The alleged Islamic extremist who stabbed a rookie NYPD cop with a machete near Times Square on New Year’s Eve and was on an FBI ‘watchlist’ wrote a chilling manifesto where he urged his family to ‘repent to Allah.’
Trevor Bickford, 19, from Wells, Maine, who officials believe became radicalized and vowing to fight in Afghanistan, addressed a letter to his family where he urged his loved ones to convert so they ‘may be taken out of the hellfire.’
According to police sources who spoke with one outlet, the Maine resident had a handwritten note and collection of religious material in his backpack while visiting Manhattan to carry out the attack.
After Bickford allegedly slashed two officers Saturday evening, another NYPD officer shot him in the shoulder and he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, along with the two cops. They are all expected to survive.
Bickford (left) is pictured with his family, along with his brother who is in the US Army
Trevor Bickford, 19, of Wells, Maine, allegedly approached a group of NYPD police officers near Times Square on New Year’s Eve and slashed two of the cops with a machete
‘To my family — specifically, mother — I’m sorry for not having been a good enough son,’ the note read, according to a police source who spoke with the New York Post.
The note, which has not been released publicly, continued with Bickford allegedly writing his hopes that his family will one day see the world the way he does.
‘I fear greatly that you will not repent to Allah,’ it said. ‘And therefore I hold hope in my heart that a piece of you believes so that you may be taken out to the hellfire.’
Bickford went on to call his brother, Devon, a traitor for serving in the U.S. Army.
‘To Devon, there was a time when we were close, but that time has passed,’ the manifesto said, according to the Post.
‘You have joined the ranks of my enemy. And for that I can give you no kind words – return to Allah,’ wrote the 19-year-old, who does not have a criminal record according to a preliminary investigation.
‘To [my brother] Travis. Of anyone I’ve known who I have felt is closest to faith — it’s you,’ Bickford allegedly wrote.
‘Of anyone I’ve ever wanted to accept Islam with me — it’s you. Please repent to Allah and accept Islam. I fear for you.’
Bickford is pictured with his mother in post she shared on Facebook gushing about her son’s move to Seattle just two months ago
Bickford is on a ‘guardian list’ because of his radicalization, and The New York Post reports he made statements to his aunt about a desire to go fight in the Middle East, which prompted her to tell the authorities.
It comes after Bickford allegedly slashed two officers with a machete on 8th Avenue near Times Square around 10pm last night.
Another officer shot him in the shoulder and he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, along with the two cops. They are all expected to survive.
The attack happened just outside of the high-security zone where thousands of revelers were screened for weapons as they prepared to ring in 2023.
Bickford allegedly slashed two officers with this machete on 8th Avenue near Times Square around 10pm last night where thousands of revelers prepared to ring in the new year
Both officers were slashed in their heads, including the rookie cop who suffered a skull fracture along with an eight-year veteran who had a head laceration.
Mayor Eric Adams said he spoke to one of the officers as he was being stitched up at the hospital.
‘He was in good spirits,’ Adams said. ‘He understood that his role saved lives of New Yorkers today.’
One of the injured, Paul, had just graduated from the academy on Friday, is actually assigned to a precinct in Staten Island but was pulled into Manhattan for the New Year Eve celebrations, reports the New York Post.
The attack was ‘unprovoked,’ Adams said at the press conference overnight. Both Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell stressed there is no ‘active threat’ to the community. The festivities continued uninterrupted.
Charges are pending against Bickford, but he remains in custody at the hospital where he is being treated for the gunshot wound to his shoulder.
He was seen in unsuspecting photographs shared by his mother on Facebook from his birthday in the summer.
She refers to him as an ‘old soul’ and repeatedly tells him how much she loves him after he left their home for Seattle in September.
Her social media also reveals her other son Devin is in the US Army, with him pictured alongside the suspected jihadist in one shot.
A smiling Bickford is pictured in many of his mother’s social media posts
Another officer fired on the suspect, hitting him in the shoulder. All of the injured were taken to Bellevue Hospital where they are in serious but stable condition, officials have said
An investigation was underway to pinpoint a motive for the attack, but authorities said they did not believe there was any ongoing threat to the public.
Michael Driscoll, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said they believe the attacker acted alone.
Authorities have told NBC they were looking into whether the suspect had previously posted what they called jihadist writings online and and then traveled to New York City to target police.
Bickford’s mother has a slew of photos on her Facebook page where she gushes about the 19-year-old, calling him an ‘old soul’ and says she’s lucky to be his mother.
On July 28, she shared a photo of Bickford and wrote: ‘Happy 19th Birthday Trevor. So proud and lucky to be able to call you my son.
‘You’re an old soul and you amaze me every day with all that you enjoy to explore and do.
‘I love that you have no fear of trying new things, and you truly are the best brother ever. I am so beyond proud of the man you are becoming, I love you.’
Bickford’s mother has a slew of photos on her Facebook page where she gushes about the 19-year-old, calling him an ‘old soul’ and says she’s lucky to be his mother
Photos posted online by his family show Bickford with his brothers or with his dog
Bickford is from Wells, Maine where his family has lived for most of their lives. Pictured is their family home
Bickford’s father Thomas Bickford died unexpectedly in 2018 at the age of 41, according to his obituary.
His parents Thomas and Audra D’Antilio married on September 9, 2001 and raised three sons, Devin, Trevor and Travis, in Wells, Maine.
The patriarch of the family could be often be found coaching them at football and wrestling, according to the obituary.
It also said he was sometimes hard on his sons in terms of his style of coaching, but ‘he loved his boys more than anything.’
Bickford’s father Thomas Bickford died unexpectedly in 2018 at age 41, according to his obit
Bickford’s paternal grandmother Patti Nalani Medeiros Bickford, who died on December 31, 2020, exactly three years before the Times Square slashings, ‘was one of the first women to go on sea trials on the Kamehameha submarine.’
She worked for 30 years at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,’ according to her obituary. ‘She held several positions in her time at the shipyard and was one of the first women to go on sea trials on the Kamehameha submarine,’ the obit read, adding that Bickford’s paternal grandfather was stationed at Pearl Harbor.
The slashing unfolded just just outside the security zone in Times Square, where thousands gathered for the annual New Year’s Eve ball drop. Police screened revelers for contraband such as alcohol, large bags, and weapons.
A police source told the Post, ‘No backpacks or umbrellas in Time Square. They forgot to mention machetes.’
Workers at a halal stand near the scene told the New York Daily News that they heard what they thought were explosions or gunshots,
‘I heard the sounds only — Bang! Bang!’ Prodip Bisws explained. ‘People were running, oh my god, they were running.’
Video from the scene shows revelers being hurried from the scene by cops attempting to control the scene, located at 52nd street and 8th avenue. Officers can be seen screaming at pedestrians to move away from the crime scene.
While a witness told the newspaper, ‘They moved the barricades really fast. He was a police officer in front of the barricade area and he moved it for police cars to move fast — and that’s when the barricade fell and got hit by the car. He got double whammied.’
The attack was ‘unprovoked,’ Adams said at the press conference overnight. Both Sewell and Adams stressed there is no ‘active threat’ to the community
The NYPD mounts a massive security operation every year to keep the New Year’s Eve crowd safe. Thousands of officers are deployed in the area, including many new recruits to the force.
The blocks where the biggest crowds gather to see performances and the midnight ball drop can only be accessed through checkpoints where officers use metal-detecting wands to screen for weapons. ‘
Large bags and coolers are banned. Barriers are set up to prevent vehicle attacks in the secure area.
The security perimeter can only extend so far, though. The attack took place on 8th Avenue, which is often packed with thick crowds navigating around the frozen zone or trying to find one of the secure entrances.