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- As New Yorkers celebrated Halloween on Tuesday, a man drove a truck at high-speed into bicyclists and pedestrians on West Side Highway in Lower Manhattan. To date, eight people are reported dead and 12 injured.
- The acting Manhattan US Attorney, Joon Kim, confirmed that the suspect has been arrested and charged with federal crimes of terrorism.
- The New York Police Department (NYPD) identified the suspect in the attack to be Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbek-born resident of Paterson, New Jersey. At the time, the police believe Saipov was acting alone. Shot by police while trying to extricate himself from the vehicle, the assailant is currently in the hospital under heavy guard.
- Saipov has been cooperating with investigators, after choosing not to plead the fifth. The NYPD reported finding handwritten letters in Saipov’s truck, in which he declared his actions were in the name of the so-called Islamic State, although the terrorist group has so far remained silent.
- US President Donald Trump took to Twitter in the immediate aftermath, saying these were the actions of a “sick” individual.” The president later added that the US needed to “step up” its “already Extreme Vetting Program” [sic] for immigrants. He has since called for changes to the existing US visa program, saying that one of the ways of gaining entry, a the Diversity Immigrant Visa, should be replaced by a “merit based [system].”
- Critics have noted that while President Trump’s called for system-wide changes to immigration immediately following the attack, he did not suggest reforms to US gun laws following the shooting that left nearly 600 people dead in Las Vegas in October.
- President Trump is publicly calling for the death penalty as punishment for Sayfullo’s crimes.
- Among the victims of Tuesday’s attack were tourists from Belgium and Argentina, including five friends from Rosario, Argentina celebrating their 30-year high school graduation.
- The New York State governor, Andrew Cuomo, decried Saipov as a “depraved coward” and commended New York residents city-wide and statewide for their resilience and for proceeding with their lives without “disruption.” Halloween festivities, such as New York City’s annual Halloween Parade, continued as planned.
- In a press conference, Cuomo said, “I went [to the parade], not because I had a great costume, but because it was about showing up. And New Yorkers showed up.”
