NY Teen Terrorist Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Times Square Machete Attack

Trevor Bickford was sentenced yesterday to 27 years in federal prison for the “brazen” machete attack that left three police officers injured in New York’s Times Square as the area prepared for traditional New Year 2023 welcome party.

Bickford, who was 19 when he was arrested, too faces more than a dozen additional state chargesincluding three each attempted murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism December 31, 2022. He is scheduled to appear in state court on May 22, he noted. ABC News.

Bickford he traveled from Maine to New York on December 29, 2022 with the intention of achieving it a jihadist attack confronted uniformed officers with a “machete-style knife,” prosecutors said.

Bickford against 120 years in prison, 20 years for one of the six federal charges for which he was indicted. The government had asked for a prison sentence of at least 50 years, arguing in a pre-sentencing hearing Thursday that it was “necessary and appropriate to show the the very serious nature of the crime of terrorism of the accused, to provide only punishment for the conduct of the accused, to prevent him from resuming activities in support of radical terrorist ideology, and to prevent others who would try, as the accused, to do. violent attacks terrorists on American soil.”

Prosecutors said Bickford’s “violent actions” had a lasting effect on the three NYPD officers who were injured. At the same time, The defense asked for a sentence of 10 years in prison followed by another 15 years of supervised release., citing his youth at the time of the attack as a major mitigating factor. They also argued that their crimes were “reported by an unhealthy obsession with Islam” that arose from untreated mental illness.

“Mr. Bickford deeply apologizes to the officers, their families, and the witnesses that night,” his lawyers wrote. “He recognizes the pain and suffering that he caused and would do anything to undo what he did. Although Mr. Bickford knows that he cannot change what happened, he knows that he can change his future for the better and he has worked hard to do so in difficult conditions in Sweden. [Centro de Detención Metropolitano]”.

The three NYPD officers were working at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Times Square. when they were split by him 18 inch kukri knife. The attack took place near West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue, near the high security area set up for the New Year’s celebration at the “Crossroads of the World”.

Bickford was shot by one of the wounded officers and arrested after the attack.. Authorities found his backpack near the scene. Inside was a book with a marked passage that said: “Fight in the name of Allah and in the Cause of Allah Fight those who do not believe in Allah. “Wage a holy war,” according to prosecutors. A handwritten note was also found which said: “To my family, especially my mother, I regret that I was not a good enough son..

The feds said Bickford planned the attack in Times Square after “months of radicalization” and first the expectation Travel abroad to support the Taliban before focusing on attacking the United States.

The young man has been on the FBI’s radar for about three weeks before the attack in New York. His mother Audra Simpson called the authorities of the city of Wells (Maine) on December 10, 2022 to worry about him as his son continued to grow with Islamand local police passed the information on to the feds, sources said at the time New York Post.

The FBI put him on their Guardian Watch List. but it is not clear what other steps were taken before Bickford went on board Amtrak train to New York. One of the injured officers is a rookie who was on his first day on the job and suffered a skull fracture. Sources said that The attacker shouted “Allah Akbar” or “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) when he scolded NYPD officers.

In a similar case, last week was Victoria Jacobs, also known as Bakhrom Talipov sentenced to 18 years in prison after being found guilty by a New York jury of terrorist financing in Syria through Bitcoin.

In December 2023, Karrem Nasr, an American resident in New Jersey 23 years old, who was arrested in Kenya and brought back to New York to face charges of attempting to provide material support to al-Shabaabhe A terrorist group based in Somalia linked to al-Qaeda.

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