Sayfullo Saipov, a radicalized Uzbek who killed eight cyclists and pedestrians in a large vehicle in New York in 2017 on behalf of the Islamic State group, was found guilty by a federal jury in Manhattan on Thursday, where he faces the sentence of death.
The 34-year-old, who had been on trial since January 9, was found guilty of 28 counts, including eight of
'murder to join ISIS'
,
'which carry the death penalty or life in prison
,” said the Manhattan Federal Prosecutor's Office.
Eight dead
On Halloween in 2017, Sayfullo Saipov launched his pickup truck on a drive along the Hudson River in lower Manhattan, claiming many casualties and killing eight people, including five Argentines and one Belgian.
It was the deadliest toll for an attack in New York after those of September 11, 2001. This trial is the first at the federal level of Joe Biden's mandate where the death penalty is at stake. Elected in November 2020, the Democratic President had promised during his campaign to work to abolish the death penalty at the federal level and his Minister of Justice had decreed shortly after the election a moratorium on federal executions, not preventing those decided by the States.
But in a Sept. 16, 2022, court document in Sayfullo Saipov's case file, Manhattan District Attorney Damian Williams acknowledged the Justice Department's decision
"to continue to seek the death penalty"
in the case, a decided stance. under the mandate of Donald Trump (2017-2021).
According to the Manhattan prosecutor's office, the debates to define the sentence will begin on February 6 before the same jury of twelve people, who will have to be unanimous if they want to condemn Saipov to the death penalty.
The death penalty has been abolished in the State of New York but it can apply in the case of a federal trial.
However, the last execution dates back several decades in this state.
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