Court Case

USA v. Saipov, Sayfullo

November 2017 (Updated May 17, 2023)
New York, NY
Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)

[SDNY] On Oct. 31, 2017, Sayfullo Habibullaevich Saipov drove a rented pickup truck into cyclists and runners on a bike lane and pedestrian walkway in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The vehicle-ramming attack killed eight people and injured 11 others. A flag and a document indicating allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and a-Sham (ISIS) were found in the truck. Saipov, who had immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010, was charged in a federal complaint with destruction of a motor vehicle and providing material support to a terrorist organization. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty of a jury convicts Saipov. The Halloween Day attack was the deadliest in New York City since the 9/11 attacks. According to a February 2020 government filing, Saipov threatened to decapitate a federal corrections officer for repeatedly waking him while he was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. In May 2023, Saipov was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences, two concurrent life sentences, and a consecutive sentence of 260 years in prison for carrying out the October 2017 terrorist attack.

Case Updates

2023-05-17 | Judge Imposes Eight Consecutive Life Sentences Plus 260 Years in Prison for ISIS-Inspired 2017 Murder of Eight Victims and Attempted Murder of 18 Others in NYC Truck Attack

2020-02-19 | 'Bike Path Terrorist' Sayfullo Saipov Threatened to Decapitate Corrections Officer: Court Papers

Accused bike path terrorist Sayfullo Saipov threatened to decapitate a federal corrections officer for repeatedly waking him while he's locked up at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a new court filing detailing a trove of the government's evidence against him alleges. Saipov, who's accused of killing eight people during his 2017 Halloween terror attack on the West Side Highway, allegedly threatened the officer in December 2019 for repeatedly slamming a door at night, making it hard for the ISIS follower to sleep, the filing states. "During the course of this confrontation, the defendant threatened to kill the Officer. Indeed, as the defendant later admitted to the MCC's disciplinary committee (the 'Committee'), he told the Officer that if the Officer dared to open the defendant's cell, in two minutes 'other guys will be picking up your dead body,'" the filing states.

2019-11-18 | Accused Bike-path Terrorist Sayfullo Saipov Tells Judge He Only Answers to Allah

Accused bike path terrorist Sayfullo Saipov told a Manhattan federal court judge Monday he doesn't respect his authority — while prosecutors said they want to empanel an anonymous jury to oversee the death penalty case. "The orders issued here have nothing to do with me," Saipov told Judge Vernon Broderick through an Uzbek interpreter. "I am following orders of Allah, who gave me life." The comments followed a hearing regarding jury selection ahead of the alleged ISIS militant's trial for driving a truck down a crowded bike path on Halloween 2017, killing eight people. Saipov stood as he spoke, wildly gesticulating as he asked Broderick why he was sitting in judgement of him "for the eight people killed" and "not those who are killing thousands and millions of Muslims over the world." Broderick eventually cut off the 31-year-old, and told him a judge's role was more like that of a "referee."

2018-09-28 | Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty in Terror Attack on Manhattan Bike Path

By Benjamin Weiser, New York Times, PRINT Sept. 29, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/nyregion/sayfullo-saipov-death-penalty.html

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan told a judge on Friday, Sept. 29, that they intend to seek the death penalty if a jury convicts Sayfullo Saipov, the Uzbek man charged in the 2017 truck attack that killed eight people on a crowded Manhattan bike path. The Halloween Day attack was the deadliest in New York City in the 9/11. A flag and a document indicating allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) were found in the truck. Saipov, who had immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010, was charged in a federal complaint with destruction of a motor vehicle and providing material support to a terrorist organization. Saipov has pleaded not guilty but may change the plea to guilty and accept life imprisonment if the government agrees not to seek his execution.

Case Documents