Accused Elizabeth Bomber Escorted From Court After Outburst

ELIZABETH, NJ — Elizabeth native Ahmad Khan Rahimi, accused of setting five explosive devices near Elizabeth train station and triggering a gunfight with Linden Police, had an outburst in the middle of his trial Monday, the Associated Press reported.

Rahimi, now 29, is being tried in a U.S. District Court in Elizabeth.

He was escorted out of the courtroom following his outburst when tried to speak with U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman and was escorted out.

He returned after the prosecution's opening statement and apologized for the outburst, telling the judge he hadn't been able to see his wife since his detention, according to the AP.

Rahimi is accused of setting off a pressure cooker bomb in New York City while believing he was a "soldier in a holy war" bent on carrying out a murderous plot with maximum carnage, federal prosecutors said Monday at the start of his trial. He researched online, bought ingredients and assembled bombs after watching how-to videos, they said.

"He designed it. He built it," Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Crowley said. "He filled it with explosives and deadly shrapnel and he planted it on the street."

Rahimi also planted a pipe bomb that exploded in a trash can at a charity 5K run for armed services veterans in Seaside Park on Sept. 17, 2016. The bomb exploded but didn't injure anyone, prosecutors said. He went back home, then took a train into Manhattan and planted two pressure cooker bombs, they said.

One didn't go off, the other did, injuring 30 people in the busy Chelsea neighborhood.

Two days later, it was discovered Rahimi also planted pipe bombs at the Elizabeth Train Station which were found inside of a backpack by two homeless men.

Rahami was captured later that morning after police received a tip from an eyewitness who saw a person sleeping in a doorway at a bar, where the suspect apparently sought shelter from the rain, according to Linden Police Capt. James Sarnicki, speaking live on NBC News.

The eyewitness called the Linden Police. As police approached the vehicle, Rahimi opened fire on police.

Sarnicki said an officer, acting after getting a tip, approached the man and ordered the suspect to show his hands. The suspect pulled a handgun and fired, striking the officer — who had was wearing a bulletproof vest — in the abdomen area. Another bullet grazed an officer in the head.

One officer returned fire as the suspect began to flee, and then the suspect fired his weapon randomly at passing vehicles, police said.

Multiple officers responded to the scene, and Rahami was shot more than once, Sarnicki said. The suspect was conscious and awake at the scene, according to Sarnicki.

Social media users were posting photos of the scene of Rahami's capture.

Rahimi's defense attorney, Meghan Gilligan, asked jurors to keep an open mind about the case and said the government would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her client is guilty.

"He is at the end of the day a person," who deserves an open mind from jurors, she said.

"It was not my intention to make a scene," he told the judge of his outburst. He said he's barely seen his three children and hasn't seen his wife once, because she is not approved to go to the detention facility where he's held.

"Why are they preventing me from seeing my wife?" he asked the judge. Berman scolded Rahimi for making a scene and for raising the issue "one minute before we were scheduled to start this trial," but he promised he'd look into the visitation issue.

Rahimi sat down and had no other outbursts as the case progressed.

Rahimi, who lives with his family in Elizabeth, is not charged with terrorism, but he has been charged with crimes including bombing a public place, using a weapon of mass destruction and interstate transportation of explosives.

While Rahimi has not been charged with terrorism, prosecutors say his interest in jihad, terrorist attacks and terrorist organizations vastly influenced his plans. They said he was arrested carrying a notebook with writings with such passages as "the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets."

Crowley called him a "soldier in a holy war against Americans, and New York and New Jersey were his battle grounds."

Rahimi also has been charged with attempted murder in New Jersey because authorities say he shot at police officers during his arrest. Details of the shootout won't be included in the federal trial.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

AP Photo/Mel Evans, File

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