Man in Violent Times Square Rampage on New Year’s Eve ‘22 Sentenced to 27 Yrs Behind Bars

A self proclaimed jihadist man from Maine who attacked three NYPD officers with a machete-style knife on New Year’s Eve, 2022 in Times Square, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on May 9, 2024, just under a year and a half after the attack, according to federal prosecutors.

Trevor Bickford, who was 19 years old at the time of the attack, came up to three cops shouting “Allahu Akbar,” translated to “God is great,” in Arabic, as he slashed at the heads of the three police officers with a machete-style knife. The blade was more than a footlong, severely injuring their heads, according to prosecutors. One of the victims that Bickford struck managed to shoot Bickford’s shoulder, halting his brutal rampage before he could attack and possibly kill others, prosecutors say. The three cops survived.

”Today’s [May 9] sentence holds Trevor Bickford accountable for his premeditated 2022 terrorist attack in Times Square during which he attempted to kill three NYPD officers in a violent rampage,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, recapped from the sentencing in the courtroom on May 9. “The Justice Department is deeply grateful to the NYPD for its quick actions and bravery in disrupting this New Year’s Eve attack, and for the work it does every day to keep New Yorkers safe.”

All three officers were treated for their injuries and released from the hospital but. One officer suffered a fractured skull in the attack and for awhile was recuperating in the same hospital as his attacker.

Bickford pleaded guilty to six federal charges stemming from the attack, three counts of attempted murder of government officials and three counts of assault on government officials on January 11, 2024, before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel imposed the sentence on May 9th. He could have faced up to 120 years in prison, 20 years for each of the six charges.

Police who arrested him at the scene of the carnage said they found notes in his backpack. One was addressed to his family, urging them to “repent.” Inside a book he had highlighted a passage that read: “Fight in the Name of Allah and in the Cause of Allah. Fight against those who do not believe in Allah. Wage a holy war,” according to prosecutors.

At the time of the attack, the then NYPD chief of intelligence and counterterrorism Thomas Galati, who would retire three months later, said he believed Bickford intended “to commit suicide by cop” after carrying out the attack with an old rusted machette. But instead he was wounded in the shoulder by one of the officers who he attacked, potentially saving the lives of his colleagues.

At the time of the attack, FBI director Christopher Wray said,. “Being a law enforcement officer requires brave individuals willing to put their lives on the line every day to keep others safe. We are committed to holding those who would target law enforcement with violence fully accountable.”

“Thankfully, one officer’s quick-thinking actions stopped the defendant’s attack while minimizing risk to the innocent bystanders who easily might have become additional victims of the defendant’s heinous violence,” U.S. attorney Damian Williams said in a statement, recapped from the sentencing in the courtroom on May 9.

At the time of the attack, FBI director Christopher Wray said, “Being a law enforcement officer requires brave individuals willing to put their lives on the line every day to keep others safe. We are committed to holding those who would target law enforcement with violence fully accountable.”

The government asked for a sentence for Bickford of at least 50 years in prison, arguing in a court filing ahead of the May 9 sentencing that it "is necessary and appropriate to reflect the extraordinarily serious nature of the defendant's terrorism offense,” according to ABC News.

And, prosecutors wanted Bickford to have a life sentence because they thought his “brutal actions” had a long-lasting impact on the three officers, ABC News reported. Nonetheless, Bickford got 27 years in prison in the sentencing in the courtroom on May 9.

Bickford’s youth at the time of the attack was cited in court filings ahead of sentencing, as a key mitigating factor and argued his crimes were "informed by an unhealthy obsession with Islam" that stemmed from an untreated mental illness, ABC News reported.

"Mr. Bickford is deeply apologetic to the officers, their families, and the witnesses that night," his attorneys wrote, recapped from the sentencing in the courtroom on May 9, ABC News reported. "He recognizes the pain and suffering he has caused and would do anything to takeback what he has done. He knows he can change his future for the better and he has worked hard to do so under challenging circumstances at the [Metropolitan Detention Center]."

The judge took into consideration that Bickford was 19 at the time and his mental history.

Bickford will be sent to the federal medical center in Devens, Massachusetts—a federal prison for inmates who require long-term care, according to ABC 7.

When Bickford is released he will face a lifetime of supervised release, federal prosecutors confirmed.