Foreign Affairs

NYC Attacker Is Uzbek Immigrant Believed To Be Loyal To ISIS

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The terrorist that slammed a rented van into New York City civilians is an immigrant from Uzbekistan believed to have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State.

This young attacker — Sayfullo Saipov —mowed down pedestrians on a bicycle path along the Hudson River before smashing into a school bus, at which point he exited the vehicle brandishing imitation firearms and shouting “Allahu Akbar.” A heroic police officer from the First Precinct shot him in the abdomen, saving lives.

Saipov, who killed eight people in Tuesday’s attack, came to the U.S. in 2010 from Uzbekistan, the New York Times reports. He was in the U.S. on a green card, making him a legal permanent resident. While investigating the scene of the fatal attack, authorities discovered handwritten notes in Arabic that suggested the attacker is loyal to ISIS.

The incident has been declared a terrorist attack by the White House and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians,” de Blasio said at a related press conference. In an official statement, the White House also called the tragedy in Manhattan a “cowardly” terrorist attack.

President Donald Trump stated firmly on Twitter than ISIS cannot be allowed to secure a strategic foothold and wreak havoc in the U.S. as its caliphate crumbles.

We must not allow ISIS to return, or enter, our country after defeating them in the Middle East and elsewhere. Enough!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

The Islamic State has not officially claimed responsibility for the fatal Tuesday afternoon attack.

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