‘Very sick, deranged person’: Donald Trump blames Democrats for letting New York truck attacker into US
New York governor says investigators had determined that the suspect, who reportedly entered the US in 2010, had since shown an interest in IS and its terror tactics
The driver, identified as Uzbek national named Sayfullo Saipov, mowed down pedestrians and cyclists over a mile-long stretch of the bike path Tuesday in an exclusive neighbourhood of Lower’s Manhattan’s West Side, where children and their parents were preparing to celebrate Halloween.
Police shot Saipov, 29, in the stomach at the end of the rampage, but he was expected to survive.
US President Donald Trump has denounced the attacker as “very sick” and a “deranged person,” and announced a stepping-up of his “extreme vetting programme” for foreign travellers to the country.
The United States “must not” allow Islamic State group jihadists to “return, or enter” the country after being defeated overseas, Trump said.
On Wednesday the president tweeted that the suspect had entered the United States via a visa lottery programme supported by opposition Democrats.