AFGHAN TRIP LED TO DEEP CHANGES
ELIZABETH, N.J. — Ahmad Khan Rahami came back from a trip to Afghanistan two years ago noticeably devout, in what a childhood buddy told the Herald was a “shocking” transformation of a once happy-go-lucky guy.
“His clothes were different, he wore Muslim attire, robes,” said Flee Jones, 27, who used to play basketball with Rahami. “When he was young he always dressed regular.
“At one point he left to go to Afghanistan and, two years ago, he came back, popped up out of nowhere and he was real religious,” Jones said. “And it was shocking, I’m trying to understand what’s going on, I’d never seen him like this.”
Rahami has been charged with five counts of attempted murder and is implicated in a string of bombings and attempted bombings in New York and New Jersey. He was arrested yesterday in nearby Linden, N.J., following a gunfight with police.
Jones said his 28-year-old high school friend could always be seen hanging out at the Rahami family’s chicken eatery — First American Fried Chicken in this town — where police were seen searching for clues all day yesterday.
“The whole family basically changed when I started seeing them pray inside the chicken shack,” Jones said. “They’ve always been Muslim but they’ve never been really as religious as they are now.”
He said Rahami’s father, Mohammed, introduced him to his son when they were both 14 and Jones came by for chicken. Jones recalled his friend as being outgoing and fun to be with. The two, he added, would make fun of each other’s music and Jones’ friends giving him the nickname “Mad.”
“He was a normal, regular kid, he’d joke a lot, watch me and my brothers rap,” Jones said.
The family was nice as well, Jones said, and would go on vacations to their home country of Afghanistan, although they never talked about what they did on their trips.
“Even when we tried to ask, ‘Oh, how is it out there, what is out there?’ they never gave us any descriptions, no nothing about what was out there or what they’d seen out there,” Jones said.
But at one point, Ahmad Rahami went to Afghanistan for a longer period of time — and when he returned, he was different, Jones said.
He wasn’t joking the way he used to and was quieter.
“He went from funny, knowing
everybody and talking to them to real quiet,” Jones said.
Rahami’s father changed as well, Jones said. Mohammed Rahami also started wearing more religious clothing, and while he used to joke with the kids who came into the store, that stopped, too.
“There was not too much joking after Ahmad got back,” Jones said.
Anthony Trujillo, 15, said he was friends with Ahmad’s younger brother, Aziz, who is 14 or 15.
He said he never really talked to Ahmad but the family seemed “normal” and hardworking, with Aziz frequently having to stop hanging out and go back to the store to work.
“This makes me want to know more about what their family situation is,” Trujillo said of the news of the arrest.
Although Ahmad had changed, Jones said, he never expected to see him on a “Most Wanted” poster.
“It’s shocking to me, definitely shocking to me,” Jones said. “I never would’ve expected that with how nice they are.”