The family of Ahmad Khan Rahami, arrested in connectionwith weekend bombings in Seaside Park and New York City, sued the city of Elizabeth in 2011, alleging a pattern of harassment and religious discrimination by city officials.
According to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Newark, the Rahami family said Elizabeth police officers repeatedly forced the closure of their family restaurant, First American Fried Chicken. The lawsuit alleges one man frequently entered the restaurant and told family members “Muslims don’t belong here” and “Muslims are trouble.”
Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage confirmed the longstanding issues with the family, but said the city’s actions against their restaurant were strictly code-related.
“It was strictly about neighbors calling about noise,” Bollwage said. “It was never ethnicity or religion or beliefs or anything like that.”
The restaurant was raided by authorities early Monday, hours after a bag of explosives was found near the Elizabeth train station. It is not yet known if Rahami had any connection to the Elizabeth explosives.
Ahmad Rahami was taken into custody late Monday morning,after allegedly shooting and wounding at least one police officer in Linden.
He was wanted by authorities in connection with a pipe bomb that exploded in Seaside Park on Saturday morning, and a pressure cooker bomb that exploded in Chelsea later that night, injuring dozens.
The family alleges in the suit that police and city officials selectively discriminated their restaurant, forcing them to close early.
Bollwage said the city passed an ordinance forcing the restaurant to close at 10 p.m.
“When they opened the business, in 2002, they were operating it 24 hours,” he said. “After receiving a series of complaints of noise and large crowds gathering late at night, the city passed an ordinance forcing the business to close at 10 p.m.
Court papers show two members of the Rahami family were arrested during a confrontation with police in 2009, stemming from an officer issuing a summons to the establishment for being open late.
The suit alleges the Rahami family attempted to file a complaint against the officers, but the complaint was denied by the police.
Ahmad Rahami is not named in the lawsuit, but his most recent listed address is that of the family restaurant.
Neighbors said they had seen Ahmad Rahami working at the restaurant.
The suit is still active, but the family’s attorney recused herself in 2015. The case was stayed after at least one of the Rahami family pleaded guilty to preventing law enforcement from making an arrest at the restaurant.
The family’s former attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.