Trevor Bickford’s mom reported his terrorist leanings to police weeks before Times Square attack

The mother of the 19-year-old man accused of slashing two NYPD cops with a machete near Times Square on New Year’s Eve had reported his sudden and inexplicable terrorist leanings to their local police department in southern Maine three weeks before the attack, DailyMail.com has learned. 

Speaking in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Wells Police Captain Gerald Congdon revealed Audra Bickford had been concerned about her son Trevor Bickford and told cops he had been ‘acting strange’ and talking about ‘the Taliban.’ 

The police department responded to the mom’s fears by contacting the FBI, which placed Bickford on a watch list, Congdon said, however, there is no indication that local police did anything to further investigate or monitor the young man.

Audra Bickford had reported her 19-year-old son Trevor Bickford’s (pictured together) terrorist leanings to police in Wells, Maine, three weeks before he allegedly attacked three NYPD officers in Times Square on New Year’s Eve 

‘She didn’t know where to turn,’ Congdon told DailyMail.com. ‘So she came to the police for guidance.

‘She was concerned.’

Congdon said he was as shocked as anyone to learn that the local high school grad, football player, and choir member had carried out the attack in New York City as revelers gathered in the Crossroads of the World.

Bickford is alleged to have approached the officers on 8th Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets armed with a large knife that he used to slash two of them in the head. 

DailyMail.com can identify the two officers as Paul Cozzolino and Louis Iorio. A third officer, Mickel Hanna, fired at Bickford in response, hitting him in the shoulder. 

The suspect and the two injured cops were taken to Bellevue Hospital where they are in serious but stable condition.

‘A while back, the family called and said he was acting strange or he wanted to leave, and there was some talk about the Taliban and all that kind of stuff,’ Congdon told DailyMail.com. 

‘So we called the FBI and they dealt with it. So that was it for us. We didn’t investigate anything.’

DailyMail.com can reveal police then reported Bickford to the FBI who placed the teen on the watch list, but local authorities did not do anything to further investigate or monitor him

Bickford allegedly slashed two officers with this machete on 8th Avenue near Times Square around 10pm Saturday night where thousands of revelers prepared to ring in the new year

Bickford reportedly professed his desire to join the Taliban in Afghanistan. Taliban militants are seen above patrolling Kabul last year, after retaking control  of the country

The attack was ‘unprovoked,’ Adams said at the press conference overnight. Both Sewell and Adams stressed there is no ‘active threat’ to the community 

‘I guess they came down and interviewed him,’ he added. ‘The FBI did their thing. To my knowledge, that was it.’

After the FBI placed him on a watch list, Congdon said he knows of no follow-up by local police. 

Trevor Bickford was living with his family five miles from the police station. His grandmother and great-grandmother live just behind the station, on the main commercial strip of the nearly all-white town with just 11,000 residents. 

Nobody from the family was talking to the media.

The captain was left wondering just like other locals about Bickford’s turn to Islamic extremism, a first for the community.

‘Where did he get this from? We don’t know,’ Congdon said. ‘I doubt if his family knows.’

He said there have been no local incidents of hostility toward cops.

‘My guess is that perhaps, what is it they say, “you don’t crap in your own backyard”,’ he said. 

‘If there was a lot of noise here, then everybody would be watching him. If he did anything, it wasn’t around here. And it was the family that noticed that he was acting strange in what he was saying. So they’re the ones who reached out.’

But he said police were called to the Bickford residence twice on successive days in August, Trevor was only there for the second on August 10 but was not involved. He was not there for the first disturbance one day earlier. 

Congdon talked about Bickford’s apparent radicalization online.

‘You have people that are searching for something,’ he said. ‘Maybe they’re loners, maybe they don’t have friends. They’re looking for something to join. 

‘Maybe that’s what he did. Because it’s not like the rest of the family have shown any indication at all of having affiliation or thoughts of this stuff.’

He also attributed the attack to a mental health crisis in America.

Bickford was living with his family five miles from the police station in Wells, Maine (pictured). His grandmother and great-grandmother live just behind the station, on the main commercial strip of the town

Bickford’s house is located on Alpine Street in Wells, Maine – nearly five hours north of NYC

The boy’s mom (pictured with Trevor and her two other sons) had called cops with concerns over her son Trevor who had been ‘acting strange’ and talking about ‘the Taliban,’ police said

‘Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in a mental health crisis today,’ he said. 

‘Police not just here but across the country are dealing with mental health and people who are in crisis than ever before. And this is part of it.

‘Why are people shooting up schools, or going into businesses, is it to make a statement about what?’ he said. ‘I think most of these people are having issues with mental health.

‘If that’s (Bickford’s) ideology of Taliban and wanting to go to Afghanistan, that’s up to him,’ he continued. 

‘But to start acting out and attacking three police officers, I don’t think anyone knows what was going through his head other than him. Fortunately, he wasn’t killed when he was shot, so maybe they’ll have an opportunity to interview him.’

Bickford was hit with New York state charges on Monday, including two counts of attempted murder on a police officer and two counts of attempted assault. 

A federal investigation into potential terrorism charges is still pending.

During the attack, Bickford was carrying a handwritten diary professing his desire to join the Taliban in Afghanistan, also writing that he he wished to die as a martyr, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources.

After Bickford allegedly slashed two officers shortly before midnight Saturday, another NYPD officer shot him in the shoulder and he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, along with the two cops. They are all expected to survive. 

On Sunday, the FBI raided the teen’s family home in Wells, Maine, where Bickford was by all appearances an upstanding high school student before allegedly radicalizing himself to Islamic extremism. 

In addition to the diary, Bickford reportedly carried a chilling letter in which he he urged his family to ‘repent to Allah’ so they ‘may be taken out of the hellfire.’

‘To my family — specifically, mother — I’m sorry for not having been a good enough son,’ the note read, according to a police source who spoke with the New York Post. 

The note, which has not been released publicly, continued with Bickford allegedly writing his hopes that his family will one day see the world the way he does. 

All of the injured were taken to Bellevue Hospital where they are in serious but stable condition, officials have said 

The FBI raided the teen’s family home in Wells, Maine, where Bickford was by all appearances an upstanding high school student before allegedly radicalizing himself to Islamic extremism

Before the attack on New Year’s Eve, Bickford had been an honor roll student, won awards for his artwork, and was a member of the championship football team in his hometown. 

But after his father died of a drug overdose in 2018, it appears Bickford’s life descended into turmoil. 

‘I fear greatly that you will not repent to Allah,’ he wrote in the note to family reported by the Post. 

‘And therefore I hold hope in my heart that a piece of you believes so that you may be taken out to the hellfire.’

Bickford went on to call his brother Devon a traitor for serving in the U.S. Army. 

‘To Devon, there was a time when we were close, but that time has passed,’ the manifesto said, according to the Post.  

‘You have joined the ranks of my enemy. And for that I can give you no kind words – return to Allah,’ wrote the 19-year-old, who does not have a criminal record according to a preliminary investigation. 

‘To [my brother] Travis. Of anyone I’ve known who I have felt is closest to faith — it’s you,’ Bickford allegedly wrote. 

‘Of anyone I’ve ever wanted to accept Islam with me — it’s you. Please repent to Allah and accept Islam. I fear for you.’ 

Local records show that Trevor Bickford’s parents were engaged in a domestic battle back in 2017, a year before the dad’s overdose death. 

A judge granted a protective order preventing Thomas Bickford from contacting his wife, Audra, with exceptions carved out for texting her about childcare and financial issues, pending divorce, court records show. 

He was also permitted contact at sporting events for their children. He was arrested in August 2017 and charged with three counts of violating the protection from abuse order. 

The case was vacated after his death in March 2018, records show 

On Saturday night, Bickford allegedly attacked two NYPD police officers on Eighth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Street, right outside Times Square where thousands of revelers were ringing in the new year.

Another officer shot at Bickford, striking him in the shoulder. He remains hospitalized at the Bellevue and charges are pending. 

Bickford does not have a criminal record according to a preliminary investigation, but police sources say the FBI’s field office in Boston has an open case on him.

Bickford (on far right) is pictured on many social media posts with brothers Devin and Travis

Photos posted online by his family show Bickford with his brothers or with his dog

Authorities have told NBC they were looking into whether the suspect had previously posted what they called jihadist writings online and then traveled to New York City to target police.

Photos posted to Facebook show Bickford at different times of his life, many with his two brothers Devin and Travis.

There are photos of him playing football with the championship Wells High School Warriors football team, singing in the choir, and marching with the color guard.

As recently as 2020, he was among a group of students to win awards for their artwork. Bickford won for his work in jewelry, Seacoastonline reported at the time.

Prior to his death in 2018 – reportedly of a drug overdose – his father Thomas Bickford proudly posted photos of his sons and their achievements.

His dad Thomas Bickford died unexpectedly in 2018 at age 41, according to his obit

Family and friends were quick to praise the boys and their bright futures. Bickford’s father died at the age of 41, according to his obituary.

His parents Thomas and Audra D’Antilio married on September 9, 2001, and raised three sons, Devin, Trevor, and Travis, in Wells, Maine.

The patriarch of the family could often be found coaching them at football and wrestling, according to the obituary.

It also said he was sometimes hard on his sons in terms of his style of coaching, but ‘he loved his boys more than anything.’

Bickford’s mother Audra D’Antilio, who eventually remarried, also has a slew of photos on her Facebook page where she gushes about her son, calling him an ‘old soul’ and writes that she feels lucky to be his mother.

On July 28, she shared a photo of Bickford for his 19th birthday and wrote: ‘Happy 19th Birthday Trevor. So proud and lucky to be able to call you my son.

‘You’re an old soul and you amaze me every day with all that you enjoy to explore and do. I love that you have no fear of trying new things, and you truly are the best brother ever. I am so beyond proud of the man you are becoming, I love you.’

Just six months later, Bickford is being accused of the attacks on the NYPD officers. Bickford and the cops are all at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, where are all expected to survive.

The whole family is pictured at the Tower of Terror in Disney World

Michael Driscoll, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said the FBI’s Joint Terrorist Task Force in New York City was investigating but investigators believe the attacker acted alone. 

The attack happened just outside of the high-security zone where thousands of revelers were screened for weapons as they prepared to ring in 2023.

Bickford is accused of slashing one officer in the head, striking a second officer with the machete, and swinging at a third cop, who fired his weapon, striking Bickford in the shoulder.

The attack and sound of a gunshot briefly sent some people running, but the festivities in Times Square continued uninterrupted.

Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference early Sunday that he spoke to one of the wounded officers as he was being stitched up at the hospital.

‘He was in good spirits,’ Adams said. ‘He understood that his role saved lives of New Yorkers today.’