NYC suspect’s post: ‘Trump, you failed to protect your nation’

NEW YORK – Bangladesh native Akayed Ullah taunted President Trump in a Facebook post minutes before igniting bedlam with a botched bombing in New York’s crowded Times Square transit hub at rush hour, authorities said Tuesday.

“On the way to carrying out the December 11 attack, Ullah posted a statement on his Facebook account that stated, ‘Trump you failed to protect your nation,’ ” according to a federal court complaint filed by Special Agent Joseph Cerciello with Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The five-count complaint charges the Brooklyn resident with bombing a public place, use of a weapon of mass destruction, providing support for the Islamic State, destruction of property by fire or explosives and use of a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited the attack Tuesday in calling on Congress to tighten immigration rules. Ullah came to the United States in 2011 on an F-4 visa that’s available for immigrants with relatives who are U.S. citizens — the “chain migration” program Trump has vowed to end.

Lee Francis Cissna, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, also cited the visa lottery at a White House press briefing.

“Because the criteria are so low, either you have no education at all and very little skills, or you have a minimum of education and no skills at all,” he said. “And because it’s a lottery, pretty much anybody on the planet who’s from a qualifying country can take advantage of this.”

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said at a news conference Tuesday that Ullah “came to kill, to maim, to destroy,” and he had expected to die in the explosion. He had no respect for American “virtues,” Kim added.

“Ullah will find here another great American virtue, and that is justice,” Kim said.

Ullah’s first court appearance is expected to be a “bedside presentment” by video conference from Bellevue Hospital on Wednesday, Kim’s office said. The bomb suspect was being treated for burns and cuts suffered in the blast. Three passersby suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Ullah, 27, could face life in prison if convicted on the charge of use of weapons of mass destruction. He admitted he built the pipe bomb loaded with metal screws and said ,he was inspired by the Islamic State, according to the court complaint. Authorities say

“Ullah will find here another great American virtue, and that is justice.”

Joon Kim Acting Manhattan U.S. attorney

the bomb only partially detonated, a misfire that may have saved lives.

“Ullah carried out the December 11 attack in part because of the United States Government’s policies in, among other places, the Middle East,” the complaint said. Ullah hoped to “terrorize as many people as possible” and conducted his attack on a workday hoping to hurt more people, the complaint said.

Ullah’s radicalization began as far back as 2014, the complaint said. He viewed online material of the Islamic terror group ISIS, “including a video instructing, in substance, that if supporters of ISIS were unable to travel overseas to join ISIS, they should carry out attacks in their homelands,” the complaint said.

Ullah began searching the Internet about a year ago for information about building improvised explosive devices, the complaint charged.

Bacon reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY