The 19-year-old alleged Islamic radical suspected in the New Year’s Eve machete attack on NYPD cops had specifically sought to target “a uniformed officer” or someone armed because he believed them to be an “enemy of the state,” sources told The Post on Sunday.
Trevor Bickford, of Wells, Maine, allegedly went to Midtown on Saturday night to assault police officers or “someone with a gun,” the sources said he told the feds after his arrest.
The suspect allegedly said he’d hatched the plot as recently as Friday, according to sources.
Bickford “found religion” after his father’s overdose death in 2018 and became radicalized as recently as a month ago, according to sources.
He was already on an FBI terrorism watchlist after his mother and aunt tipped off the agency about his allegedly extremist views, the sources said.
The attacker was a “lone wolf” who did not appear to be affiliated with any particular Islamic extremist group, but noted the investigation is still active and ongoing with cops combing through his cellphone and computer, the sources said.
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He apparently had planned to travel to Afghanistan to join Islamic militants, according to sources — but instead traveled to New York alone, arriving on Dec. 29, and was staying at the Bowery Mission.
He ventured into Times Square on Saturday, walked up to the cops without notice and began swinging the weapon, a type of machete known as a Gurkha, according to police and sources.
Sources said he carried a diary and a disturbing manifesto urging his family to “repent to Allah and accept Islam.”
The handwritten note specifically names his brothers, Travis and Devon, who is in the US Marine Corps, according to the sources.
Bickford was shot and wounded by a police officer during the attack. He was hospitalized and had not been officially charged as of Sunday night.
