BOMB SICKO GUILTY
Trump angered me, so I attacked PA
After being found guilty on all counts for a failed suicide bombing in a passageway to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a Bangladeshi immigrant declared the jury had gotten one thing wrong: He was no ISIS sympathizer.
“I didn't do (it) for ISIS group,” Akayed Ullah said in Manhattan Federal Court after the jury had been excused.
“I was angry with Donald Trump because he said he will bomb the Middle East and protect his nation.”
The remarks were unexpected. Ullah showed no emotion as the jury found him guilty on all six counts for the attack last Dec. 11 that miraculously resulted in no deaths. The jury deliberated for roughly six hours over two days.
Judge Richard Sullivan repeatedly advised Ullah, 28, that he should speak with his lawyers rather than make statements in court. A pair of U.S. marshals tensed up and loomed over Ullah as he spoke.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
“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,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said.
Statements by Ullah to the judge echo those made by his defense team during the weeklong trial.
Attorneys for Ullah, an electrician who lived in Brooklyn, argued that he was outraged by U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and suicidal — but not a follower of ISIS.
“This is not an attack at all. This is a public suicide attempt,” Ullah's attorney Amy Gallicchio said in closing remarks.
Juror Linda Artis was surprised to hear that Ullah had declared he was not a follower of ISIS.
“It makes me feel a little bad that he said that. That's where I was — on the fence on that for a long time,” she said.
Artis said she followed the judge's instruction regarding what constituted providing material support to a terrorist organization.
“I don't think you have to be part of ISIS to be p----d off about something,” Artis said. “He did it. The big question was why.”
Prosecutors charged that Ullah was a lone wolf influenced by ISIS propaganda that encourages followers to launch attacks in Europe and the U.S. if they are unable to join the fight in Iraq and Syria.
Ullah had targeted the underground passageway to the bustling bus terminal to inflict maximum damage, prosecutors said. They also noted that Ullah had viewed terrorist propaganda online and made damning posts on social media before the attack, including, “Oh America die in your rage” and “Oh Trump, you fail to protect your nation.”
Video footage of the blast and Ullah's own statements to investigators left no doubt Ullah had tried to detonate a pipe bomb strapped to his chest.
"Today's jury verdict of guilty on all charges demonstrates clearly that New Yorkers will never be deterred by anyone who seeks to sow fear in our city, or challenge our nation's way of life,” NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said.