Republished October 03, 2017 - 3:53 PM
Original Publication Date October 03, 2017 - 2:31 PM
NEW YORK - A jury on Tuesday watched video footage of a man with a backpack dragging two small suitcases down a street last year before a bomb went off, injuring dozens of people.
The cameras in Penn Station and on the street outside trailed Ahmad Khan Rahimi as he walked downtown toward the Manhattan location where the bomb exploded. They are among thousands of surveillance cameras that routinely capture the city's streets.
More dramatic videos of people fleeing the scene as debris and smoke filled the air after the explosion were shown to jurors a day earlier following opening statements by a prosecutor and a defence lawyer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Crowley had promised jurors that they would see video of Rahimi transporting his explosive packages to their destinations early on the evening of Sept. 17, 2016.
One of the bombs exploded in Manhattan's Chelsea neighbourhood, casting a 100-pound trash bin into the air, shattering windows as bits of metal flew through the air and injuring 30 people. Another bomb left several blocks away did not explode.
Rahimi also is accused of detonating a pipe bomb along a charity race in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Photographs of what was left of the pipe bomb were shown to jurors Tuesday.
Rahimi, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was captured two days after the Manhattan bombing after a shootout with police in New Jersey, where he faces other charges. He has pleaded not guilty in Manhattan.
Defence attorney Meghan Gilligan has asked jurors to keep their minds open.
On Monday, Rahimi spoke in the courtroom when he wasn't supposed to and was briefly removed. He later apologized, telling U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman he was upset he hadn't seen his wife since his arrest.
A day later, Rahimi could be seen smiling in court along with nearly everyone else as one government witness struggled to circle a paused video shot of only the man carrying bags down the street without also circling those around him.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017