Father of bombing suspect told FBI his son was a terrorist in 2014
Mohammad Rahami made the statement to New Jersey police after his son, Ahmad Khan Rahami, was accused of stabbing his brother in a domestic dispute, the Times reported, citing two senior law-enforcement officials.
The comments were passed along to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the FBI, according to the Times. FBI officials interviewed the father, but he recanted his statement. An official told the Times his comments were made out of anger at his son.
Ahmad Rahami spent three months in jail on charges relating to the domestic dispute incident, a law-enforcement official told the Times.
On Monday, Ahmad Khan was arrested after a gunfight with police in Linden, New Jersey, in connection to three bombing incidents in New York and New Jersey.
Reporters outside Mohammad Rahami's restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, asked him if he thought his son was a terrorist on Tuesday.
"No. And the FBI, they know that," he said.