They also, by the the way, don't say he's an immigrant. In a report like this, the words "Uzbek National" are, in effect, a euphemism for immigrant.
Suspect in Tribeca Truck Attack Identified as Uzbek National: SourcesUzbekistan was not on the travel ban, but probably should be. America doesn't have such a shortage of truck and Uber drivers that it needs to import them from Uzbekistan.By Jonathan Dienst and R. Darren Price, NBC New York
The 29-year-old man detained after a flatbed truck drove down a popular lower Manhattan bike path, killing at least 8 people and injuring more than a dozen more, has been identified as an Uzbek national living in New Jersey.
Authorities said the man, identified by sources as Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, is thought to be a "lone actor" in the attack in the Hudson River Greenway on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities said he shouted "Allahu Akbar" at some point as he sped down the bike path and apparently deliberately rammed into a school bus for children with disabilities.
He got out of that truck afterward and was seen running through traffic on West Street with a BB gun and a paintball gun before being shot in the abdomen by police and taken into custody. He's being treated at Bellevue Hospital, where he remains in custody.
Sources said Saipov lives in Paterson, New Jersey, but he had a Florida license with a Tampa address when he was arrested. Police and federal agents were seen swarming the neighborhood street where he was thought to live on Tuesday evening.
Kobiljon Matkarov, a Facebook friend of Saipov's, told NBC News that the two met while they were both living in Florida. He said his friend was working as a truck and Uber driver in New Jersey and that he thought he was married with children.
"He was very happy guy," said Matkarov, who is also from Uzbekistan. "he liked the US. he is no terrorist. He's all the time happy, smiling all the time."[More]
