NEW YORK – Maine teenager accused of attempting to kill NYPD officers in a machete attack On New Year’s Eve near Times Square, amid a crowd of revelers, he was indicted on a series of terrorism-related charges, the district attorney’s office said.
Trevor Bickford was indicted Friday on terrorism charges including attempted murder, assault and aggravated assault against a police officer, according to the Manhattan District Attorney. In all, Bickford faces 18 charges against him for the alleged Dec. 31 attack on three police officers he accosted on Eighth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets shortly after 10 p.m.
“We are grateful to our NYPD officers who risk their lives every day to keep us safe, as well as our partners in the Joint Terrorism Task Force. All eyes are on Times Square on New Year’s Eve and these allegations reflect the seriousness of this alleged threat to the safety of our city and our officers,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Senior law enforcement officials described the 19-year-old as a “local violent extremist” who attempted to carry out the assault with a large knife on a night when the downtown streets are crowded. Bickford was shot in the shoulder in the ensuing chaos. He remained in custody at the Department of Correction in the days following the alleged incident and is expected to be arraigned in the Supreme Court on February 1.
Defense lawyers from The Legal Aid Society called earlier this week for Bickford to be released on his own, saying police questioned him for days without a lawyer present and pointing to his lack of a criminal record. Legal Aid said he had “languished in NYPD custody for nearly four days despite an established judicial requirement that a charge take place within 24 hours of an arrest.”
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.
“I wanted to kill a uniformed officer. I saw the officer and waited until he was alone. I said ‘Allah Akbar’. I went up to him and hit him on the head with a kukri. I charged another officer but dropped my knife and tried to grab the police officer’s gun but couldn’t,” Bickford allegedly told detectives.
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 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. .
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 planned to search his Maine home in the city of Wells for more 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 officers and the police department’s safety planning that went into securing the area around Times Square after the attack.
“Those officers fired one shot. There was concern for everyone’s safety, they immediately put an end to the threat. One round and they’re back to protecting the people of this city,” Adams said.
