Investigators scrambled Wendesday to find out how an ISIS sleeper agent — a foreign national from Uzbekistan — was allowed into the country, and how the bloodthirsty killer was able to fly under Homeland Securities radar.
President Donald Trump has an idea — it’s Chuck Schumer’s fault.
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Trump said Wednesday morning that the suspect came to the U.S. in 2010under the Diversity Visa Lottery Program.
The diversity visa program provides up to 50,000 visas annually by lottery — not merit. Applicants must only have a high school diploma or meet basic work experience requirements. Trump has noted that the brains behind the program was Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer.
Eight people were killed and 11 seriously injured in a Halloween afternoon attack that the mayor called “a particularly cowardly act of terror.” The driver was in critical condition, but expected to survive after a police officer shot him in the abdomen. Insiders reported the radical Islamic terrorist told investigators he was happy he was able to kill so many before being stopped.
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A roughly two-mile stretch of highway in downtown Manhattan was shut down for the investigation. Authorities also converged on a New Jersey apartment building and a van in a parking lot at a New Jersey Home Depot store. Authorities were scrutinizing a note found inside the attacker’s rented truck, according to two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday on “CBS This Morning” the note made a reference to ISIS, and that he had been radicalized in the U.S.
Police and the FBI urged members of the public to give them any photos or video that could help. The attack echoed a strategy that the Islamic State group has been suggesting to its followers.
Trump railed against the Islamic State and declared “enough!” and “NOT IN THE U.S.A.!”
The victims reflected a city that is a melting pot and a magnet for visitors: One of the dead was from Belgium. Five were from Argentina and were celebrating the 30th anniversary of a school graduation, according to officials in those countries. The injured included students and staffers on a school bus that the driver rammed.
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“This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians, aimed at people going about their lives who had no idea what was about to hit them,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat.
On Wednesday, New Yorkers woke to a heavy police presence outside the World Trade Center and at other locations around the city. Runners and cyclists who use the popular bike path for their pre-dawn exercise were diverted away from the crime scene by officers stationed at barricades just north of where the rampage began, and a wide corridor of streets have been blocked.
Dave Hartie, 57, who works in financial restructuring, said he rides his bike along the path every morning. “It’s great to be in the city and have that kind of peace.” Asked about the attack he said, “It’s the messed up world we live in these days. Part of me is surprised it doesn’t happen more often.”
Law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity identified the slight, bearded attacker as Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old. He has a Florida driver’s license but may have been staying in New Jersey, they said. Investigators were trying to speak with Saipov, who remained hospitalized Wednesday after surgery, one official said.
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Records show Saipov was a commercial truck driver who formed a pair of businesses in Ohio. He had also driven for Uber, the ride-hailing company said. An Ohio marriage license shows that a truck driver with one of Saipov’s addresses and his name, spelled slightly differently, married a fellow Uzbek in 2013.
Police on Wednesday were combing the Patterson, New Jersey, neighborhood where Saipov lived and had blocked off several streets near his home and a mosque.
Police said the attacker rented the truck at about 2 p.m. at a New Jersey Home Depot and then went into New York City, entering the bike path about an hour later and speeding toward the World Trade Center, the site of the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history.
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He barreled along the bike path in the truck for the equivalent of about 14 blocks, or around eight-tenths of a mile, before slamming into a small yellow school bus.
“A person hopped out of the car with two guns and started yelling and screaming,” said a 12-year-old student who had just left a nearby school. “They were yelling ‘Allahu Akbar.’” — which translates literally to “God is Great”, but in context is more accurately described as meaning “The Muslim God is greatest.”
The student, whose mother asked that his name be withheld, said he ran back into the school, where students cried and huddled in a corner.
Video shot by bystanders showed Saipov walking through traffic wielding what looked like two handguns, but which police later said were a paintball gun and a pellet gun. Police officer Ryan Nash shot Saipov when he wouldn’t drop the weapons, officials said.
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The mayhem set off panic in the neighborhood and left the pavement strewn with mangled bicycles and bodies that were soon covered with sheets.
“I saw a lot of blood over there. A lot of people on the ground,” said Chen Yi, an Uber driver.
The note inside the truck was handwritten in a foreign language, according to one of the two law enforcement officials who spoke about the document. Both said its contents were being investigated but supported the belief the act was terrorism.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, called Tuesday’s carnage a “lone wolf” attack and said there was no evidence to suggest it was part of a wider plot.
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Statements of support and condolences rolled in from around the world Wednesday.
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev sent his condolences to the president and the families of the victims, and offered his country’s assistance in investigating the attack.
Similar statements were issued by France, Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
New York and other cities around the globe have been on high alert against attacks by extremists in vehicles. England, France and Germany have seen deadly vehicle attacks in the past year or so.
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Officer Nash, from Long Island, has been on the force about five years and was walking a post in downtown Manhattan at the time of the rampage. The 28-year-old was hailed as a hero for stopping the attacker moments after he got out of the truck.
President Donald Trump has vowed on Twitter Wednesday morning, that “we will put a stop to this craziness.”
The terrorist came into our country through what is called the "Diversity Visa Lottery Program," a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017
We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter). @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017
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"Senator Chuck Schumer helping to import Europes problems" said Col.Tony Shaffer. We will stop this craziness! @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017
The President called for a tougher Merit based program for immigrants. Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday night “to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program.” Trump’s extreme-vetting policy on immigrants entails more stringent investigative measures intended to identify those who may sympathize with extremists or pose a national security risk to the United States.
Trump has backed legislation that would curb legal immigration and shift the nation toward a system that would place an emphasis on merit and skills over family ties.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.