placed on a terrorist watch list. all of this after his family became increasingly concerned about his desire to travel to afghanistan and join the taliban. what this could all mean, particularly as he awaits charges. we re also learning more about the man arrested in connection with the brutal stabbing deaths of four idaho college students. his family underscoring his presumption of innocence in their first statement. he s set to make his first court appearance tomorrow. just ahead, we ll take a closer look at what the seals criminal complaint could tell us. let s begin with the latest in the investigation into the new year s eve machete attack here in nypd on three officers. gloria pass partlmeano joining live. and what more do we know? reporter: that is right, erica. we re learning more about trevor bicford, the 19-year-old man from maine who law enforcement tells us is believed to be behind this attack on three police officers on new year s eve as you mentioned. rig
square. kevin mckacarthy s quest to become house speaker, and the time is running out before the vote. and a green light to treat an experimental drug for alzheimer s. that is what we re watching at this hour. hi, everyone, i m jessica dean in washington in for kate bolduan today. and we begin with new developments in the investigation into a machete attack near times square on new year s eve. cnn has learned that the 19-year-old suspect was added to a terrorist watch list more than two weeks before at tack. which injured three nypd officers. sourcing tell cnn fib agents interviewed the suspect in mid-december after family members grew more concerned about his plans to travel to afghanistan to join the taliban. we begin our coverage with cnn s gloria who is live in times square with the latest. and we learned the suspect was carrying a diary with him. what did authorities find inside? reporter: that is right, jessica. we ve been learning more about trevor bicford, 1
carrying a backpack that was discarded not far from the scene here in manhattan where he had a handwritten diary also expressing some of these desires to join the taliban and to die for his religion. we could also tell you that it was trevor bicford s mother and grandmother who became increasingly concerned with trevor s plan to travel to afghanistan and reported that to the fbi. that is what led to the beginning of this investigation and that subsequent interview. it also meant that trevor bicford was placed on a terrorist watch list. but law enforcement tells us that because he travelled to new york city on an amtrak train, it did not trigger any kind of security red flag for any kind of official. he traveled here on saturday. he checked into a hotel in the lower east side of manhattan and then he arrived here in the area
trevor bicford, 19 years old from maine and as you said he was carrying a diary with him on the night that he attacked the three police officers, the night of new year s eve. he ditched a backpack near the scene which contained the driery and in it he wrote about her desire to travel to afghanistan, his desire to join the taliban, and about his willingness to die for his religion. that is all according to law enforcement sources. we ve also learned that it wasn t that long ago that trevor bicford got the attention of the fbi. that was after his mother and his grandmother became increasingly concerned about his plans to travel to afghanistan. that triggered an investigation. in fact, fbi officers in maine interviewed bicford last month and put him on a terrorist watch list. now that is important to highlight because he traveled here to new york city via amtrak
train and did not trigger any kind of warning or red flag in this city. he traveled here to new york city on saturday. he checked into a hotel in the lower east side of manhattan and then he traveled here to the area of times square. one of the most recognizable spots in the world on one of the most watched evenings on new year s eve. thousands of people were pouring into this area at the time. he approached a security checkpoint where he tried to attack these nypd officers striking one of them on the head with that machete. injuring a second officer and then a third officer fired a gunshot from his service weapon. those three officers are expected to recover. trevor bicford has not been officially charged yet. we are waiting to learn more from federal authorities and local law enforcement as the investigation continues. trying to figure out what exactly was the motivation behind this attack.