WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
Trevor Bickford, 20, of Wells, Maine, was sentenced to 324 months in prison for attempting to kill officers and employees of the U.S. Government and persons assisting them during his brazen attack using a machete-style knife against three New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers in Times Square on Dec. 31, 2022. Bickford pleaded guilty to terrorism charges on Jan. 11.
According to court documents: In December 2022, Bickford, a U.S. citizen and resident of Maine, traveled from Maine to New York City to, in his own words, wage jihad and kill as many targets as possible. He targeted one of the most densely populated areas in the United States at one of the most densely populated times possible: Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
It was there that Bickford ambushed three NYPD officers, declared “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic phrase meaning “God is great” that other radical Islamic extremists have similarly proclaimed while carrying out terrorist attacks, and swung his blade at their heads, seriously injuring all three officers. Bickford also tried to grab one of the NYPD officers’ guns during his attack. One of the victims that Bickford struck managed to shoot Bickford in the shoulder, halting his brutal rampage before he could attack and possibly kill others. Bickford later proudly declared that he carried out his attack to wage jihad and proclaimed that his goal was to kill as many military-aged men who worked for the U.S. Government as he could, before himself becoming a martyr in the attack.
Bickford’s violent rampage on Dec. 31, 2022, was premeditated. He consumed materials espousing radical Islamic ideology – including materials promoting the Taliban and reflecting the teachings of Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, a prominent radical Islamic cleric who was a spiritual mentor of al Qaeda – and contemplated ways to wage jihad. As he immersed himself deeper into this propaganda, Bickford devoted himself to violent Islamic extremism and pursuit of the jihad that he would eventually unleash in the heart of New York City.
In the months leading up to his attack, Bickford focused on traveling overseas to support the Taliban in Afghanistan or elsewhere. He planned to ally himself with the Taliban to fight against governments that, in his view, oppress Muslims and to wage jihad against officials of governments that he believes are anti-Muslim, including the U.S. government. Ultimately, Bickford decided that he would not travel overseas and instead turned his attention to an attack here in the United States. This decision resulted in Bickford perpetrating his attack in Times Square on New Year’s Eve in 2022.
Near the scene of the attack, law enforcement officers recovered a book from Bickford’s backpack with the following passage highlighted: “Fight in the Name of Allah and in the Cause of Allah. Fight against those who do not believe in Allah. Wage a holy war.”
In addition, Bickford had used an encrypted application and secure browser on his cellphone to conduct extensive research in advance of his attack, including research about al Qaeda (including internet searches for “Al Qaeda recruitment”); about waging jihad; about his eventual time (New Year’s Eve) and place (Times Square) of attack (including “how often do the police patrol in NYC” and “New Years Eve 2023 itinerary in New York City Times Square”); about potential weapons he could use to carry out his attack (including “[g]un buying laws for New York City” and “Do you need to pass a background check for a used gun”); and various ways to incapacitate, injure, and kill his potential targets (including “[w]hat are the terms for taking slaves in Islam” and whether Islam “permit[s] rape of female prisoners of war”).
Finally, less than an hour before his attack, Bickford watched an Al Qaeda propaganda video imploring viewers to “fight” as he finalized his targets.
The FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies, investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew J.C. Hellman, Sarah L. Kushner, and Kaylan E. Lasky for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from Trial Attorney D. Andrew Sigler of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 5-14-2024 at 12 p.m.
2024 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2024)
Total Mass Shootings: 194
Total Dead: 271
Total Wounded: 730
Shootings Per Day: 1.44
Days Reached in Year 2024 as of May 14: 135
MIDDLE EAST
GAZANS UPROOTED AFTER RAFAH INCURSION
Large parts of the city of Rafah are now a “ghost town,” with UN humanitarians reporting on May 14 that some 450,000 Gazans have been forcibly displaced from the southernmost city by Israeli evacuation orders in the last week.
“Empty streets in Rafah as families continue to flee in search of safety… UNRWA estimates that nearly 450,000 people have been forcibly displaced from Rafah since 6 May,” said the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in a post from western Rafah on X.
“Inland in Rafah is now a ghost town. It’s hard to believe there were over one million people sheltering here just a week ago,” reported UNRWA spokesperson Louise Wateridge. “People face constant exhaustion, hunger and fear. Nowhere is safe. An immediate ceasefire is the only hope.”
The development comes as airstrikes continued to hit northern and southern Gaza amid reports that the Israeli military said it had hit 120 targets in the past 24-hour period.
“Ground incursions and heavy fighting continue to be reported in eastern Rafah as well Gaza City and the Jabaliya refugee camp,” the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said in its latest situation update late May 13.
Many of those forced to leave eastern Rafah had already been displaced multiple times in the past seven months, the UN office explained.
In the north, evacuation orders were also issued on Saturday “amid ongoing Israeli bombardment there,” OCHA said, noting that some 100,000 people have left their homes and shelters so far.
“OCHA remains deeply concerned about the lack of protection for civilians and the lack of safety for humanitarian operations,” the UN agency said, noting that one fifth of Gaza’s population had been displaced in just the last week.
“Civilians must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay. Those who leave must have enough time to do so as well as a safe route and a safe place to go.”
Deep concerns remain about a lack of lifesaving aid reaching the enclave since Israeli troops seized the Rafah crossing and restricted access to the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing last week in response to a deadly rocket attack by Hamas fighters.
“The Rafah crossing remains closed,” OCHA said, “and there is a continued lack of safe and logistically viable access to the Kerem Shalom crossing.”
Echoing fears for the people of Gaza, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the incursion into Rafah had jeopardized access to health care, the provision of health services and the delivery of lifesaving supplies.
The UN health agency noted that partners working on medical relief in Gaza “require a minimum of 46,000 liters of fuel every day just for their operations.”
In a related development, UN agencies pushed back at erroneous claims that the number of Gazans killed and injured had been scaled down after the enclave’s ministry of health announced that some 25,000 of the 35,000 reported fatalities have now been identified.
“We’re basically talking about 35,000 people who are dead, and really that’s all that matters, isn’t it? We know that many of those are women and children, and there are thousands missing under the rubble,” said Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR, in response to journalists’ questions in Geneva.
Echoing that message, WHO insisted that the system of verification of the dead by the ministry of health would necessarily take time, given that in Gaza, the “numbers are huge.”
An estimated 18,000 individuals have yet to be identified or found, comprising 10,000 whose bodies have been recovered and another 8,000 who have not, said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier.
Of the 24,686 identified fatalities, 40 percent were men (10,006), 20 percent were women (4,959) and 32 percent were children (7,797). In a separate category, the elderly accounted for eight percent of all identified deaths (1,924), Mr. Lindmeier explained.
Among the 10,000 unidentified victims, the WHO official suggested that there was a “high likelihood” of finding the bodies of more women and children from destroyed houses, “because they are the ones staying at home, while the men are out looking for food, looking for business and supplies” for their families.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is appalled by the escalation of Israeli military activity in and around Rafah in southern Gaza, his spokesperson said in a statement on May 14.
“These developments are further impeding humanitarian access and worsening an already dire situation. At the same time, Hamas goes on firing rockets indiscriminately,” the statement said.
Stressing that civilians must be respected and protected at all times, Mr. Guterres noted that “for people in Gaza, nowhere is safe now.”
The Secretary-General reiterated his longstanding urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for the release of all hostages.
He also called for the Rafah crossing to be re-opened immediately and for unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Gaza.
UNITED KINGDOM
UK BANS SIX OPIOIDS
The UK government will place six new synthetic opioids under the strictest level of control to help prevent drug related deaths in the UK and ensure anyone caught supplying these substances faces tougher penalties. This comes after 15 other synthetic opioids (including 14 nitazenes) were controlled as Class A drugs earlier this year.
On May 14, the government has written to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), responding to and accepting their advice to control 6 acyl piperazine opioids and derivatives, including 2-methyl-AP-237, as Class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Placing these substances under the strictest control is a clear message to anyone involved in production or supply of these drugs that they will face the full force of the law – including up to life in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. As Class A drugs, possession will carry a maximum penalty of up to 7 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.
To future-proof our laws and respond to new emerging threats the government has also accepted the ACMD’s advice to add a generic definition for nitazenes. This will mean new nitazenes detected in the UK will automatically be controlled as Class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Crime and Policing Minister Chris Philp said, “We are highly alert to the threat posed by these drugs which is why we are enhancing our surveillance and early warning. The devastation we have seen in other countries from synthetic opioids cannot be allowed to happen here in the UK.
“This is another step in our response. Not only are we are sending a clear message that the consequences for peddling these drugs will be severe, but we are adapting our legislation to ensure we are able to respond rapidly to any new emerging threat.”
The 6 new synthetic opioids which will be made Class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 are:
- 2-methyl-AP-237
- AP-237
- para-methyl-AP-237
- AP-238
- azaprocin
- para-nitroazaprocin
The government has also accepted the ACMD’s advice to control 15 novel benzodiazepines and related compounds as Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. These are:
- gidazepam
- desalkylgidazepam
- methylclonazepam
- cloniprazepam
- difludiazepam
- thionordazepam
- clobromazolam
- 4’-chloro-deschloroalprazolam
- fluclotizolam
- deschloroclotizolam
- flubrotizolam
- fluetizolam
- bentazepam
- bretazenil
- rilmazafone
The government intends to introduce legislation to implement the necessary amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 and the Misuse of Drugs (Designation) (England, Wales and Scotland) Order 2015 as soon as possible, subject to Parliamentary approval.
The UK is enhancing its surveillance and early warning system, which will improve the ability to track dangerous drugs that reach our streets in real-time, including those listed here. This includes state-of-the-art monitoring for the presence of synthetic drugs by analyzing wastewater or recording spikes in overdoses in specific locations. These findings will be cascaded down to law enforcement and public health agencies, at national and local level, meaning rapid action can be taken in communities where they are detected.
