Man pleads guilty in 2022 knifing of NYPD officers on New Year's Eve

Doug Cunningham
·3 min read
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Trevor Bickford has pleaded guilty to the New Year's Eve 2020 kukri knife attack on NYPD officers at a Times Square security checkpoint. His attack was motivated by radical Islamic Jihad, according to federal prosecutors. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice
Trevor Bickford has pleaded guilty to the New Year's Eve 2020 kukri knife attack on NYPD officers at a Times Square security checkpoint. His attack was motivated by radical Islamic Jihad, according to federal prosecutors. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice

Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The man who attacked three NYPD officers with an 18-inch kukri knife at a 2022 New Year's Eve Times Square security checkpoint pleaded guilty Thursday to three federal charges of attempted murder and three counts of assaulting government officials.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, "Trevor Thomas Bickford traveled to Times Square for the purpose of killing U.S. officials in the name of radical Islamic Jihad and used a machete-style knife to attack three NYPD officers working in coordination with the FBI" to protect the New Year's Eve celebration.

The federal charges were filed Wednesday against the 19-year-old from Maine. The NYPD officers who were attacked were part of a joint federal-state law enforcement operation.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed separate charges against Bickford in February, including Attempted Murder in the First Degree in Furtherance of an Act of Terrorism, Attempted Murder in the First Degree and numerous assault and attempted assault charges.

Bickford faces up to 120 years in prison on the federal charges.

NYPD body cam image from New Year's Eve 2022 knife attack on NYPD officers by Trevor Bickford. Bickford has pleaded guilty to attacking the officers with a large curved knife as an act of Islamic Jihad. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice
NYPD body cam image from New Year's Eve 2022 knife attack on NYPD officers by Trevor Bickford. Bickford has pleaded guilty to attacking the officers with a large curved knife as an act of Islamic Jihad. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice

According to prosecutors, Bickford wanted to die in the attack to achieve martyrdom, but he believed his attack failed because none of his victims died and he wasn't killed.

Investigators said Bickford wanted to travel overseas to wage jihad but decided to try it in New York City instead.

The kukri knife Trevor Bickford used in his 2022 New Year's Eve attack on three NYPD officers at a Times Square checkpoint. One of the officers shot Bickford in the shoulder, ending the attack. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice
The kukri knife Trevor Bickford used in his 2022 New Year's Eve attack on three NYPD officers at a Times Square checkpoint. One of the officers shot Bickford in the shoulder, ending the attack. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice

Based on a Mirandized interview with federal authorities, Bickford said he walked around Times Square "trying to figure out the right time to kill."

He then attacked a lone NYPD officer with the long curved knife, tried and failed to disarm a second officer and was shot in the shoulder by one of the officer victims, ending the attack.

When questioned about his motives, Bickford said his targets were military-age men armed and in uniform working for the U.S. government. Since the United States supports Israel, Bickford said, he wanted to kill as many of these kinds of targets as possible.

In his backpack, law-enforcement officers found Bickford's journal, plus a book by medieval Arab author al-Maqdisi that promoted jihad. Federal authorities said the book encouraged followers "to wage jihad against disbelievers and governments ruled by disbelievers, and to use swords on the heads of disbelievers."