The 27-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant accused of trying to detonate a crude pipe bomb in a New York City subway station Monday morning was inspired by ISIS to avenge the deaths of Muslims worldwide.
Authorities say Akayed Ullah, a former cab driver who lived in Brooklyn, used Velcro and zip ties to strap the bomb to his body during rush hour, NBC reports.
The bomb, which was made from a pipe, 9-volt battery and Christmas tree lights, detonated at 7:20 a.m. in a pedestrian walkway, injuring the suspect and four commuters. On late Monday afternoon, Ullah was in serious condition. The commuters were not seriously injured.
FBI agents and NYPD cops raided three Brooklyn apartments connected to the suspect. The Joint Terrorism Task Force is searching for evidence, including phones, computers and bomb-making equipment, the New York Post reports.
According to numerous reports, Ullah arrived in the U.S. seven years ago from his native Bangladesh on an F4 Visa, which is for siblings of American citizens.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said the bomb was “low-tech.”
Authorities believe Ullah acted alone, and so far there’s no evidence that he was in direct contact with ISIS.
“Apparently he went to the internet and downloaded information as to how to make a homemade bomb,” Cuomo said on CNN, adding that the suspect was “not really part of a sophisticated network.”
“They’re not people who come from overseas. They live here, they’re disgruntled, they go to the internet,” Cuomo said. “They find out how to download a device that can hurt and maim. And they implement it themselves on a low-tech basis. It’s very troubling.”
As expected, President Trump seized on the attack to ramp up his calls for an end to “chain migration” that enables immigrants to enter the country more easily if they have family living in the U.S.
“The President is certainly concerned that Congress, particularly Democrats, have failed to take action in some places where we feel we could have prevented this,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “Specifically, the President’s policy has called for an end to chain migration and if that had been in place, that would have prevented this individual from coming to the United States.”
