New York truck attack: Who is Sayfullo Saipov?
An Islamic State supporter behind the deadliest terrorist attack in New York since 9/11 has been told he will die in prison and serve multiple life sentences.
Sayfullo Saipov killed eight when he drove a truck into pedestrians and cyclists on a Manhattan street in 2017.
He received 10 life sentences – eight of which are to be served consecutively – plus 260 years and will never be released.
When he was sentenced, he was told he had “ruined so many lives” – but showed no remorse during the trial.
Saipov was confronted by victims’ families and survivors in court, with the judge noting his “sheer unrepentant nature” during sentencing on Wednesday.
The Uzbek national, now 35, used a rented truck to attack cyclists and pedestrians at random on downtown Manhattan’s West Side on the evening of Halloween 2017.
He shouted “God is great” in Arabic and was shot by police as he got out of the vehicle. He hoped the cruelty would earn him membership of the group, an earlier hearing was told.
He is expected to be held in Colorado’s high-security “supermax” prison, where inmates spend up to 23 hours a day in their cells.
Monica Missio, mother of victim Nicholas Cleves, told the courtroom: “It disgusts me that he wakes up every day and my son doesn’t.”
“His barbarity and cruelty fill me with rage,” she said.
Rachel Pharn, who survived the attack, said she could forgive Saipov for the impact on herself, but not for the suffering he had caused to others who had come to hear the sentencing.
She added: “When I look around the room, when I think of all the pain you have caused, I cannot forgive. It is between you, them and Allah.”
Five of those killed were tourists from Argentina, and a 31-year-old woman from Belgium who was visiting the city also died.
Two Americans, a 32-year-old financial worker and a 23-year-old software engineer, were killed, while 12 others were injured.
US District Judge Vernon Broderick said Saipov’s crimes were remarkable “both in terms of the impact it had on the victims and on the clean and remorseful nature of the defendant”.
Addressing the court before sentencing, Saipov appeared to repeat his praise for the terror group and suggested he was unmoved by the testimony he had heard.
He was spared the death penalty when a jury did not unanimously agree to impose one at a hearing last week.
