Trevor Bickford, 19, who slashed 2 cops in Times Square urged family to 'repent to Allah' in manifesto
WELLS, MAINE: The alleged Islamic terrorist, who was on an FBI "watchlist" and is accused of stabbing a rookie NYPD officer with a machete on New Year's Eve in Times Square, penned an eerie manifesto in which he pleaded with his family to "repent to Allah." Officials suspect 19-year-old Trevor Bickford of Wells, Maine, who wrote a letter to his family urging them to convert so they "may be taken out of the hellfire," got radicalized and made a pledge to fight in Afghanistan.
When the Maine resident traveled to Manhattan to execute the attack, he was armed with a handwritten message and a selection of religious literature, as per the law enforcement sources who spoke with one publication. After Trevor reportedly stabbed two police officers on Saturday, December 31, an NYPD cop shot him in the shoulder, and both he and the two officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and all of them are anticipated to survive, Daily Mail reported.
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"To my family — specifically, mother — I’m sorry for not having been a good enough son," the message says, as per a police rep. Trevor reportedly went on to write in the unpublished note that he hoped his family will one day have the same perspective as him. "I fear greatly that you will not repent to Allah," it read. "And therefore I hold hope in my heart that a piece of you believes so that you may be taken out to the hellfire."
Trevor continued by branding his brother Devon as a traitor for having served in the American Army. "To Devon, there was a time when we were close, but that time has passed," the manifesto read, as per the New York Post. "You have joined the ranks of my enemy," the 19-year-old, who according to a preliminary investigation doesn't have a criminal background, wrote. "And for that I can give you no kind words - return to Allah." "To [my brother] Travis. Of anyone I’ve known who I have felt is closest to faith — it’s you," Trevor reportedly wrote. "Of anyone I’ve ever wanted to accept Islam with me — it’s you. Please repent to Allah and accept Islam. I fear for you."
Due to his radicalization, Trevor is on a "guardian list," and according to the New York Post, he expressed to his aunt his intention to travel to the Middle East and fight, which led her to notify the police. It happens after Trevor allegedly used a machete to slash two police officers Saturday night at about 10 pm on 8th Avenue near Times Square. Along with the two policemen, he was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after being shot in the shoulder by another officer. Everyone is expected to survive.
The attack took place just outside the high-security area where tens of thousands of partygoers had been checked for weapons in preparation for the New Year. Both officers were slashed in the head, with the rookie cop suffering a skull fracture and the eight-year veteran suffering a head laceration. Mayor Eric Adams stated that he spoke with one of the officers while he was getting stitches in the hospital. "He was in good spirits," Adams stated. "He understood that his role saved lives of New Yorkers today," as reported by Daily Mail.
According to the New York Post, one of the injured, Paul, had just graduated from the academy on Friday and was assigned to a station on Staten Island but was hauled into Manhattan for the New Year's Eve celebrations. "The attack was unprovoked," Adams claimed during a press conference. Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell both emphasized that there is no "active threat" to the neighborhood. The celebrations went unabated. Trevor's charges are pending and he's being kept in custody at the hospital where he's getting treatment for his shoulder wound.
Thomas Bickford, Trevor's father, died unexpectedly in 2018 at the age of 41, as per his obituary. Thomas and Audra D'Antilio, who were married on September 9, 2001, brought up their three children, Travis, Trevor, and Devon, in Wells, Maine.