New York City Halloween Truck Attack That Kills 8, Death Sentencing Phase Expects Verdict

A jury has returned a guilty verdict in a federal death penalty case against a 34-year-old man who killed eight people on a Manhattan bike path five years ago in what prosecutors say was an attempt to impress a terrorist group.

Saifullo Saipov, an Uzbek citizen who was living in New Jersey at the time of the 2017 Halloween attack, drove a rented Home Depot pickup truck for at least 10 blocks down the popular Hudson River Greenway bike path from West Houston to Chambers Streets, hitting nearly a dozen pedestrians. and cyclists before crashing into a school bus. He was found guilty on all charges and the death sentence phase is expected to begin early next month.

Witnesses then stated that the school bus crash also appeared to be deliberate. About a dozen were injured, some seriously, in addition to eight killed in what authorities called a “cowardly act of terrorism.” Saipov allegedly showed no remorse, and prosecutors said he said in closing speeches later that day that he was proud of what he had done.

According to them, he also asked to hang the flag of the Islamic State group in his hospital room in Manhattan.

For the first time, the video shows how the 2017 rental truck rampage on the Hudson River Bike Path began and the impact it had on a school bus full of students. Chris Jose of NBC New York reports.

Saipov’s lawyer David Patton does not deny that his client killed eight people and seriously injured others.

“It wasn’t an accident. He did it on purpose,” Patton said. “After all, there is no point in such a senseless act.”

The lawyer, however, said that prosecutors were wrong to say that Saipov did this to win favor with the terrorist group, saying the brutality showed that he already considered himself a member. Patton said that Saipov expected to be martyred that day.

The jury began debating the case on Wednesday. On February 6, the punishment phase begins, similar to the trial of the terrorist who committed the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

If the jury does not unanimously choose death, the sentence will be life imprisonment.

Less than a month after the attack, Saipov was indicted on 22 federal counts. Only the first eight charges are subject to the death penalty – racketeering murder linked to an alleged attempt to impress ISIS.

This is the first death penalty under the Biden administration.

The video shows police shooting dead a terrorist accused after he drove a rented truck down a bike path, killing eight people. It was just part of the evidence played for the jury, who could decide whether or not a suspect would be sentenced to death. This is reported by NBC New York correspondent Jonathan Dienst.