A 19-year-old American who attacked police officers with a machete on New Year’s Eve in Manhattan was charged on Monday with “attempted murder of an officer”, New York police announced. Trevor Bickford is accused of attacking three officers just outside the Times Square security zone, where New Yorkers gather in their thousands on New Year’s Eve.
He hit two officers on the head, without putting their lives in danger, before being immobilized by another policeman who used his service weapon, injuring him in the shoulder. The young man is from Wells, a small town in Maine (northeast), according to the New York police, who have not provided more details at this stage. According to the American media, he has recently shown signs of Islamist radicalization and is suspected of having wanted to commit a suicide attack.
A farewell letter
According to anonymous sources cited by CNN, he carried a diary in which he expressed his desire to join the ranks of the Afghan Taliban and die a martyr. the New York Times states that he had written in this notebook a farewell letter to his mother.
The federal police had questioned him in mid-December after being informed by a close friend of jihadist remarks and were monitoring his activities on the internet, agents told NBC on condition of anonymity. The FBI’s Counterterrorism Unit is participating in the investigation, New York Police Chief Keechant Sewell confirmed at a news conference on Sunday, without saying more.