NYPD Machete Attack Suspect Shouted ‘Allahu Akbar,’ You are wanted ‘To Kill People And Carry Out Jihad,’ Prosecutors Say

The teenager was accused of attacking three New York police officers with a machete on New Year’s Eve wanted to murder government officials and shouted “Allahu akbar” During the incident authorities said Wednesday. 

Prosecutors claimed that the suspect had traveled from Maine to New York City last week. “to kill people and carry out jihad,” CNN reported. According to authorities, the 19 year-old male from Wells in Maine attacked three NYPD officers near Times Square Saturday at 10:11 p.m. He tried to strike one officer before striking two others with a machete. The suspect also allegedly tried to grab an officer’s gun but couldn’t get it out of the holster. 

After being charged with attempted murder and assault, the suspect is facing a mandatory life sentence. The suspect was arraigned via video from a Manhattan hospital. He is currently being held without bail. The alleged attacker didn’t agree to a plea bargain, and he is scheduled to appear again in court on Friday. according The Associated Press. 

According to reports, he was placed on an FBI terror watchlist Recently, his aunt claimed that he was radicalized online and had expressed a desire for overseas combat with Islamic extremists. He made pro-jihadi statements while he was in hospital and carried around Islamic extremist propaganda in his backpack. Sources from law enforcement told NBC reports that federal investigators interviewed the suspect prior to the machete attack. 

Officials claim that the teenager wrote instructions in a journal about where he wanted his remains to be buried and who should take his belongings. The suspect also allegedly wrote that the teenager was sorry for disappointing his mother and wanted his brother join him in his radical Islamic beliefs.

The officer who attacked the teenager shot him in the shoulder. He is expected not to die. 

All three NYPD officers were transported to a hospital. They have since been released. One officer, an eight-year veteran, suffered a laceration of the head. A second officer, who graduated from police academy on Friday suffered a skull injury and large laceration.