NEW YORK – 19-year-old from Maine charged with attempting to kill NYPD officers in a New Year’s Eve machete attack near Times Square shortly before the iconic ball drop was rehearsed in Department of Corrections custody following her video appearance at a hospital on Wednesday.
Trevor Bickford, whom senior law enforcement officials have described as a “homegrown violent extremist,” is accused of brandishing a large knife at three different police officers he accosted on Eighth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets , shortly after 10pm on New Year’s Eve. , a night in which the streets of the center are filled with tourists and revelers.
Bickford was shot in the shoulder in the ensuing chaos.
Defense lawyers from The Legal Aid Society have requested that he be released on parole, saying police questioned him for days without a lawyer present and pointing to his lack of a criminal record. The attorney also referred to the Wells man’s community ties and said he worked at a golf course.
“Today, Mr. Bickford was arraigned at Bellevue Hospital after being held in NYPD custody for nearly four days despite an established judicial requirement that a charge take place within 24 hours of an arrest,” said the Legal Aid in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “We just received the initial discovery from the District Attorney’s Office and will have more to say about this case after a thorough review and investigation. For now, we ask the public to refrain from jumping to conclusions and respect privacy.” of our client’s family.
The judge sided with the prosecution and ordered Bickford into custody after his arraignment.
According to Assistant District Attorney Lisa Nicholas, Bickford made statements implicating himself in the attack, saying he intentionally waited for an officer to be isolated, away from civilians, before attacking. After allegedly dropping his knife, Nicholas said Bickford indicated he wanted to grab another officer’s gun to kill more people, but he was unable to draw the gun from its holster.
Nicholas also said he represented a “significant flight risk,” telling the court that Bickford indicated he intended to travel across the United States after leaving New York City and that he had purchased an Amtrak ticket from Miami.
Nicholas said Bickford initially indicated he wanted to travel overseas but decided to come to New York to carry out “jihad”. He said he went to New York via Boston about three or four days ago.
He also allegedly said that he considered all government officials to be objective because they could not be Muslim due to the US government’s support for Israel.
“He said he specifically targeted the uniformed police officer because an officer is a uniformed man with a gun and often in the military they are targets for the defendant,” Nicholas added when he formally requested remand. .
The judge has ordered another hearing by the end of the week.
Senior officials briefed on the attack described Bickford earlier this week as a “domestic violent extremist motivated in part by Salafi extremism”. They said that after they arrested him, he claimed he radicalized and converted his beliefs about three to four months ago, authorities said.
Bickford recently considered New York City a target, officials say, and decided to proceed with the attack once he arrived in the city after taking an Amtrak train from Boston on Dec. 29, according to law enforcement. He stayed at a hotel on the Bowery, senior police officials said, and it may have been some time before the attack in Queens.
Detectives found some of his belongings in Forest Park on Monday morning.
The three officers accused of attacking Bickford were released from hospital the next morning.
New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said two of the officers suffered blows to the head. An eight-year veteran suffered a lacerated head and a recent police academy graduate suffered a fractured skull, he said.
Investigators said they believed Bickford acted alone. They had planned to search his Maine home for further evidence. Neighbors who knew the suspect and his family told NBC Boston they were surprised by the allegations.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is assisting in the investigation.
This incident follows other lone wolf-type terrorist attacks on NYPD officers. In 2014, a radicalized man attacked three officers with an ax without warning in Queens. And two years ago, a man stabbed a Brooklyn officer in the neck before stealing his gun and using it to shoot officers who responded in another jihadist-inspired lone wolf attack.
Since 9/11, there have been at least 10 terrorist-type attacks against uniformed officers armed with knives.
Mayor Eric Adams praised the work of the officers and the police department’s safety planning that went into protecting the area around Times Square after the attack.
