Trevor Thomas Bickford, seen in a body camera image on the bottom right, stands accused of attacking U.S. officials with a machete in Times Square on Dec. 31, 2022. (Photos via DOJ)
A man radicalized by a fundamentalist vision of Islam admitted to an attack with a “machete-style” blade on NYPD officers as thousands gathered around Times Square to watch the ball drop during New Year’s Eve 2022, federal prosecutors said.
Trevor Thomas Bickford, 20, entered his guilty plea on Thursday to multiple counts of trying to kill three officers, federal prosecutors said in a news release.
“Last New Year’s Eve, Trevor Bickford attacked courageous NYPD officers protecting those celebrating in Times Square as part of his effort, as he later told law enforcement, to commit jihad in New York City,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“Today’s guilty plea should serve as a warning: terrorists who target and attack law enforcement and endanger the American people will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said he tried to murder three NYPD officers.
“Bickford targeted the iconic yearly celebration to carry out brazen acts of violence and hatred in the name of jihad,” he said. “Bickford, as with countless others who have carried out acts of terrorism in support of misguided ideologies, is now going to spend lengthy time exactly where he deserves — in federal prison.”
As reported by Law&Crime last January, the machete-like weapon known as a “kukri” that Bickford used has a sharp curve, is more than one foot long, and is reputed to be a national symbol of Nepal.
A still frame from police body camera footage embedded in Bickford’s criminal complaint appeared to capture the suspect in the act.
Bickford had been about 10 blocks north of One Times Square at around 10:10 p.m. Eastern Time on New Year’s Eve at the access checkpoint near 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue, according to the complaint.
Federal and state law enforcement had been protecting the area when Bickford allegedly approached an unidentified “Officer-1” and shouted “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great.” Bickford then struck that NYPD officer with the kukri, according to the complaint.
“Bickford then attacked Officer-2 and Officer-3, striking each of them in the head with the kukri,” the complaint continues. “After being attacked, one of the officers was able to create some distance between himself and Bickford and shot Bickford in the right shoulder, thereby stopping the attack. Bickford was then taken into NYPD custody.”
Prosecutors say that all three officers had to be taken to the hospital.
“One officer suffered ringing in his ears, pain to the back of his head, and a laceration, where Bickford had struck him with the handle of the kukri,” the complaint states. Another officer suffered a skull fracture and laceration on the back of his head and received stitches. The third officer suffered lacerations to his forehead and also received multiple stitches.”
The FBI believes the attack was the culmination of a radicalization for Bickford that had spanned only a few months. Bickford allegedly “began accessing and consuming materials espousing radical Islamic ideology” in the summer of 2022, including the teachings of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a radical cleric prosecutors describe as a spiritual mentor of al-Qaida.
“Over the ensuing months, Bickford radicalized, devoting himself to violent Islamic extremism and waging jihad,” the complaint states.
In November 2022, Bickford considered going “overseas to support the Taliban and took steps towards traveling to, among other places, Afghanistan” — and he later expressed that interest to his older brother, a soldier in the U.S. military, according to the complaint.
Bickford eventually thought the brother “joined the ranks of my enemy” and told him so, a footnote of the complaint indicates.
Prosecutors say that Bickford already had been on the FBI’s radar on the month of the attack because of concerns from his family members.
“Specifically, according to certain of Bickford’s family members, Bickford had recently converted to Islam and begun frequenting mosques in and around Maine and New Hampshire, where Bickford resided with different family members,” the complaint says. “Bickford also began researching the Taliban and expressed interest in traveling to Afghanistan to join the Taliban. Bickford purchased a crossbow that he planned to bring with him to Afghanistan. Bickford believed that he was obligated by the Islamic religion to practice shooting that weapon every day.”
The FBI says that Bickford booked a flight to Jordan for Dec. 12, 2022, which he ultimately did not board. Bickford announced his motive in an interview with law enforcement, authorities said.
“After being treated at a local hospital, during a subsequent Mirandized interview, Bickford declared that he carried out the attack for the purpose of waging jihad and that Bickford’s mission involved targeting military-aged men who worked for the U.S. Government and killing as many such officials as he could,” the complaint states.
Adam Klasfeld contributed to this report.
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