Joel’s house. Luna gave his sister-in-law $42,000 and instructed her to buy a house in San Juan for his younger brother, according to an arrest affidavit. Fernando moved in across the street, Garza said.

Fernando had been laid off and used severance pay to buy Veteran’s Tire Shop, about 20 miles north in Edinburg, according to an affidavit. He hired Eduardo and kept three other employees. Investigators would later argue that the run-down shop, like other businesses in south Texas, was a front for money laundering and drug trafficking.

By Editorial Board
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A fake tattoo parlor in St. Louis set up down the street from the Boys and Girls Club, and use of a confidential informer with a troubled criminal history, help explain how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives placed some of the city’s most vulnerable residents at risk — and seriously undermined its own integrity in the process.

St. Louis was part of the ATF’s Operation Hustle City, in which agents and police set up the Ink Pimp tattoo parlor at 2806 North Grand Boulevard in January 2013. Agents posed as outlaw bikers looking to buy guns to ship to California or Mexico, and serve as drug cash couriers.

All this occurred in the same area where hundreds of kids regularly attended classes and events on a campus that promised a safe environment. What were ATF agents and their bosses thinking? This appalling example of disregard deals another blow to citizen confidence in law enforcement at a time when federal agencies should be helping to restore public trust.

The Justice Department released a highly critical report last week of undercover ATF storefront operations aimed at getting illegal guns and drugs off the streets in St. Louis and four other cities. The report criticized the operations for inadequate oversight, accountability, training and planning, but did not recommend ending them.

The report said ATF should consolidate its expertise in running storefront operations and not proceed with such stings until agency directors agree they are properly designed and executed.

An agency that has existed in one form or another since 1886 shouldn’t need to be told to properly design and execute operations, especially ones that endanger the very lives of citizens they are supposed to protect. Having issued new directives to the ATF, the Justice Department will need to monitor for implementation.

Other Stories of Interest

• Trump’s Ties to Informant And FBI Agent Reveal His Mode of Operation
• FBI Search for Possible Chelsea Explosion Evidence in Uber Vehicle
• FBI Sued for Information on San Bernardino iPhone Hack
• Justice Department to Help Investigate Tulsa Police Shooting
• ATF Assists Investigation into Shooting of Four in Lincoln Heights

ISIS flag

ISIS has claimed responsibility for a stabbing attack inside a Minnesota mall that injured nine people.

The stabbings, none of which was fatal, was carried out by a “soldier of the Islamic State,” an ISIS-linked news agency claimed.

The suspect was killed by a part-time police officer in Avon, Minnesota, Newsday reports.

“He clearly prevented additional injuries and potential loss of life,” Kleis said Sunday afternoon. “His heroic actions are exemplary.”

Police said the suspect referenced Allah at least once during the attack.

The ISIS-linked Amaq News Agency said the suspect “carried out the operation in response to calls to target citizens of countries belonging to the crusader coalition.”

What’s unclear is whether the suspect had direct communications with ISIS.

The victims ranged in ages from 15 to 53, and none appeared to sustain life-threatening injuries.

Authorities have not identified the attacker.

Screenshot of surveillance video showing the bomb blast in Chelsea.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Authorities are on the hunt for 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is believed to be responsible for the Chelsea bombing over the weekend.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said Monday that he “wouldn’t be surprised if we found a foreign connection to the act” after finding similarities between the bombs in New York and New Jersey over the weekend, CNN reports. 

Law enforcement official said the bombs may have been part of a possible terror cell in both states.

Two bombs were found in New York City and multiple ones in New Jersey.

Both pressure cook bombs in New York appeared to be filled with BBs and ball bearings. Flip top phones were used in both New York and New Jersey, but the bombs in those two places were made from different explosives.

On Sunday night, authorities found multiple bombs in a backpack near an Elizabeth, New Jersey, train station.