(PatriotWise.com) – According to reports, the FBI conducted a raid on the Maine home of Trevor Bickford, 19, who was detained after being accused of attacking two New York City police officers on New Year’s Eve.
Just one day after the teen was detained for his machete assault near Times Square, FBI agents broke into the suspect’s home in the well-known resort town of Wells, Maine, on Sunday.
On New Year’s Eve, Bickford attacked two police officers with a machete at around 10 o’clock on Eighth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Street. A third officer shot the suspect in the shoulder to end the attack.
The suspect was “watched by the FBI’s counterterrorism task force in the weeks leading up to Saturday’s attack,” The Post Millennial reported on Sunday, and he was listed on the Bureau’s terrorism “Guardian Watchlist” for his alleged “jihadist writings.”
A typical all-American teen, Bickford was on the honor roll, received recognition for his artwork, and played football for his hometown.
After his father overdosed and died in 2018, the suspect allegedly converted to Islam and became more radicalized. He was recently photographed on social media donning a Kufi cap, customarily worn by men practicing Islam.
The teen traveled to New York by himself on Amtrak while carrying camping supplies, a journal, and a last will and testament. He is said to have told his aunt that he intended to go to Afghanistan to fight there.
Through the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the FBI has stated that they will collaborate closely with the NYPD “to determine the nature of this attack.”
On Sunday, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the New York field office, Michael Driscoll, made a statement.
He said they’ll follow up on every lead. He also wanted to be clear that the investigation is still ongoing, so their “ability to discuss specifics is somewhat limited.”
The attack happened just outside the Times Square New Year’s Eve security perimeter.
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, commended the officers for their efforts in preventing worse from happening to the crowd.
“The New York City Police Department put a plan in place to ensure that they protect those who came to ring in the new year, and as we conduct a preliminary review of the body cam video, we can see how well these officers carried out that plan,” the Mayor said on Sunday.
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