The family of Akayed Ullah, the 27-year-old terrorist responsible for the recent bombing in New York City, have complained that law enforcement agencies are using aggressive tactics in their investigation.
Ullah injured himself and several other people when his suicide vest exploded earlier than he expected at New York City’s Port Authority terminal on Monday, December 11, 2017.
Ullah’s family shared a statement that was read by Albert Fox Cahn, legal director for the NY Chapter Council for Islamic Relations,
“We are heartbroken by the violence that was targeted at our city today and by the allegations being made against a member of our family, but we’re also outraged by the behavior of the law enforcement officials who held children as small as 4 years old out in the cold and who pulled a teenager out of high school classes to interrogate him without lawyer, without his parents.
These are not the sorts of actions we expect from our justice system. We have every confidence that our justice system will find the truth behind this attack and that we will in the end be able learn what occurred today.”
According to the New York Post, it is unclear how or if the 4-year-old and teenager mentioned in the statement are related to Ullah.
Ullah, who resides in Brooklyn, was originally from Bangladesh but moved to the United States in 2010 where he worked as a New York City cab driver. He told investigators that he was inspired by ISIS and intended to carry out the attack “for revenge.” According to the New York Post, investigators do not believe Ullah had any direct contact with the terrorist organization.
Raw footage of the explosion was captured by a surveillance video below.