Maine man indicted on upgraded state terrorism charges in NYE attack on 3 NYPD cops, Manhattan DA says

The Maine man accused of stabbing three New York City police officers near Times Square on New Year’s Eve in an alleged attempt to carry out jihad has been indicted on upgraded state terrorism charges in connection with the attack, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Trevor Bickford, 19, of Wells, was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury with three counts of first-degree attempted murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism, three counts of first-degree attempted murder and multiple assault and attempted assault charges, including aggravated assault on a police officer as a crime of terrorism, according to a news release from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“Trevor Bickford allegedly carried out planned attacks on three members of the NYPD in Times Square on New Year’s Eve as they did their duty to protect our city,” Bragg said in a statement. “These brave officers were serving on the frontlines so New Yorkers and visitors celebrating the new year could stay safe. The charges contained in the indictment demonstrate just how seriously we are treating this incident.”

Bickford’s attorney declined to comment.

Prosecutors have alleged that Bickford approached a 23-year-old NYPD officer at the corner of 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue – near a security checkpoint for the ball drop celebration – and struck him over the head from behind with a large knife at about 10:11 p.m. The impact fractured the officer’s skull and required stitches internally and externally, prosecutors said.

"I wanted to kill an officer in uniform. I saw the officer and waited until he was alone. I said Allahu akbar," court papers quote Travis Bickford as telling investigators, using the Arabic phrase of “God is great.”

After striking the first officer, Bickford approached two other officers, ages 27 and 33, and hit them each on the head with the knife. All three officers were treated for injuries at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. The three officers injured in the attack were rookie Paul Cozzolino, who suffered a skull fracture, Louis Iorio and Mark Hanna, Newsday reported previously.

One of the officers fired their service weapon, shooting Bickford in the shoulder, police have said.

Prosecutors have said in court papers that Bickford told investigators that he traveled to New York “to kill people and carry out jihad.”

Six of the indicted charges against Bickford are specifically for “crimes of terrorism,” and carry “penalties for specific crimes committed with a terroristic intent,” according to the DA’s office.

Bickford has also been charged with federal crimes in connection with the attack. Federal prosecutors said last month that Bickford in the summer of 2022 “began accessing and consuming materials espousing radical Islamic ideology” and initially sought to travel to Afghanistan to work with the Taliban to fight against what he viewed as the U.S. government’s oppressive treatment of Muslims.

But he ultimately decided to launch an attack in the United States and went to Times Square “armed with a large, curved knife similar to a machete, known as a kukri, with a blade over one foot long,” according to federal prosecutors.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.