Sayfullo Saipov's 22-Count Indictment, Terrorism Charges In NYC Truck Attack

A Southern District of New York grand jury returned a 22-count federal indictment against Sayfullo Saipov, 29, in connection to the Halloween truck terrorist attack on a New York City bike path. The attack left eight dead and 12 injured.

After being taken into custody and transferred to Bellevue Hospital for a gunshot wound, details from the indictment show he told NYPD and other law enforcement officers that’d he’d watched ISIS truck attack videos and became inspired. Around Oct. 22, 2017, Saipov rented a truck to practice making turns and other maneuvers he felt would increase civilian deaths.

The indictment includes charges that he provided material support to the Islamic State (ISIS), and also includes a number of offenses that could carry the death penalty if convicted. “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 announced Tuesday.

Saipov's indictment includes the following charges: 8 counts of murder, 12 counts of attempted murder, 1 count of providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS; 1 count violence/destruction of a motor vehicle.

He’d initially planned to strike people near Manhattan’s West Side Highway before continuing to the Brooklyn Bridge to hit more pedestrians. He said he chose October 31 for the day of the attack in hopes that those celebrating Halloween would increase his targets.

This comes as the BBC's Will Vernon released an interview with the Tashkent, Uzbekistan, native’s mother after tracking her down in Uzbekistan. Sayfullo Saipov moved to the United States in 2010. The mother of the man accused of killing eight people in a terror attack in New York has said she believes her son is innocent.

She told the BBC that her son is kind, caring and not a man who showed any interest in religion. She said she refuses to believe he carried out the attack despite having previous been contacted by U.S. authorities

A former teacher of Sayfullo Saipov told the BBC that he was always “very polite,” inquiring and social with classmates.