New York bike lane terrorist who killed eight people receives ten life sentences | US News
An Islamic extremist has been sentenced to 10 life terms and an additional 260 years in prison for killing eight people on a bike lane in New York City on Halloween 2017.
Sayfullo Saipov, 35, told the court on Wednesday that the tears of the victims and their families were small compared to the tears and blood endured by people of the Islamic faith. Saipov, who drove his truck into a bike lane, also injuring 18 people, claimed he was acting on behalf of the Islamic State.
“The behavior in this case is among the worst, if not the worst, I have ever seen,” said US District Judge Vernon Broderick.
A jury in March rejected the death penalty against Saipov, who lived in New Jersey and is an Uzbek citizen.
Saipov spent almost an hour saying, with the help of a translator, that the devil is the key to human population development.
“The only deed of the devil here is the deed you did!” yelled a victim’s relative.
Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs as a result of the attack, was in a wheelchair and told Saipov, “I will never be able to walk like you.”
Saipov’s relatives, including his father, were “traumatized and changed forever,” Broderick said.
“You don’t care about her pain and suffering, nor do you care about her,” the judge told Saipov.
Prosecutors had sought eight consecutive life sentences, one for each count of death, and two concurrent life sentences, plus an additional 260 years behind bars.
“Saipov is an unabashed terrorist — a proud killer who deserves no leniency and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” prosecutors wrote.
Saipov, a former truck driver, moved from Uzbekistan to Ohio and then Florida in 2010. He eventually reunited with his family in Patterson, New Jersey.
Police officers shot Saipov dead and arrested him as he shouted “God is great” in Arabic.
His family members called for a life sentence and expressed the hope that one day he would realize and admit that what he had done was wrong.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department will “remain vigorous in protecting the American people from terrorist threats and will work tirelessly to bring those perpetrators of terrorist attacks to justice.”
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