Sayfullo Saipov, the 35-year-old New Jersey resident and Uzbekistan native, will be sentenced to life in prison for a 2017 terrorist attack that killed eight people and injured a dozen others on a New York City bike path. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but jurors deadlocked. The law requires a unanimous verdict for capital punishment.
Prosecutors said Saipov drove a rental truck down a bike path on the West Side Highway on Halloween 2017. Saipov was motivated by Islamic extremism and committed the city’s deadliest attack since 9/11. Lawyers argued Saipov planned to continue his rampage but was shot by an NYPD officer before he reached the Brooklyn Bridge.
The case was the first federal death penalty trial under the Biden administration and a rare case for New York, where executions almost never happen. A sentencing date has yet to be set.
