Man pleads guilty to New Year’s Eve machete attack on New York police officers

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Trevor Bickford, who was 19 at the time, attacked three police officers with a machete just outside of New York City’s Times Square. According to court documents, Bickford’s attack was intended as a “jihadist mission.” He had recently converted to Islam, and just months before the attack, he had begun “consuming materials espousing radical Islamic ideology,” including content related to the Taliban. According to federal officials, Bickford had planned to die in the attack “in an effort to achieve martyrdom,” and therefore “believed his attack was unsuccessful, because he did not kill any officers, and he did not die himself.” “Bickford targeted the iconic yearly celebration to carry out brazen acts of violence and hatred in the name of jihad,” US Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. “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.” Bickford, who is now 20, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted murder of US government employees, as well as three counts of assault on US government employees, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.