Wells, Maine, man now faces terrorism, attempted murder charges in NYC machete attack
NEW YORK CITY — A Wells, Maine, man is now facing terrorism charges for allegedly attacking New York City police officers with a machete a few blocks from Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
Trevor Bickford, 19, was indicted by a grand jury Friday on 18 counts, including three counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of first-degree attempted murder in the furtherance of an act of terrorism and aggravated assault on a police officer as a crime of terrorism.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced the indictments on Friday.
The indictments will be unsealed during Bickford’s arraignment in New York Supreme Court on Feb. 1, according to Kay Nguyen, the press officer for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The new counts stem from investigators’ belief Bickford was inspired by radical Islamic extremism to carry out the alleged attacks.
Previous story:What we learned about the Wells man charged in NYC machete attack
Bickford had his first court appearance Jan. 4, when he was arraigned on two counts of attempted murder, one count of attempted assault, and one count of assault. He is being held without bail.
Details of alleged attacks
Police said the attacks occurred at a little after 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, as crowds of revelers counted down to 2023 in Times Square, just blocks away. Three officers were injured in the attack. An officer stopped Bickford by shooting him in the shoulder.
Assistant District Attorney Lucy Nicholas told the court that Bickford had initially wanted to travel internationally, but instead went to New York “in order to kill people and carry out Jihad.”
In a criminal complaint, a detective with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force said Bickford told her: “I wanted to kill an officer in uniform.” According to the detective, Bickford said he waited until he saw an officer alone, said “Allahu Akbar," walked up to him and hit him over the head with the machete, which he said was a kukri — a machete-like blade with South Asian origins. In Arabic, “Allahu Akbar” means “God is great.”
“He said that after he dropped his knife after attacking (the first) officer, he wanted to grab the other officer’s firearm to kill them, but was unable to get the gun out of the holster,” Nicholas said.
According to the DA’s office, Bickford stated all government officials were his targets because, in his mind, they cannot be proper Muslims as a result of the U.S. government’s support for Israel.
Last week, The New York Times reported authorities began piecing together the circumstances of Bickford’s life leading up to the attack. Bickford, once an honor roll student, seemed to “spiral downward” after the death of his father in 2018, according to The Times. He converted to Islam at some point in the past year and a half and began praying at mosques and reading and watching videos about the religion. The Times said Bickford had become angry about the treatment of Muslims overseas.
Bickford did not have a prior criminal record, but authorities were aware of him in the weeks leading up to the attack. A member of Bickford’s family contacted the Wells Police Department in early December to express concerns about him and police relayed those concerns to the FBI.
Bickford is being defended by Rosemary Vassallo-Vellucci, of the Legal Aid Society. The nonprofit legal aid provider issued a statement Jan. 4 noting Bickford “is just a teenager” and “has no prior contact with the criminal legal system.”
“We’ve just received initial discovery from the District Attorney’s office, and we’ll have more to say about this case after a thorough review and investigation,” the statement reads. “For now, we ask the public to refrain from drawing hasty conclusions and to respect the privacy of our client’s family.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Wells ME man indicted on terrorism charges in NYC machete attack
