NYC subway bomber found guilty of 6 counts
A jury has found Akayed Ullah guilty of last year’s attack in an underground walkway of the New York subway system, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.
Footage from the tunnel showed Ullah detonate a bomb on his person during morning rush hour December 11, 2017. The tunnel connects two subway lines beneath the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan.
“Ullah’s sinister purpose was to harm and terrorize as many innocent people in his path as possible, by using deadly violence to make a political statement,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said.
Berman said the verdict coming on Election Day “fittingly underscores the core principles of American democracy and spirit.”
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Six people were injured in the blast. Ullah injured his hands and stomach, and footage shows police responding to the scene as Ullah lay on his back in the tunnel.
According to authorities, the bomb was composed of a battery, wires, metals screws and a Christmas tree light bulb.
On the day of the attack, Ullah posted to Facebook, “Trump you failed to protect your nation,” according to a criminal complaint.
“Through incredibly good fortune, his bomb did not seriously injure anyone other than himself,” acting US Attorney Joon Kim said after a January court appearance.
The 28-year-old Bangladeshi man was convicted on six counts:
Provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization; Use of a weapon of mass destruction; Bombing a place of public use and a pubic transportation system; Destruction of property by means of fire or explosive; Terrorist attack against mass transportation systems; Use of a destructive device during and in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The first count involves Ullah detonating the explosives on his person “for and in the name of ISIS,” the complaint said.
It was not immediately clear when Ullah will be sentenced. The maximum sentence for two of the charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction, is life in prison.
The Port Authority Bus terminal accommodates 220,000 passenger trips a day.
