Manhattan terror attacker sentenced in New York

The Islamist who staged a 2017 terror attack in downtown New York that left eight people dead, was convicted on Thursday of several serious crimes and could face the death penalty.
Saifullo Saipov listened to the verdict without looking up in a Manhattan courtroom a few blocks from where he carried out the attack. The prosecution said it had decided to embark on a massacre of people, inspired by the example of the “Islamic State” terrorists.
The 12 jurors deliberated for about seven hours over two days before convicting Saipov, 34, of 28 counts, including murder for the benefit of an organized crime group and supporting a foreign terrorist organization. Jurors will not return to court until February 6 to hear additional evidence that will help them decide whether Saipov should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison.
If Saipov, who is a citizen of Uzbekistan, is sentenced to death, it could be the first such sentence in 60 years. The death penalty has not been used in the state for a long time, the last time a defendant was executed in the state in 1963. Federal courts in New York have not handed down death sentences since decades. The last death sentence handed down by a federal court in New York dates back to 1954.
His lawyers admitted that Saipov rented a truck near his New Jersey home, drove it along a trail along the Hudson River and knocked down several cyclists before crashing into a school bus near of the World Trade Center.
He then got out of his truck shouting “Allahu akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic), a shotgun and a paintball gun in his hand, before the police subdued him with firearms.
As a result of this attack, a woman who came to the United States from Belgium with her family, five Argentinian friends and two Americans died. Other people were seriously injured, including a woman who lost both her legs.
The defense asked the jury to acquit Saipov for aiding an organized crime group, saying he intended to die a martyr and was not colluding with the Islamic State organization, despite the mass of group propaganda material found on his electronic devices and in his home.
Saipov himself did not testify at trial.
Saipov legally moved to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010 and lived in Ohio and Florida before moving in with his relatives in Paterson, New Jersey.
Prosecutors said Saipov attacked American civilians to impress the Islamic State group and join its ranks.
President Joe Biden imposed a moratorium on executions for federal crimes after arriving at the White House.