New Year’s Eve Machete Attack Suspect Pleads Not Guilty
NEW YORK—A Maine man charged with attacking police officers with a machete near New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted murder and assault charges in a new state indictment.
Authorities have said Trevor Thomas Bickford of Wells, Maine, began studying radical Islamic ideology last summer. They say the 19-year-old decided in November to attack U.S. officials and officials of other governments he thought to be anti-Muslim.
Bickford entered the plea to the 18-count indictment during an appearance in state court in Manhattan. His lawyer, Rosemary Vassallo, would only confirm the plea and declined further comment in an email to The Associated Press….