The father of bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami told the New York Times his son was "fascinated" by jihadist music, poetry and videos. Watch video
ELIZABETH -- The father of bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami told the New York Times that he knew his son was interested in terrorist organizations and "fascinated" by jihadist music, poetry and videos.
In an interview conducted in Mohammad Rahami's native tongue, Pashto, the suspect's father called his son's activities on the internet "a disease."
"The way he speaks, his videos, when I see these things that he listens to, for example, Al Qaeda, Taliban, he watches their videos, their poetry," Mohammad Rahami said he told federal agents, according to the report. He also said his son admired Al Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki.
Officials have said Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, had a notebook with jihadist writings on him when he was arrested.
The day after the Linden shootout and subsequent arrest of Ahmad Khan Rahami, his father told reporters, "I called them two years ago," while pointing at authorities. "He stabbed my son. He hit my wife, and I put him in jail two years ago."
In the New York Times report, Mohammad Rahami says he visited his son in jail after that incident, but would not forgive him until he knew he was not a terrorist.
"In two months, the FBI came back to me and said he's clean," Mohammad Rahami said. "They didn't find anything on him. But they didn't interview him. ... I still had my doubts. I was never 100 percent clear."
A federal law enforcement official confirmed to NJ Advance Media that Mohammad Rahami did call authorities, initiating a review by federal agents.
"He used the T word," the official said. "It was something to the effect of, 'My son is acting like a terrorist.' He didn't say he was looking up information on internet or building bombs, he just used the T word."
The official said the FBI then began database checks on Rahami and checked in with local law enforcement, but found "no derogatory information whatsoever." He said when agents then went back to Mohammad Rahami, he recanted what he had said and the investigation was closed.
"We get leads like this all the time and 99.9 percent of them go nowhere," the official said.
Ahmad Khan Rahami was not interviewed by agents, the official said.
Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.