Sayfullo Saipov: NYC bike path terrorist who killed 8 cyclists escapes death penalty
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Sayfullo Saipov, a 35-year-old terrorist convicted of committing a 2017 terror attack in New York City that killed eight people on a bike path and wounded several others in an ISIS-inspired rampage, will serve life in prison after a jury said it was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty. US District Judge Vernon Broderick, on Monday, March 13, 2023, did not impose the mandated sentence and said an official sentencing date will be scheduled.
In a statement on March 13, according to CNN, US Attorney Damian Williams said, "On October 31, 2017, Sayfullo Saipov stole eight innocent lives – and devastated the lives of many more – in a horrendous terrorist attack. This evil act was fueled by Saipov’s allegiance to ISIS, an allegiance which Saipov proudly maintained after the attack and up through his trial. Today a jury has declined to authorize the death penalty for Saipov, and accordingly, the defendant will be subject to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole." He also thanked the families of the victims and the survivors “for their patience and understanding as the legal process played out. Even though the trial has ended, we know that their pain and grief endures. We stand with them in honoring the lives of their loved ones, and all who were affected by this senseless attack," states the Department of Justice.
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Same jury convicted Sayfullo Saipov of 28 charges
On January 26, 2023, the same jury convicted Saipov, an Uzbekistan citizen who lived in New Jersey, of 28 counts in the indictment, which charged him with murder for the purpose of gaining entrance to a racketeering enterprise (ISIS), assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder for the purpose of gaining entrance to a racketeering enterprise (ISIS), providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS) resulting in death, and damage and destruction to a motor vehicle resulting in death, as per the Department of Justice.
A verdict has been reached in U.S. v. Sayfullo Saipov. Saipov has been found guilty on all counts.
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) January 26, 2023
What happened on October 31, 2017?
Saipov rented a truck from Home Depot in Passaic, New Jersey. He drove the 6,000-pound vehicle along the West Side Highway and struck more than 20 individuals on the Hudson River Bike Path in lower Manhattan. Acting US Attorney Joon H Kim for the Southern District of New York in November 2017 said via a press release, "Consumed by hate and a twisted ideology, Sayfullo Saipov allegedly barreled down a pedestrian walkway and bicycle path on a sunny afternoon on the West Side of Manhattan, killing eight innocent people and injuring at least a dozen others. As the scores of videos and images on his cellphone showed, Saipov’s depraved use of a rental truck as a weapon of terror was allegedly in support of the terrorist organization ISIS." While Assistant Director in Charge William F Sweeney Jr explained, "When Sayfullo Saipov carried out his brutal attack last month, his intentions were to inflict significant damage, death and injury to innocent victims and terrorize this city."
Who were the 8 victims?
The eight victims included a 14-year-old child, Ann-Laure Decadt, 31, who was traveling with her two sisters and mother in New York at that time, Nicholas Cleves, 23, a software developer who just got out of school and started his first job; five friends -- Hernán Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damián Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernán Ferruchi from Argentina who were on a trip to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation, reports CNN.