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Terrorism

New York City bomb suspect pleads not guilty

January 12, 2018

Akayed Ullah is facing six charges for an attempted suicide bomb attack near Manhattan's Time Square. He allegedly told police after his arrest he "did it for the Islamic State."

https://p.dw.com/p/2qjFd
USA - Akayed Ullah in New York
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/E. Williams

A Bangladeshi immigrant accused of trying to carry out a suicide bomb attack in a busy New York City subway tunnel in December pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges on Thursday.

"At this moment, not guilty," Akayed Ullah said after asked for his plea in a federal court hearing in Manhattan.

The 27-year old could serve a life sentence if found guilty of charges including supporting a foreign terrorist organization, using a weapon of mass destruction and committing a terrorist attack against a mass transit system.

Read more: Bangladeshi man faces state and federal terror charges in New York

Police near Times Square in New York
The attempted bomb attack injured Ullah and three other peopleImage: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Kudacki

Attempted attack

Police arrested Ullah on December 11 after he allegedly tried to detonate a pipe bomb attached to his body in a tunnel between Times Square and Port Authority Bus Terminal.

The bomb failed to completely detonate, but the partial explosion left Ullah and three commuters with minor injuries.

Ullah, who arrived in the United States in 2011, allegedly told police after his arrest that he "did it for the Islamic State." Federal prosecutors said a handwritten note was also found in Ullah's passport with the words "O AMERICA, DIE IN YOUR RAGE."

Prosecutors accuse Ullah of radicalizing himself after he started watching pro-Islamic State internet videos in 2014.

Read more: G7, Facebook, Google, Twitter agree on plan to counter Islamist terror

Ullah also published a post on his Facebook account, saying: "Trump you failed to protect your nation."

At Thursday's hearing, Ullah's lawyer requested her client receive medical attention after not seeing a doctor for several days.

Judge Richard Sullivan said he may set a trial date at the next hearing on April 13.

amp/rc (Reuters, AP, dpa)