Convert to Islam attacks police officers at Times Square on New Year’s Eve

A man wielding a machete attacked three police officers, two in the head, during New Year’s Eve celebrations in New York City.

By Associated Press

New Year’s celebrations swept across the globe, ushering in 2023 with countdowns and fireworks — and marking an end to a year that brought war in Europe, a new chapter in the British monarchy and global worries over inflation.

The ball dropped on New York City’s iconic Times Square as huge crowds counted down the seconds into 2023, culminating in raucous cheers and a deluge of confetti glittering amid jumbo screens, neon, pulsing lights and soggy streets.

A man wielding a machete attacked three police officers near the celebration at about 10 p.m., authorities said, striking two of them in the head before an officer shot the man in the shoulder about eight blocks from Times Square, just outside the high-security zone. The two officers were hospitalized, one with a fractured skull and the other with a bad cut, but expected to recover.

The 19-year-old suspect, a convert to Islam, was also expected to recover. He was identified as 19-year-old Trevor Bickford, multiple law enforcement sources said Sunday.

It was actually the third Muslim machete attack on NYPD officers, notes Daniel Greenfield of FrontPage Magazine.

According to police sources, the FBI in Boston has an open case on Bickford.  His aunt had notified authorities because he apparently made statements to her indicating a desire to go fight in Afghanistan, the sources said.

World Israel News contributed to this report.