Immigrant planned deadly NYC attack for weeks and ‘did it for IS’
● Five Argentines celebrating 30-year graduation reunion among eight killed
The uzbek immigrant accused of killing eight people after using a pick-up truck to mow down cyclists and pedestrians along a bike path “did this in the name of Islamic State (IS)”, New York City police have said.
Investigators were at the hospital bedside of 29-yearold Sayfullo Saipov yesterday working to extract information about the deadly attack on Tuesday near the World Trade Center memorial that also left 12 people seriously injured.
Saipov has been charged with providing material support to a terrorist group and violence and destruction of motor vehicles.
The FBI is also looking for information on a second man in connection with the deadly attack that used a rented Home Depot truck.
The bureau issued a poster yesterday saying it was seeking the public’s help with information about 32- year old mukh am madzo irk adirov.
US president Donald Trump flagged a tightening of immigration restrictions in the wake of the terrorist attack, calling the suspect an “animal” and declaring he would ask Congress to “immediately” start work to terminate the diversity immigrant visa programme.
Mr Trump claimed the programme was used by the alleged attacker to enter the United States.
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump was open to sending the attacker to the US prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
John Miller, deputy police commissioner for intelligence, said Saipov left behind notes at the scene handwritten in Arabic with symbols and words that essentially said Islamic State (IS) “would endure forever”.
“It appears that Saipov had been planning this for a number of weeks,” he said. “He did this in the name of IS.”
IS has been exhorting followers online to use vehicles or other close-at-hand means of killing people in their home countries. The UK, France and Germany have seen deadly vehicle attacks in the past year or so.
“He appears to have followed almost exactly to a T the instructions that IS has put out in its social media channels before with instructions to its followers on how to carry out such an attack,” Mr Miller said.
New York state governor Andrew Cuomo called Saipov a “depraved coward”.
Court records showed Saipov was cited several times in Nebraska and Iowa for trucking violations.
Saipov had hurtled down the bike path on West Street, running down cyclists and pedestrians before crashing into a school bus. He was shot in the stomach after he jumped out of the vehicle brandishing air guns and yelling “God is great!” in Arabic.
Five of those killed have been named as friends from Argen- tina who had travelled to New York as part of a group celebrating the 30th anniversary of their graduation from high school.
The Argentine foreign ministry named them as Hernán Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damián Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernán Ferruchi, all in their late 40s. A sixth friend, Martin Ludovico Marro, was injured.
A Belgian woman was also among the dead.
Nine people remained hospitalised in serious or critical condition, with injuries that included lost limbs and head, chest and neck wounds.
City leaders vowed New York would be not intimidated and commended New Yorkers for going ahead with Halloween festivities on Tuesday night.
They also said Sunday’s New York City Marathon, with 50,000 participants and some two million spectators anticipated, will go on as scheduled.
New York City’s police commissioner James O’neill said 28-year-old officer Ryan Nash, who shots aipov,w as too modest to admit he was a hero.