FBI Nabs Second Man Connected to NYC Terror Attack as Sayfullo Saipov Is Arraigned
A second man wanted in connection with the deadly terror attack in New York City that left eight people dead and at least 11 others injured Tuesday, was located by federal authorities Wednesday as Sayfullo Saipov, the main suspect in the attack, faced the court.
The man, Mukhammadzoir Kadirov, a 32-year-old Uzbekistan national whose immigrant countryman Saipov, 29, was arrested for the attack on Tuesday, was located by the FBI.
"We have found him and I'll leave it at that," William Sweeney, head of the New York FBI office, told the New York Daily News.
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According to The New York Times, Saipov was charged on Wednesday with one count of providing material support to terrorists and one count of violence and destruction of a motor vehicle causing death. The vehicle charge comes with a possible death sentence and could give President Donald Trump the result he has been calling for in this case.
"NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!" Trump declared on Twitter Wednesday night.
Charges filed by prosecutors against Saipov detailed a premeditated plot to kill people celebrating Halloween in the deadliest terror attack on New York City since Sept. 11, 2001, The New York Times said.
Saipov was described as a zealous student of IS propaganda who was inspired to carry out the attack he began planning a year ago. He had been living with his wife, Nozima Odilova, and his three children in Paterson, New Jersey, before the attack.
His wife is said to be cooperating with authorities while his contacts are also being investigated.
Those who knew Saipov told The New York Times that since his arrival in the U.S. in 2010, he had been turning toward extremism.
For three years while Saipov was in Stow, Ohio, Mirrakhmat Muminov, a truck driver and community activist, said the terror suspect became aggressive and grew out his beard. Muminov said he became worried about Saipov's temper, especially how incensed he would become while talking about American policies on Israel.
On his cellphone, FBI agents found some 3,800 images including some of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Some 90 videos, including of IS fighters killing prisoners and of instructions for making an explosive device were also found on the device, the criminal complaint cited by The New York Times said.
Saipov said he was inspired by a video in which al-Baghdadi "questioned what Muslims in the U.S. and elsewhere were doing to respond to the killing of Muslims in Iraq."
According to the complaint, Saipov got instructions for the vehicle attack from IS' magazine, Rumiyah, last November. He reportedly screamed "Allahu akbar" (Arabic for "allah is great") after his attack on Tuesday.
"He appears to have followed almost to a T the instructions that ISIS has put out," John J. Miller, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, said at a news conference on Wednesday morning, The New York Times said.
Authorities say at 3:05 p.m. on Tuesday Saipov allegedly entered the West Side Highway bicycle path at Houston Street and began driving a rented Home Depot pickup truck south bound, striking a number of pedestrians and bicyclists along the route.
At Chambers Street the truck collided with a school bus injuring two adults and two children. After the collision, Saipov exited the truck brandishing two guns. A uniformed NYPD officer identified as Ryan Nash, 28, confronted him and shot him in the abdomen. He was transported to the hospital and a paintball gun and a pellet gun were recovered from the scene.
As of Wednesday, nine people were still hospitalized with injuries ranging from amputation of multiple limbs to serious head, neck and back trauma, The New York Times said.
While being treated in hospital, according to the criminal complaint, Saipov expressed satisfaction about his crimes to police.
"During the interview with law enforcement, Saipov requested to display ISIS's flag in his hospital room and stated that he felt good about what he had done," the complaint said.
