Accused jihadist copycat held without bail in Times Square by cops

An alleged jihadist accused of attacking three NYPD officers with a machete-like weapon on New Year’s Eve was detained without bail on Monday.

During his first appearance in federal court in Manhattan, 19-year-old suspect Trevor Thomas Bickford of Maine agreed to remain behind bars pending trial on four counts of attempted murder of US government officers and employees.

At a brief hearing, Bickford, handcuffed and dressed in gray prison overalls, asked Judge Ona Wang to appoint a lawyer to represent him in the case.

Bickford did not plead guilty at the hearing. His current lawyer, Marisa Cabrera, declined to comment on the case in a hallway outside the courtroom.

Bickford is accused of assaulting three NYPD officers near 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan around 10:10 p.m. using a kukri, a machete-like weapon with a blade more than a foot long.

He allegedly shouted “Allah Akbar!” or “God is great!” — before swinging the blade at the officers, hitting each of them in the head with the weapon.

According to federal prosecutors, one of the policemen was able to back away from Bickford during the attack, drew a gun and shot him in the shoulder.

Federal investigators believe that Bickford radicalized in the summer of 2022, in part because he began to absorb Islamist propaganda, including the teachings of an al-Qaeda “spiritual guide”.

He faces a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison if found guilty on the counts set out in the complaint against him.