“If you see something, say something,” we are told repeatedly.
So when a man whose name translates to “sword of Allah” seeks to enter the country via the Diversity Visa Lottery, should authorities take notice?
Sword of Allah is the English translation of the first name of the New York City terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov.
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In standard Arabic, “sword of Allah” comes out as “Saifullah,” and Sayfullo is the transliterated form of that word in English.
Saipov, a 29-year-old radical Muslim who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, has said he was proud of the attack he conducted in Manhattan on Tuesday using a rental truck, which left eight dead and about a dozen injured.
From his hospital bed, sources say that not only did he refuse to apologize, but he bragged about his attack and said that he would’ve continued, had he not crashed into a school bus. Investigators on the scene discovered notes of paper in Arabic and in English with messages like “ISIS will endure.”
Saipov hails from Uzbekistan. He moved to the U.S. in 2010 and received a green card through the Diversity Visa Program. While Saipov has lived in various locations around the country, authorities told CNN he was most recently in New Jersey.
In 2015, federal authorities interviewed him about possible terror ties, given that he was listed as the point of contact for two men on the Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit’s list. One of the men on the list has disappeared. Authorities are searching for him as a “suspected terrorist.”
This report, by Jonah Bennett, was cross posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
