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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Nov. 02, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 116 ~ 32 of 44
gatherings, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a militant-monitoring agency.
Carlos Batista, a neighbor of Saipov’s in Paterson, New Jersey, said he had seen the suspect and two
friends using the same model of rented truck several times in the past three weeks.
It was not clear whether Saipov had been on authorities’ radar. Miller said Saipov had never been the
subject of a criminal investigation but appears to have links to people who have been investigated.
In Tuesday’s attack, Saipov drove his speeding truck for nearly a mile along a bike path near the World Trade Center, running down cyclists and pedestrians, then crashed into a school bus, authorities said. He was shot in the abdomen after he jumped out of the vehicle brandishing two air guns, one in each hand,
and yelling “God is great!” in Arabic, they said.
The attack killed ve people from Argentina, one from Belgium and two Americans, authorities said.
Twelve people were injured; nine remained hospitalized in serious or critical condition.
Trump called Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Wednesday to offer his condolences. Trump tweeted
that he spoke to Macri “about the ve proud and wonderful men” who were killed.
A press statement from the Argentine presidential of ce said that during the call, Macri reaf rmed his
belief that governments must work together strongly against the “scourge of fundamentalist terrorism.” Earlier Wednesday, Trump called for eliminating the 1990s visa lottery program that Saipov used to come to the U.S. in 2010, and the Republican president said he would consider sending Saipov to the Guantanamo Bay detention center — an idea the White House reinforced by saying it considered Saipov
to be an “enemy combatant.”
Hours later, Saipov was charged in federal court with providing material support to a terrorist group
and committing violence and destruction of motor vehicles, resulting in death. Trump’s administration could, at least in theory, still send the suspect to the U.S. base in Cuba later, though such a step would be unprecedented.
“There’s no legal impediment to that,” said Bryan Broyles, the former deputy chief defense counsel for the Guantanamo military commissions.
On the morning after the bloodshed, city leaders vowed New York would not be intimidated and said Sunday’s New York City Marathon, with 50,000 participants and some 2 million spectators anticipated, will go on as scheduled, with increased security.
Runners and cyclists who use the popular bike path were diverted from the crime scene by of cers at barricades.
“It’s the messed-up world we live in these days,” said Dave Hartie, 57, who works in nance and rides his bike along the path every morning. “Part of me is surprised it doesn’t happen more often.”
The slight, bearded Saipov is a legal, permanent U.S. resident. He lived in Ohio and Florida before mov- ing to New Jersey around June, authorities said.
Birth records show he and his wife had two daughters in Ohio, and a neighbor in New Jersey said they recently had a baby boy.
Saipov was a commercial truck driver in Ohio. He also has worked as an Uber and Lyft driver.
In Ohio, Saipov was an argumentative young man whose career was falling apart and who was “not happy with his life,” said Mirrakhmat Muminov, a fellow truck driver from heavily Muslim Uzbekistan.
“He had the habit of disagreeing with everybody,” Muminov said.
He said he and Saipov would sometimes argue about politics and world affairs, including Israel and Palestine. He said Saipov never spoke about ISIS, but he could tell his friend held radical views.
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Associated Press writers Dake Kang in Stow, Ohio; Tom Hays, Larry Neumeister, Karen Matthews and Kiley Armstrong in New York; Deepti Hajela and Wayne Parry in Paterson, New Jersey; Shawn Marsh in Trenton, New Jersey; Ben Fox in Miami; Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles; and Michael R. Sisak in Philadel- phia contributed to this report.