27-year Sentence for Maine Man in Times Square Machete Attack

A Maine man who attacked three New York police officers with a machete in Times Square on New Year’s Eve 2022 was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Thursday, federal prosecutors said. Trevor Bickford, who was 19 at the time, claimed he attacked the cops in order to wage jihad, according to the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

Three officers were injured, but all survived. According to authorities, Bickford stabbed at their heads with a machete-style knife while saying “Allahu Akbar,” which translates to “God is great” in Arabic.

The prosecutor’s office described it as a calculated “violent rampage.” Before traveling from Maine to the world-famous Times Square New Year’s Eve event to attack police, Bickford steeped himself in Taliban doctrines and considered flying overseas to serve the Islamic extremist group, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

“Inspired by radical Islamic extremism, Trevor Bickford brutally attacked three NYPD officers who were just doing their jobs by protecting the public during the Times Square New Year’s Eve festivities,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated in a statement.

Bickford pleaded guilty in January to three counts of attempted murder of United States government officers and employees, as well as those who assisted them. He has also been charged with state counts of first-degree attempted murder in furtherance of a terrorist act, as well as other felonies.

The state case is pending. His next court date is May 22, according to internet records.

At roughly 10:10 p.m., Bickford attacked the first cop, who was 23 years old at the time, striking him from behind with the knife before attacking the other two, according to officials. The first cop he attacked sustained a shattered skull.

The three injured policemen testified in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, including Officer Mickel Hanna, who shot Bickford once in the shoulder to terminate the rampage, according to NBC New York. Hanna told the broadcaster that if he hadn’t fired, “people could have died that night,” and that he no longer enjoys being in crowds. According to NBC New York, Bickford stated that “I’ve left scars” and that he hopes the victims will forgive him.

Bickford’s defense attorneys claimed that untreated mental illness had a large role in the attack, and that “Mr. Bickford is ashamed and appalled by his actions in attempting to kill three police officers.”

Bickford was having “auditory, tactile, and visual hallucinations,” according to a sentencing memorandum in which they requested ten years in prison. Bickford stated in a letter to the judge that he owed an apology to the officers, everyone who witnessed the attack, and the United States of America. He claimed that hallucinations drove him more into radical Islam, stating, “By the time I attacked the officers, I had become someone else.”

“I wish I could take back my actions. “I’m grateful for the officer’s quick thinking and actions to ensure I didn’t hurt anyone else that night,” he wrote.

Prosecutors requested at least 50 years in jail, noting that in the case of terrorist acts, “the need for deterrence is also of critical importance here.” They emphasized that the sentencing guidelines allowed for a maximum of 120 years.

“The defendant plotted to kill those who did not subscribe to the extremist strain of Islam that he embraced,” prosecutors stated in their sentence argument. “His goal was to kill as many military-aged men who worked for the U.S. Government as he could.”