Handout / Getty Images
The man accused of driving his rented truck down a bike path in Manhattan on Halloween, killing eight people, has been charged with terrorism and multiple counts of murder in aid of racketeering, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old had been living in Paterson, New Jersey, allegedly rented a Home Depot pick up truck and careened onto the bike path, injuring more than a dozen other people before colliding with a school bus. After Saipov got out of the truck, he yelled "Allahu Akbar” before New York police shot him and took him into custody, officials said.
Most of those who died were tourists visiting New York on vacation with family and friends.
“As alleged in this indictment, Sayfullo Saipov murdered eight innocent people and injured many more in a calculated act of terrorism in the heart of one of our great cities,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement announcing the grand jury indictment. “People have a right to safety walking down a sidewalk or riding a bike, and we will not change our resolve to confront these threats both at home and abroad."
Saipov was charged with eight counts of murder in aid of racketeering, 12 counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering, one count of providing and attempting to provide material support to the terror group ISIS, and one count of violence and destruction of a motor vehicle resulting in death.
"Like many terrorists before him, Saipov will now face justice in an American court. And like New York City’s response to his alleged attack, we expect that justice, in this case, will be swift, firm, and resolute," Acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim stated.
Saipov, who was born in Uzbekistan, has lived in Ohio, Florida, and most recently Paterson, New Jersey. He has a wife and three children, the FBI confirmed to BuzzFeed News.
He became a permanent US resident in 2010, entering the US with a green card under the Diversity Visa Program, according to ABC. The program is a lottery system for people from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.
Saipov owned two truck companies, had a Florida driver's license, and was employed as an Uber driver. A company spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News on Tuesday that he passed a background check and has since been banned from the app.
In a statement, the company said it is "horrified by this senseless act of violence" and has "reached out to law enforcement to provide our full assistance.”
Records in Summit County, Ohio, show a marriage license certified to a Sayfulloh Saipov, then 25 years old, and Nozima Odilova, then 19, in April 2013. The license identifies Saipov’s birthplace as Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and notes “truck driver” as his occupation.
Dilnoza Abdusamatova, 24, told the Washington Post that Saipov stayed with her family in Cincinnati for two weeks after he arrived in the US because their fathers knew each other. She said that he moved to Florida to start a trucking company and that he got married around a year after coming the US, around which time he stopped talking to Abdusamatova's family.
One of his neighbors in the apartment complex in Paterson told NJ.com that Saipov was unfriendly and never greeted him. He "never says good morning and never says good afternoon," Slavo Petrov said.
A longtime Uzbek-born acquaintance told Radio Free Europe that Saipov had had verbal clashes with others in the Uzbek immigrant community and was a "little aggressive."
The acquaintance, Mirrakhmat Muminov, told the outlet he met Saipov shortly after he arrived in Ohio in 2010. Muminov said Saipov was not religious when they met and attended mosque "once [in] a while."
"No one understands how he became a terrorist," he said.
LINK: This Is What We Know About The Manhattan Truck Attack Suspect
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2Am2Slx
No comments:
Post a Comment