[NYPost] Radicalized Maine teenager Trevor Bickford was hit with federal charges on Tuesday for allegedly attacking three NYPD officers on New Year’s Eve, the Justice Department said.
Bickford, 19, was charged with three counts of attempted murder of officers and employees of the US government and persons assisting them after he lunged at the three cops with a machete in a bid wage jihad in the Times Square attack, federal prosecutors said.
The federal indictment comes on top of the avalanche of local charges Bickford faces after he was indicted Friday on 18 criminal counts including three first-degree attempted murder charges.
The cops were all injured in the attack, but have since been released from the hospital.
Bickford told authorities he intended to die in the attack so he could be a martyr, and believes he was unsuccessful because he didn’t kill any of the cops and didn’t die himself, according to the feds.
He walked around Times Square figuring out the right time to strike and even began to recite verses from the Koran to "hype himself up" leading up to the attack, the criminal complaint stated.
"Trevor Bickford allegedly targeted the iconic yearly celebration to carry out a brazen act of violence and hatred in the name of jihad," Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. "Bickford’s alleged attack in one of the most visited destinations in the world on its busiest night of the year ironically only served to spotlight the coordination, resolve, and dedication of American law enforcement to guard the wellbeing of the public."
Bickford began to consume materials that preached radical Islamic ideology, including materials promoted by the Taliban
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and tied to the teachings of prominent radical Islamic holy man Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, who was a spiritual mentor of al Qaeda, according to the feds.
By November, Bickford planned to travel to the Middle East to support the Taliban, and even told a family member he could be a jacket wallah, but later decided to wage his war in the US when he traveled to the Big Apple, prosecutors alleged.
At around 10:10 p.m. on the last night of 2022, Bickford approached the trio of cops and yelled "Allahu Akbar," which in Arabic means "God is great" before he stabbed and struck the officers in the head, the US Attorney’s Office said.
He was finally stopped when one of the cops shot and maimed him, according to authorities.
One of the items found on Bickford was a book by al-Maqdisi that encourages followers to wage jihad against disbelievers, and to use swords on the heads of them, according to federal prosecutors. In his journal that was recovered, an entry on Dec. 31 states, "this will likely be my last entry," the complaint stated.
Bickford, who is currently in state custody, will appear in Manhattan federal court at a later date.
"We are deeply grateful for the bravery of the officers who were maimed in this horrible attack and who put their lives on the line every day to serve their communities," Attorney General Merrick Garland
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said in a statement. "Together with our law enforcement partners at every level of government, the Justice Department will continue to work to disrupt, investigate, and prosecute those who target and attack law enforcement and endanger the American people."
The four federal charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the statement.
Last week prosecutors told a state court that Bickford also stated that "all government officials" were a target for him "as they cannot be proper Moslems because the United States government supports Israel." |
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