New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov charged with terrorism after 'being spurred by online propaganda'

Federal prosecutors brought terrorism charges on Wednesday against the Uzbek immigrant accused in the truck rampage that left eight people dead, saying he was spurred to attack by online jihadist propaganda.  The charges against 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, handcuffed and with his feet shackled, could bring the death penalty. During his court appearance, Saipov was ordered detained and didn't enter a plea. His lawyers didn't seek bail. Even as he lay wounded in the hospital from police gunfire, Saipov asked to display the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant flag in his room and said "he felt good about what he had done," prosecutors said in court papers. "NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!" President Donald Trump tweeted.  Meanwhile, the FBI said it wanted to question a second Uzbek - 32-year-old Mukhammadzoir Kadirov - and had found him. A law enforcement official said Kadirov might not have a role in the case, but investigators became suspicious when they couldn't find him as he was one of Saipov's few friends. Sayfullo Saipov, the suspect in the New York City truck attack, is seen in this courtroom sketch appearing in Manhattan federal courtroom in a wheelchair  Credit: Reuters Saipov, accused of driving the rented Home Depot pickup truck that barrelled down a bike path near the World Trade Center memorial on Tuesday, was charged with providing material support to a terrorist group and committing violence and destruction of motor vehicles, resulting in death. His lawyers did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Prosecutors said he had 90 videos and 3,800 photos on one of his two mobile phones, many of them Isil-related pieces of propaganda, including images of prisoners being beheaded, shot or run over by a tank. Saipov left behind knives and a note, in Arabic and English, that included Islamic religious references and said, "Islamic Supplication. It will endure" - "it will endure" is phrase that commonly refers to Isil, FBI agent Amber Tyree said in court papers. Questioned in his hospital bed, Saipov said he had been inspired by ISIS videos that he watched on his cellphone and began plotting an attack about a year ago, deciding to use a truck about two months ago, Tyree said. Saipov, the suspect in the New York City truck attack is seen in this handout photo Credit: NEW YORK-ATTACK/SUSPECT During the last few weeks, Saipov searched the internet for information on Halloween in New York City and for truck rentals, the agent said. Saipov even rented a truck on October 22 to practise making turns, and he initially hoped to get from the bike path across lower Manhattan to hit more pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge, Tyree said. He even considered displaying Isil flags on the truck during the attack but decided against it because he did not want to draw the attention, authorities said. On Tuesday, as a city grieved over its worst terror attack since 9/11, new details were emerging about the suspect and what happened on Monday afternoon.  Police announced it took just four minutes for Saipov to drive around a mile down a bike path, smashing into pedestrians before eventually crashing into a school bus.  Then attacker then emerged carrying a paintball and pellet gun shouting “Allahu Akbar” - which means God is Great - before being shot by a 28-year-old cop nearby. Investigators inspect a truck following a shooting incident in New York on October 31, 2017 Credit: AFP PHOTO / Don EMMERTDON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images A handwritten note in Arabic found in the rented truck had a message to the effect of “the Islamic State will endure forever”. Eight people were killed in the attack, which is believed to have been planned for weeks, and a further 12 were injured.  As investigators attempted to piece together Saipov’s motivation, more about his backstory emerged. Saipov arrived in America in March 2010 and is believed to have become radicalised while in the country.  He initially attempted to improve his English and get a job, according to US media reports. He occasionally played football and "liked to sleep in".  In 2013, Saipov married fellow Uzbek national Nozima Odilova, 19 at the time, in Ohio. The pair are believed to have three children together. Records show he lived in Florida, Ohio and most recently New Jersey and was working for the last six months as a driver for the taxi app Uber. Footage shows New York terror suspect wielding fake guns 01:08 But at some point Saipov’s thoughts turned to violence as friends noticed his increasingly extreme views about religion. One said the pair had argued "on a religious issue" several months ago and Saipov had displayed "very radical views.” “After that argument, he stopped contacting us," the friend told Radio Free Europe. "We warned him over his radical views." Saipov seemed to be depressed, he said, adding: "He kept everything inside him. He isolated himself from the outside world.” The Uzbeck had not been investigated by the FBI or the New York Police Department before the attack, but appears to have been known to some authorities.  Officers said he might have been linked to others under investigation, while there were also reports he had been issued with traffic tickets.  Saipov’s home country of Uzbekistan was also in the spotlight. No fewer than four terror attacks - including this one - with links to former Soviet republics in Central Asia have occurred in the last year.  Investigators work around the wreckage of a Home Depot pickup truck, a day after it was used in an terror attack in New York Credit: AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMADJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images Discussing the inspiration behind the attack, John Miller, a New York police Deputy Commissioner, pointed to online posts from jihadist groups. "He appears to have followed, almost exactly to a tee, the instructions that Isis has put out in their social-media channels ... on how to carry out such an attack," Mr Miller said. A series of chilling online posts by accounts linked to Isil which warned that attacks were coming have also emerged.  One photo taken around the spot where the truck mounted the bike lane and showing an Isil symbol was posted two months ago, according to the respected Site group, which monitors terror activity. Donald Trump calls for visa programme used by New York attacker to be scrapped 02:09 Another message posted by French jihadists called for extremists to “Terrorise October 31”, though the graphic included a picture of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  Bill De Blasio, the New York mayor, praised the spirit and resilience of the city’s people and urged them to go about their lives as normal.  “We understand this was an attack on our values. It was an effort to break our spirit. But as an effort to break our spirit it failed,” he said.  He added: “Be New Yorkers. Be strong, be proud, be resilient. Show the whole world right now that we will not be moved by terror.”