On New Year’s Eve, in New York City—mere hours before the ball was dropped—nineteen-year-old Trevor Thomas Bickford from Maine attacked three police officers with a machete near Times Square. Bickford struck the police, but fortunately, they were okay. Bickford was shot and stopped by the police, and Bellevue Hospital currently detains him.
Terror shot through the crowds as they tried to escape the situation—and still does weeks later across the nation. “It’s pretty scary that people have to live in fear of getting hurt,” Serin Palathingal, a sophomore at Thomas S. Wootton, said. “[Especially] by people even as young as 19 if not younger.”
Around 10 p.m. that day, Bickford arrived at a Times Square checkpoint where officers would check bags for weapons and suspicious items. When the police got to him, he shouted “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is Great,” and pulled out his machete. Then he struck an officer with it, hit another on the head, and swung his blade at the last officer, who shot him in the shoulder.
Before this, Bickford was studying radical Islamic ideology. Some of the materials he read supported the Taliban, which he expressed interest in joining. The Taliban is an ultra-conservative political and religious faction. It is notorious for being ruthless, oppressive to women, and dismissing human rights altogether.
Later, Bickford converted to Islam and devoted himself to violent Islamic extremism. He waged a jihad against the U.S. and other government officials he thought were anti-Islamic. A jihad is a holy struggle or war against Islam’s enemies.
Before this attack, Bickford was already charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and two counts of attempted assault. Just one charge, if convicted, could land Bickford twenty years in prison.
Moreover, the NYPD was aware of the possibility of a terrorist-like attack. On Friday, Dec 30th, the NYPD sent a bulletin titled “ISIS-Aligned Media Unit Releases Video Ahead of New Year’s Eve, Demanding Lone Offender Attacks.” The video suggested various attacks, including knives, handguns, and toxins.
Nonetheless, this attack, usually a joyous day, shocked everyone across the nation. “New Year’s Eve is an event people look forward to, and someone took away that joy from people,” Rakshita Jayaswal, a sophomore at Urbana High School, said. “You truly are never safe.”
Fortunately, Montgomery County has a variety of procedures in place to keep us safe. “The County Council works on the legislative side and helps make sure that resources are there [in case of such an attack],” Montgomery County Council Member and Chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee Sidney Katz said. “If it were to happen here… I believe MoCo would act similarly,” he added. In addition, like in New York, Mr. Katz said that Montgomery County would charge Bickford similarly.
Regardless, the world can still feel dangerous, especially with the recent mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay in California. In total, 18 people died, and around four were wounded. On Thursday, President Joe Biden released a statement “urging both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver this assault weapons ban… to keep American communities, schools, workplaces and homes safe.” However, people are still waiting for new legislation to be passed and the future of guns in America remains uncertain.
Article written by Anushka Gulla of Thomas S. Wootton High School
Photo courtesy of Avery Wang of Richard Montgomery High School