Attacker was on mission to murder

FLINT, Mich. — A prosecutor says a man accused of stabbing a police officer was willing to die if he could get the victim’s gun and attack others at a Michigan airport.

Jurors heard opening statements Wednesday in the trial of Amor Ftouhi, a Tunisian who was living in Montreal. He’s charged with three crimes at the Flint airport in 2017, including an act of terrorism.

Federal prosecutor Jules DePorre says Ftouhi saw himself as a martyr who wanted to “kill Americans until he himself was killed.” Ftouhi’s lawyer didn’t make an opening statement. Ftouhi says he’s innocent.

The government says he legally entered the U.S. at Champlain, New York, and attacked Lt. Jeff Neville five days later at the Flint airport, about 80 kilometres northwest of Detroit. Neville survived.