A Maine teenager alleged to have tried to kill three NYPD officers blocks from Occasions Sq. on New 12 months’s Eve within the title of jihad been charged federally, court docket paperwork present.
As NBC Information first reported, Trevor Bickford espoused jihadist views and tried to kill cops with an almost 18″ lengthy knife simply earlier than the stroke of midnight.
On Tuesday, the FBI alleged that beginning final summer time the 19-year-old from Wells, Maine, started to observe the teachings of a so-called cleric who espoused radical views and is the alleged non secular chief of Al Qaeda, recognized in court docket paperwork as Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi.
In November, the FBI alleged he tried to journey to the Center East to assist the Taliban and instructed a member of the family he wished to be a suicide bomber.
The grievance confirms the whole lot of NBC Information’ reporting within the days that adopted the assault.
In a press launch prosecutors say that Bickford wrote in his journal on New 12 months’s Eve that “this will likely be my last entry” and that his brother had “joined the ranks of my enemy” by becoming a member of the US army.
The grievance additionally particulars Bickford’s post-Miranda self-incriminating statements made on the hospital.
He faces as much as 20 years for every depend.
As neighbors describe the officer harm within the assault as a caring younger man, there are additionally questions on whether or not the suspect within the New 12 months’s Eve machete melee could have tried to succeed in for an officer’s gun. NBC New York’s Ida Siegal studies.
The federal costs come after Bickford was indicted on a slew of terror-related costs, the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace stated. These costs embrace tried homicide, assault and aggravated assault on a police officer. In all, Bickford faces 18 counts in opposition to him from the district legal professional for the alleged Dec. 31 assault on three cops he approached on Eighth Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets simply after 10 p.m.
Senior regulation enforcement officers have described the 19-year-old as a “homegrown violent extremist” who tried to hold out the assault with a big knife on an evening when midtown streets are jam-packed. Bickford was shot within the shoulder amid the chaos that ensued. He has remained hospitalized in Division of Correction custody within the days following the alleged incident, and is predicted to be arraigned in Supreme Courtroom on Feb. 1.
Based on Lisa Nicholas, assistant district legal professional, Bickford allegedly made statements implicating himself within the assault and stated he indicated that he deliberately waited till the second when an officer was remoted, away from civilians, to assault. After he allegedly dropped the knife, Nicholas stated Bickford indicated he wished to seize one other officer’s gun to kill different folks however could not get the weapon out of the holster.
“I wanted to kill an officer in uniform. I saw the office and waited until he was alone. I said ‘Allauh Akbar.’ I walked up and hit him over the head with a kukri. I charged another officer but dropped the knife and I tried to get the police officer’s gun but couldn’t,” Bickford allegedly instructed detectives.
Trevor Bickford faces a decide through video for attacking NYPD officers on New 12 months’s Eve. Myles Miller studies.
Nicholas additionally argued that he poses a “significant flight risk,” telling the court docket Bickford indicated he meant to journey throughout america after leaving New York Metropolis and had purchased an Amtrak ticket to Miami. Nicholas stated Bickford at first indicated he wished to journey internationally however determined as an alternative to come back to New York to hold out “jihad.”
He additionally allegedly stated he thought-about all authorities officers targets as a result of they could not be correct Muslims given america authorities’s assist of Israel.
“He stated he specifically targeted the uniformed police officer because an officer is a man in uniform with a weapon and often in the military are targets for the defendant,” Nicholas added.
Senior officers briefed on the assault described Bickford earlier this week as a “homegrown violent extremist motivated in part by Salafi-extremism.” They stated that after his arrest, he stated he was self-radicalized and that he had transformed his beliefs about three or 4 months in the past, officers stated.
Bickford solely lately thought-about New York as a goal, officers allege, and determined to go ahead with the assault as soon as he bought to the town after taking an Amtrak practice from Boston on Dec. 29, based on regulation enforcement officers. He stayed at a lodge on the Bowery, senior police officers stated, and will have hung out earlier than the assault in Queens.
Investigators discovered a few of his belongings in Forest Park Monday morning.
All three officers Bickford is accused of attacking have been launched from the hospital the next morning.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell has stated two of the cops suffered blows to the top. An eight-year veteran suffered a head laceration and a latest police academy graduate endured a cranium fracture, she stated.
Investigators have stated they imagine Bickford acted alone. They deliberate to seek for extra proof at his Maine house within the city of Wells. Neighbors who knew the suspect and his household instructed NBC Boston stated they have been stunned by the allegations.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Process Pressure is aiding within the investigation.