U.S. federal prosecutors file terrorism charges against NYC truck attack suspect

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday filed terrorism charges against the suspect of Tuesday's truck attack in New York City (NYC), which left eight people dead and a dozen others injured. 

Police vehicles and ambulances are seen near the site of an attack in lower Manhattan in New York, the United States, on Oct. 31, 2017. Eight people were killed and a dozen more injured after a truck plowed into pedestrians near the World Trade Center in New York City, the mayor said on Tuesday.[Photo: Xinhua]

Acting U.S. Manhattan attorney Joon Kim announced the charges at a news conference in New York.

Sayfullo Saipov, the suspect now in custody, had been planning what is called the worst terror attack on NYC since Sept. 11, 2001, "for a number of weeks," John Miller, NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said at a press conference earlier in the day.

"He did this in the name of ISIS," Miller said, citing some notes recovered at the scene.

On Tuesday afternoon, Saipov, a Uzbek immigrant, plowed a pickup truck down a busy bike path in Lower Manhattan, killing 8 people and injuring 12 others. He was shot by police and then sent to a hospital.

Reports said that he shouted "Allahu Akbar," which means "God is great" in Arabic.