NEW YORK (CBS News) — The family of Akayed Ullah, the man accused of setting off a pipe bomb in New York City, said it’s heartbroken and “deeply saddened” by the suffering the attack has caused.
In a statement, Ullah’s family also said it’s outraged by the way it was targeted by law enforcement, including pulling a teenage relative from class and questioning him without a parent, guardian or attorney present. They added that children, as young as 4 years old, were “held out in the cold, detained as their parents were questioned.”
“These are not the actions that we expect from our justice system, and we hope to see better in the days and weeks to come. We also ask the press to respect our privacy and to give our family time to grieve this horrific development,” the family said.
The statement was released on behalf of the family by the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Ullah, an immigrant from Bangladesh, was the only person seriously injured in the blast during the Monday morning rush hour that sent commuters scurrying in panic.
Speaking Tuesday on “CBS This Morning,” John Miller, the deputy commissioner of intelligence and counter-terrorism for the NYPD, said it’s getting harder to stop “lone wolf” attacks. He said Ullah wasn’t on the NYPD’s or the FBI’s radar before Monday’s incident.
“I think what we saw yesterday is something that could have been far, far worse,” he said.
