September 19, 2016
By N. R, Kleinfield
...At this point, (click here) little is known of Mr. Rahami’s ideology or politics, or whether he has any connections to foreign terrorist organizations. He used to wear Western-style clothing, and customers said he gave little indication of his heritage.
Around four years ago, though, Mr. Rahami disappeared for a while. Mr. Jones said that one of the younger Rahami brothers told him that he had gone to Afghanistan. When he returned, some patrons noticed a certain transformation. He grew a beard and exchanged his typical wardrobe of T-shirts and sweatpants for traditional Muslim robes. He began to pray in the back of the store.
His previous genial bearing turned more stern.
“It’s like he was a completely different person,” Mr. Jones said. “He got serious and completely closed off.”
Andre Almeida, 24, who lives nearby and eats at the chicken restaurant once or twice each week, said he found the change quite striking but was hesitant to reach any conclusions....
