In New York City, police have identified the suspect in Monday morning’s bombing in a Midtown Manhattan subway station as 27-year-old Brooklyn resident and Bangladeshi immigrant Akayed Ullah. Police say Ullah was carrying a pipe bomb strapped to his body with Velcro and zip ties when the device exploded prematurely in a tunnel connecting the busy Port Authority and Times Square terminals. Ullah was injured in the blast, along with three other people who suffered headaches and ringing ears. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday the outcome could have been a lot worse.
Mayor Bill de Blasio: “And let’s be also clear: This was an attempted terrorist attack. Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals. Thank God our first responders were there so quickly to address the situation, to make sure people were safe.”
On Monday, The New York Times cited unnamed law enforcement officials who said Ullah was inspired to set off a bomb in retaliation for U.S. attacks against ISIS in Syria. At the White House, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders seized on news of the bombing to defend President Trump’s crackdown on immigration.