NYC bike path terrorist Sayfullo Saipov sentenced to life in prison for ISIS attack
An Islamic extremist has received 10 life sentences and an additional 260 years in prison for killing eight people with a truck on a Manhattan bike path and seriously injuring 18 others.
Sayfullo Saipov remained unforgiving on Wednesday, saying the tears of the victims and relatives in the courtroom were small compared to the blood and tears suffered by those of the Islamic faith.
“I was here in court during the three-month trial and saw and heard the victims, families and friends,” he said through an interpreter before sentencing. “The court would be filled with the tears and blood of the Muslim population.”
District Judge Vernon S. Broderick cited Saipov’s unrepentant nature when he handed down his sentence for the October 31, 2017 attack, in which the ISIS-inspired terrorist used a Home Depot truck to mow down victims on Manhattan’s West Side.
“The behavior in this case is some of the worst, if not the worst, I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Sayfullo Saipov can be seen in a courtroom sketch on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 as he was sentenced to life in prison for killing eight and wounding 18 others
Saipov, flanked by his lawyers, David M. Stern (left) and federal defense attorney Andrew John Dalack (right), listened to a translation of the proceedings through headphones
The former New Jersey resident can be seen in his police mugshot released on Nov. 1, 2017 after his fatal attack on the New York City bike path
A jury had rejected the death penalty for the Uzbek citizen and former resident of New Jersey in March.
The relatives of eight people killed in the Halloween terror attack sometimes spoke tearfully during the sentencing, described their lingering pain and sometimes addressed the man sentenced to death directly.
Saipov, 35, kept his head down and eyes downcast, listening to a translation of the proceedings through headphones.
Frank Decadt, father of victim Ann-Laure Decadt, told Saipov that he hoped “one day you will understand how much horror you have inflicted on so many people.”
Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs in the attack, sat in front of Saipov in her wheelchair and told him, “I’ll never be able to walk like you.”
‘I have a question for you. After all this time in prison, are you still convinced that your crimes against innocent people were right?’
Prosecutors urged Broderick to serve eight consecutive life sentences — one for each death — and an additional 260 years in prison, according to a statement filed.
Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs in the attack, sat in front of Saipov in her wheelchair and told him, “I’ll never be able to walk like you.”
Van Reeth was one of the victims and family members who gave heartbreaking testimonies at the sentencing on Wednesday
“Saipov is an unashamed terrorist – a proud murderer who deserves no clemency and must be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” the prosecutors wrote.
The judge followed the recommendation of the prosecution and imposed eight consecutive life sentences and two at a time, although the practical effect of a single life sentence is the same since there is no parole.
Gabriela Pabla Pereya, the wife of Ariel Erlij, one of five men from Argentina killed on a bike ride as they celebrated the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation, made the shortest statement. She called Saipov a coward and said that if he really wanted God to “accept you and love you, go kill yourself.”
The Home Depot truck that Saipov used to mow down his victims on Manhattan’s West Side on October 31, 2017
Prosecutors said he smiled when he asked FBI agents who interrogated him in a hospital room after the attack if they could hang an Islamic State flag on the walls.
Monica Missio, whose son Nicholas Cleves was killed, told Saipov that his death “completely destroyed my life.”
Saipov left a path of destruction with his terrorist attack, which he hoped would help him join Islamic State, or ISIS, prosecutors said.
Five tourists from Argentina, two Americans and a Belgian woman were killed and 18 others were seriously injured.
Saipov was shot by a police officer and immediately taken into custody after he emerged from his truck shouting “God is great” in Arabic and brandishing paintball and bullets in the air.
Prosecutors said he smiled when he asked FBI agents who interrogated him in a hospital room after the attack if they could hang an Islamic State flag on the walls.
Rachel Pharn, who survived the attack, said she wanted to know what had motivated Saipov.
‘Mr. Saipov, I can forgive you for what you did to me, for breaking my spirit,’ Pharn said.
“But when I look around the room, when I think of all the pain you’ve caused, I can’t forgive it. That is between you, them and Allah.’
Rachel Pharn, 26, said she wanted to know what had motivated Saipov
Saipov is expected to be housed in Colorado’s Supermax facility, the highest-security US federal prison, where he will spend 22 to 23 hours a day alone in a cell with a concrete bed.
His case was the first federal death penalty trial since Democratic President Joe Biden took office in 2021 and pledged during his campaign to abolish the death penalty in federal cases.
Saipov’s relatives had called for life imprisonment and said they hoped he would realize what he had done and express remorse.
They said they wanted him to return to the passive person they remembered him as before he became obsessed with online propaganda from the Islamic State terror group.
The former long-haul truck driver had moved to the US legally from Uzbekistan in 2010 and lived in Ohio and Florida before joining his family in Paterson, New Jersey.
His attorney, David Patton, told jurors his actions were “meaningless, appalling and without any justification.”