Subway pipe bomb suspect faces judge
NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - In handcuffs, terror suspect Akayed Ullah walked into federal court in Manhattan Thursday.
A grand jury has indicted Ullah for allegedly detonating a pipe bomb in December in a busy subway walkway connecting the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Times Square.
The judge asked Ullah if he had seen the six-count indictment and had the opportunity to speak with his lawyers about it. He answered, "Yes." When asked for his plea, Ullah responded, "At this moment, not guilty."
Federal public defender Amy Gallicchio, Ullah's attorney, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse.
"We have an indictment containing charges like this, I think that it's easy to lose sight of the very important and invaluable rights that every person is afforded in our system of justice, including Mr. Ullah," Gallicchio said. "We should not lose sight of those very fundamental principles of justice that protect all of us."
Ullah was the only person seriously injured when the government said he detonated the pipe bomb strapped to his body. Authorities said the 27-year-old from Bangladesh picked the location and time during the morning commute hoping to kill as many people as possible.
Investigators said Ullah admitted he built the bomb at his apartment on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn and was self-radicalized by ISIS videos he had watched online.
In December, his wife, who lives in Bangladesh, told reporters Ullah had visited her in September and asked her to read the writings and listen to the sermons of a known radical Muslim preacher who is currently in prison in connection with multiple killings in Bangladesh.
In December, Ullah appeared in court via video from his hospital bed at Bellevue Hospital.