NYC attack
‘Radicalized’ suspect spent weeks plotting NYPD says he followed ISIS’ instructions on social media ‘almost exactly to a T’
NEW YORK – The “radicalized” suspect who killed eight people by driving his rented truck into a bicycle path in Lower Manhattan had meticulously planned the attack for weeks and left a note in his vehicle proclaiming that the “Islamic State would endure forever,” law enforcement authorities said Wednesday.
The suspect, Sayfullo Saipov, a 29year-old truck driver from Uzbekistan, was charged Wednesday with providing material support to a terrorist group and violence and destruction of motor vehicles. A criminal complaint says he drove the truck down the bike lane intentionally, and investigators say they recovered a cellphone that had Islamic State group propaganda.
Saipov was shot and arrested by police Tuesday afternoon after emerging from the truck and waving what appeared to be a weapon.
Eight people were killed and 12 injured in the attack, which left bodies and smashed bicycles strewn along the Hudson River Greenway bike path.
Police said the investigation was still in the early stages, but it was clear Saipov had planned the attack for weeks, including scouting the site beforehand.
“He appears to have followed almost exactly to a T the instruction that ISIS has put out on social media on how to carry out some attack,” John Miller, New York Police deputy commissioner, told reporters. “It appears that he has
been planning it for a number of weeks.”
Miller said Saipov left a note in the truck, which had been rented less than an hour earlier in New Jersey, that was in Arabic and contained symbols and words.
“The gist of the note was that the Islamic State would endure forever,” Miller said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that the suspect had been “radicalized domestically” on behalf of the extremist organization.
Investigators have interviewed Saipov at his New York hospital. Miller said he was “never a subject” of any investigation by either the FBI or the NYPD. However, he is believed to have had “some connectivity” to others who were the subjects of FBI and NYPD terror investigations, Miller said. “This is not about Islam,” Miller said of the attack and investigation after reporters asked whether authorities were checking mosques and other places connected to Saipov.
In Paterson, N.J., FBI agents hauled a trash bag out of Saipov’s apartment, which the father of three shared with his family. He had recently moved to the area, which is home to a large Muslim population.
In Washington, President Trump called the suspect an “animal.” At a gathering of his Cabinet, Trump told reporters he would ask Congress to “immediately” begin work to terminate the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which he says was used by the suspect to enter the country.
Trump earlier tweeted about the 20-year-old visa program, which he blamed on Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., although it was part of a bipartisan bill on immigration. Trump also said he would consider sending the suspect to the detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Cuomo criticized the president on Wednesday, saying that he was politicizing the attack and that his tweets were “not helpful” and “not factual.”
“You play into the hands of the terrorists to the extent that you disrupt, divide and frighten people in this society,” Cuomo said. “The tone now should be the exact opposite, by all officials on all levels.”
The attack Tuesday afternoon began with the driver ramming the truck into bicycle riders along the path before colliding with a school bus near the World Trade Center memorial.
Witnesses told police the attacker yelled “Allahu Akbar!” — “God is great” in Arabic — as he got out of the truck, AP reported, citing an official who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Among the dead were five men from Argentina who were in New York City to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their graduation from high school. Twelve people suffered serious but non-lifethreatening injuries.
New York’s political and law enforcement leaders said security is being beefed up in New York, particularly for Sunday’s New York City Marathon.
NYPD Chief Carlos Gomez said enhanced security will include additional sand-filled dump trucks and blocker vehicles to cut off access to some streets along the marathon route.
Leaders around the world condemned the attack.
A tweet from the office of British Prime Minister Theresa May, whose country has been the victim of a series of deadly terror attacks this year, said: “Appalled by this cowardly attack, my thoughts are with all affected. Together we will defeat the evil of terrorism. UK stands with #NYC.”