New York bike-path attacker sentenced to life after victims confront him

The mother of a New Yorker killed in 2017 when a man driving a truck mowed down cyclists and pedestrians on a crowded Manhattan bike path told a hushed courtroom on Wednesday that no punishment meted out to the attacker could compare to her pain.

The mother of a New Yorker killed in 2017 when a man driving a truck mowed down cyclists and pedestrians on a crowded Manhattan bike path told a hushed courtroom on Wednesday that no punishment meted out to the attacker could compare to her pain. "This evil murderer has destroyed so many lives," said Monica Missio, the mother of victim Nicholas Cleves, at a hearing before Sayfullo Saipov - convicted in January on murder and terrorism charges - was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Eight people were killed and 12 were injured in the attack. Missio was among the more than 20 victims and family members who spoke before U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick formally sentenced the 35-year-old Saipov. The life sentence became automatic after a jury deadlocked on whether Saipov should receive the death penalty.

"It disgusts me that he gets to wake up every day while my son does not," Missio said. "His barbarism and cruelty fills me with rage." Saipov used a Home Depot rental truck to cut down people on a path along the Hudson River on Manhattan's West Side. He had hoped the attack would help him gain membership in Islamic State, or ISIS, prosecutors said. The United States designates ISIS as a terrorist organization.

Rachel Pharn, who survived the attack, said she wanted to know what had motivated Saipov. "Mr. Saipov, I can forgive you for what you did to me, for breaking my spirit," Pharn said. "But when I look around the room, when I think of all the pain you caused, that I cannot forgive. That is between you, them and Allah."

Addressing the court before sentencing, an unrepentant Saipov appeared to praise Islamic State and suggested his victims suffered less than Muslims around the world. "I was here in the court during the three-month trial, and I saw and I heard the victims, families and friends," he said. "The court would be filled up with the tears and blood of the Muslim population."

Many of those killed or injured in the attack were foreign nationals visiting New York, the most populous U.S. city. Most of the people who spoke at the hearing traveled from Argentina and Belgium. Saipov looked downward, with a headset over his ears to listen to an interpreter, as the father of victim Ann-Laure Decadt said he hoped that one day Saipov would be able to persuade others not to engage in similar attacks.

"Mr. Saipov, I have not heard any sign of remorse from you," said Frank Decadt, who is from Belgium. "But it is my hope that one day you will understand the extent of the horror that you have inflicted on so many people, and also understand that what you have done cannot be repaired." He is expected to be housed at Colorado's Supermax facility, the most secure U.S. federal prison, where he is due to spend 22 or 23 hours a day alone in a cell with a concrete bed.

Saipov's case was the first federal death penalty trial since Democratic President Joe Biden took office in 2021. Biden had pledged during his campaign to abolish capital punishment in federal cases.