A man charged with using a truck to kill eight people on a Manhattan bike path in 2017 believes his attack was justified and sought to die a martyr for Islam, his defense counsel told the jury at his terrorism trial on Monday, according to Reuters.
At the first federal death-penalty trial since US President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, defendant Sayfullo Saipov, 34, acknowledged through his lawyers that he intended to murder and maim his victims and still believes he had a religious duty to do so.
The only point of contention with prosecutors was whether he carried out the attack in order to join the Islamic State (ISIS) group, which the United States brands a terrorist organization.
"That is not why he did this," David Patton, a public defender representing Saipov, said in an opening statement at the US District Court in Manhattan, saying Saipov was only inspired by ISIS but was not planning to survive his attack and join the group as a member. "He expected to die. He expected to become a martyr."
Saipov was charged after the attack with federal terrorism offenses, including providing material support to ISIS and violence and destruction of motor vehicles. He has pleaded not guilty.
In the prosecution's opening statement, Assistant US Attorney Alexander Li said Saipov left behind "a scene of devastation and horror" when he mowed down his victims using a rental truck on October 31, 2017, before leaving a "truck-sized hole" after crashing into the side of a school bus, leaving one child with brain damage.
Saipov expected the city to be busy with people celebrating Halloween and had planned to also attack people on the Brooklyn Bridge that day, Li said, according to Reuters. He carried serrated knives and fake guns that looked real.
"Right after the attack, he proudly declared why he did it," Li said. "He did it for ISIS, the brutal terrorist organization."
Saipov was taken to the hospital after a police officer shot him near his crashed truck, and later that night told an FBI agent that he wanted an ISIS flag to display in his room.
The US Department of Justice told Judge Vernon Broderick in September that it intends to seek the death penalty for Saipov, although there has been a moratorium on federal executions since July 2021 while the department reviews its use of the punishment. If convicted, Saipov could also be sentenced to life in prison without parole. He has been jailed since his arrest.