NYC bike path attacker is a 'proud terrorist' who deserves 'death,' prosecutors tell jury

By Marta Dhanis, Paul Best

The man who murdered eight people in an ISIS-inspired attack in New York City in 2017 should face the death penalty because he "chose terror" and it is "time for him to face consequences to his choices," a federal prosecutor told a jury on Tuesday in the sentencing phase of Sayfullo Saipov's trial.

Federal defender David Patton, meanwhile, argued that Saipov should be sentenced to life in prison because he will be sent to one of the most "isolated, solitary" facilities in America in Florence, Colorado.

The attorneys made their cases in closing arguments of the sentencing phase on Tuesday. The jury, which already convicted Saipov on 28 counts in January, is expected to begin deliberating on Wednesday.

This undated file photo provided by the St. Charles County Department of Corrections in St. Charles, Mo., shows Sayfullo Saipov. (St. Charles County, Mo., Department of Corrections/KMOV via AP, File)

Saipov, a Uzbekistan citizen, admitted to FBI agents that he carried out the attack on behalf of ISIS on Oct. 31, 2017. He used a rental truck to speed down a bike path along the Hudson River, killing eight people and wounding nearly a dozen others.

Assistant US attorney Amanda Houle called Saipov "a proud terrorist" who has shown no remorse for his crimes.

"He chose to come to this country and fight for an enemy," Houle told the jurors as she showed them gory images of the scene. "And it is his choices that call for the most significant punishment that the law provides: the sentence of death."

Sayfullo Saipov used a rental truck to kill 8 people on a Manhattan bike path in 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

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Sayfullo Saipov is seen exiting the rented truck allegedly used in the attack and is carrying what appears to be two pistols, one in each hand. (US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York)

New footage released by the U.S Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York shows Sayfullo Saipov, center, in the moments just before he was shot by police. (US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York)

Patton, Saipov's attorney, told jurors that the "appropriate moral decision here is life" because "meeting death with more death is not the answer."

"It is not necessary to kill Sayfullo Saipov to keep us or anyone else safe," Patton said. "So we are asking you to choose hope over fear, justice over vengeance, and in the end, life over death."

Marta Dhanis is a reporter based in New York who focuses on criminal justice and the courts. Follow her on Twitter: @MartaDhanis

https://www.foxnews.com/us/nyc-bike-path-attacker-proud-terrorist-deserves-death-prosecutors-tell-jury