Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov

Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov was born on February 8, 1988, in Tashkent, then part of the Soviet Union and now the capital of Uzbekistan. He was the eldest of four children and the only son in his family. Saipov grew up primarily in the Beltepa and Uchtepa districts of Tashkent, where he completed secondary education and later graduated from a professional college. Between 2005 and 2009, he studied at the Tashkent Financial Institute, after which he worked as an accountant.

In 2010, Saipov immigrated to the United States through the Diversity Immigrant Visa program and became a lawful permanent resident. Over the following years, he lived in multiple states, including Ohio, Florida, and New Jersey. He worked intermittently as a commercial truck driver and later as an Uber driver, holding a commercial driver’s license. Acquaintances described him as temperamental and prone to anger, which reportedly contributed to job instability.

Saipov accumulated multiple traffic violations across several states between 2011 and 2016. In 2015, federal authorities interviewed him regarding contacts with individuals under terrorism investigation, though no charges were filed at the time. According to friends and family members, Saipov was not initially overtly religious when he arrived in the United States, but over time became increasingly rigid in his beliefs and openly critical of U.S. foreign policy, particularly regarding the Middle East.

On October 31, 2017, at approximately 2:06 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Sayfullo Saipov rented a pickup truck from a Home Depot in Passaic, New Jersey. At around 2:43 p.m., he crossed the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan and drove south along the West Side Highway.

At 3:04 p.m., near Houston Street and Pier 40, Saipov deliberately swerved his truck onto the Hudson River Greenway bike path, accelerating into cyclists and pedestrians along a one‑mile stretch running parallel to West Street. Traveling at speeds that reached up to 66 miles per hour, Saipov struck victims indiscriminately as he continued south toward Chambers Street.

During the attack, Saipov targeted multiple groups of cyclists, including foreign tourists visiting New York City. After killing and injuring numerous individuals along the bike path, he crashed the truck into a school bus transporting students with special needs near Chambers Street and West Street. Two people on the bus were injured.

Following the crash, Saipov exited the vehicle holding what appeared to be firearms and ran while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” The weapons were later identified as a paintball gun and a pellet gun. A New York City police officer shot Saipov in the abdomen, stopping him. He was taken into custody and transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he survived his injuries.

Investigators found a black flag associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and a handwritten note pledging allegiance to the group inside the truck. Saipov later admitted to authorities that he had planned the attack for approximately one year, deliberately choosing Halloween to maximize the number of civilians present. He stated that he intended to continue the attack onto the Brooklyn Bridge but was stopped before he could do so.

The eight victims killed in the attack were Darren Drake, a 32‑year‑old man from New Milford, New Jersey, and Nicholas Cleves, a 23‑year‑old resident of Manhattan. The remaining six victims were foreign nationals. Five were Argentine tourists including Diego Enrique Angelini, Ariel Erlij, Hernán Ferruchi, Hernán Diego Mendoza, and Alejandro Damián Pagnucco, each aged 47 or 48, who had traveled to New York City as part of a group of former high school classmates from Rosario celebrating their 30‑year graduation anniversary. The sixth foreign victim was Ann‑Laure Decadt, a 31‑year‑old Belgian woman and mother of two who was visiting the city with her family.

Saipov was federally indicted on November 21, 2017, on charges including eight counts of murder in aid of racketeering, twelve counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering, providing material support to a terrorist organization, and destruction of a motor vehicle resulting in death.

Following extensive pretrial proceedings, jury selection began in October 2022. On January 26, 2023, Saipov was found guilty on all murder counts. The prosecution sought the death penalty; however, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on capital punishment.

On May 17, 2023, Saipov was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus additional concurrent life sentences and 260 years in prison. He is currently incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX Florence) in Colorado.