Wells man gets 27 years for attack on 3 police officers in Times Square on New Year's Eve
WELLS, Maine — Trevor Bickford, the local man who attempted to kill three police officers with a machete and wage jihad in Times Square on New Year’s Eve in 2022, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Thursday, May 9.
Prosecutors had asked for a 50-year sentence, while the defense asked for a lesser sentence of 10 years and 15 years of supervised release. Under law, he faced a maximum sentence of up to 120 years in prison for the charges.
Earlier this year, Bickford pleaded guilty to three attempted murder charges and three charges of assaulting U.S. employees or officers.
In the weeks leading up to the sentencing, attorneys from the Federal Defenders of New York sought a lesser sentence stating Bickford was “ashamed and appalled” by what he did.
Bickford's attorneys painted a picture of a troubled young man whose life took a spiral downward after the death of his abusive father, which was exacerbated due to an untreated mental health condition.
They said Bickford was experiencing "auditory, tactile, and visual hallucinations" when he turned to radical Islam and carried out the Dec. 31, 2022, attack. And it was only after he was arrested, that they said he got the much-needed treatment his family desperately sought.
The defense’s filing includes redactions on Bickford's diagnosis and treatment.
However, in court, Bickford told the judge when he pleaded guilty that he suffered from schizoaffective disorder and was taking lithium, risperidone and Lexapro.
Previous story: Defense says Wells teen was mentally ill, not an Islamic terrorist, ahead of sentencing
Bickford's attorneys noted that his family has noticed a "significant change in Mr. Bickford since he began treatment" with his mother writing in a letter to the court that he's "doing so much better now, he's back to his old self again."
In one example, attorneys wrote that Bickford had saved the life of inmate whom he had found lying in a pool of blood. Using skills he learned in a life-saving course, Bickford applied pressure on the inmate’s wound, yelled for help, and called on others to find a guard.
According to the attorneys, Bickford felt “he was still alive” when he saw the wounded inmate being escorted from the jail’s Suicide Unit the next day.
"For the first time since he committed an unprovoked attack on three police officers ... he felt that maybe his life still might have purpose," wrote his defense attorney, Marisa Cabrera.
Prosecutors argued for 50 years stating that Bickford's actions were premeditated.
"In the weeks leading up to his attack, the defendant explored traveling overseas to support the Taliban in Afghanistan or elsewhere," stated prosecutors in a court filing regarding sentencing. "He planned to ally himself with the Taliban to fight against governments that, in the defendant’s view, oppress Muslims, and to wage jihad against officials of governments that he believes are anti-Muslim, including the U.S. Government. Ultimately, the defendant decided that he would not travel overseas, and instead turned his attention to an attack here, in the United States. This decision resulted in the defendant’s ferocious attack on December 31, 2022."
Prosecutors said the assault left victims and witnesses traumatized.
According to court documents, one of the officers attacked was working his first day after graduating from the NYPD academy. He suffered a skull fracture and laceration to the back of his head, received more than a dozen stitches and was out of work for more than three months.
Another officer continues to suffer pain from his injuries and is afraid to return to Manhattan, while a third is dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and has been unable to return to work.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Wells, Maine man gets 27 years for New Year's Eve machete attack
