Trial Date Set For NYC Terror Suspect Sayfullo Saipov

NEW MILFORD, NJ — The trial date of New York City terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov has been set.

Saipov trial will begin Oct. 7, 2019 in New York City federal court, said, Nick Biase, a spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Saipov is accused of killing eight people, including Darren Drake, a 32-year-old New Milford man, and injuring more than a dozen others in a terror attack in New York City on Halloween night. He allegedly rented a truck from a Passaic Home Depot and drove it down a bike path on New York City's West Side.

Saipov told investigators that "he felt good about what he had done" and asked to have the Islamic State's black flag hung in his Bellevue Hospital room, federal prosecutors said in a criminal complaint filed against him.

Sayfullo is a Uzbekistan native who was living in Paterson with his wife and young children when he allegedly carried out the attack.

He reportedly told authorities he was inspired to commit the attack after watching ISIS videos on his phone — including one of a beheading — according to the criminal complaint filed against him. Authorities found about 90 videos on Saipov's phone.

"He did this in the name of ISIS," John Miller, the NYPD's deputy counterterrorism commissioner, told reporters at police headquarters Wednesday morning. Police found handwritten notes in Arabic indicating Saipov's connection to the terrorist group, he said.

Prosecutors previously said that Saipov planned the attack more than a year ago and that he decided to use a truck so he could cause "maximum damage against civilians."

He chose Halloween because more people would be on the street, authorities said. He originally planned to drive the truck onto the Brooklyn Bridge to kill more people after the bike path massacre, the complaint states.

Information in a report by staff writer Noah Manskar was used in this report.

Related:

• Ex-New Milford School Board President Killed In NYC Terror Attack
• 'Good Man With A Huge Heart': Friends Remember NYC Terror Victim

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Image: An undated photo provided by St. Charles County Department of Corrections via KMOV shows Sayfullo Saipov. (St. Charles County Department of Corrections)