Wells man convicted of knife attack on New York officers

NEW YORK (AP) — A Maine man who admitted trying to kill three police officers with a long knife in a terrorist attack near New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve 16 months ago stood trial in a courtroom packed with officers on Thursday Sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Trevor Bickford’s sentencing in federal court in Manhattan came after Judge P. Kevin Castel listened to emotional statements from the three police officers who attacked Bickford about two hours before midnight on December 21, 2022, as the officers were checking New Year’s revelers at the sole entrance to an otherwise cordoned-off Times Square.

Bickford shouted “Allahu akbar” – the Arabic phrase for “God is great” – before striking the officer in the head with the long knife and attempting to grab an officer’s gun. One officer suffered a fractured skull.

The threat ended when Officer Michael shot Hanna Bickford in the shoulder. At a hospital, Bickford told authorities that he had studied radical Islamic ideology and decided to wage jihad against U.S. officials.

The judge cited the 20-year-old Bickford’s age and his history of mental illness as reasons for the leniency of federal sentencing guidelines, which called for a life sentence. The prosecution had asked for a 50-year prison sentence, while the defense recommended a 10-year prison sentence.

He also recounted how Bickford’s mother had repeatedly sought help from police and hospitals as she witnessed her son suffering from mental illnesses that included schizoaffective bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder with symptoms of depression, mania and psychosis, including grandiosity and hallucinations were diagnosed.

The judge said Bickford told mental health professionals 20 days before the New Year’s Eve attack that he had a plan to harm others, that he intended to put that plan into action and that he wanted to carry out a jihadist attack.

“I’m not a medical professional and I’m not here to judge the medical professionals who saw this and met with him, but it is disturbing to read these recordings,” Castel said. “If you had listened to your mother, listened to her instincts, if the medical community could look at things a little differently, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

When given the opportunity to speak, Bickford apologized to the officers he harmed and other witnesses to his crime.

“I understand that I have been left with physical and mental scars,” he said. “My mental illness led me down a dark path.”

Hanna, the first officer to speak at the sentencing, recalled the attack and said he had just bowed his head slightly when he “saw a large blade passing next to my head” and turned around and saw how Bickford chased him with a long knife that contained a 13-inch blade.

“As he continued to approach, I drew my gun and fired a bullet, which immediately hit the defendant. He fell to the ground,” Hanna said.

The official said his parents immigrated from the Middle East two decades ago “to escape such things.”

Officer Louis Lorio said he could barely remain conscious after a large gash on his scalp required seven stitches that night.

Now, he said, he suffers from migraines several days a week and will likely be forced into retirement after a decades-long police career as he struggles with anxiety and depression that causes him to “burst into tears for no reason.” or crippled him with waves of sadness. However, therapy helped, he added.

Officer Paul Cozzolino, who graduated from the police academy just a day before the attack, said some physical pain, such as headaches, lasts forever. He choked up as he said the part he would “cherish forever” was when he went home to his family that evening.

Defense attorney Marisa Cabrera said her client, who is “deeply remorseful,” comes from a family with a “strong and proud military background,” including two grandparents who served in the U.S. Navy, a brother who is currently in the military , and a younger brother who…plans to join in.

Bickford also wanted to join the military before mental illness became rampant, she said.

Now, she said, “Bickford has returned to his old self thanks to medication and treatment.”

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaylan Lasky urged the judge to ignore Bickford’s “self-serving claims” for rehabilitation, particularly because he could return to his previous mental state if he ever stopped his medication.

She said he “should not be given another opportunity to kill Americans” after “injuring, maiming and terrorizing innocent New Yorkers.”

The judge ordered that after Bickford’s release from prison, authorities monitor his Internet use and other aspects of his existence for the rest of his life.

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