Sister of NY attack suspect says he may have been brainwashed

The sister of an Uzbek immigrant accused of killing eight people in New York said her brother might have been brainwashed, as Daesh claimed responsibility for the deadliest assault on New York City since September 11, 2001.

The militant group on Thursday described accused attacker Sayfullo Saipov, 29, as "one of the caliphate soldiers" in a weekly issue of its Al Naba newspaper.

The Uzbek immigrant was charged in federal court on Wednesday with acting in support of Daesh by plowing a rented pickup truck down a popular riverside bike trail, crushing pedestrians and cyclists and injuring a dozen people in addition to those killed.

According to the criminal complaint against him, Saipov told investigators he was inspired by watching Islamic State propaganda videos on his cellphone, felt good about what he had done, and asked for permission to display the group's flag in his hospital room in New York.

Saipov was taken to Bellevue after being shot in the abdomen by a police officer before his arrest.

US President Donald Trump, who has called for Saipov to receive the death penalty, said on Twitter on Friday that Daesh had claimed as their soldier the "Degenerate Animal" who killed and wounded "the wonderful people on the West Side" of Lower Manhattan.

"Based on that, the Military has hit ISIS "much harder" over the last two days. They will pay a big price for every attack on us!" Trump tweeted.

Earlier this week, Trump suggested sending Saipov to the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, where terrorism suspects apprehended overseas are incarcerated. But on Thursday, he said doing so would be too complicated.

Saipov's sister believes he may have been brainwashed, and she appealed to Trump on Friday to ensure he gets a fair trial.

Speaking by phone from the Uzbek capital Tashkent, she said she hoped Trump would help make sure her brother was given "more time" and "a fair trial."

In a separate interview with Radio Free Europe, she said she spoke with her brother the day before the attack and he was in a good mood. "It was a usual, good conversation," she said.

Five Argentine tourists, a Belgian woman, a New Yorker and a New Jersey man were killed in Tuesday afternoon's attack.

The attack unfolded just blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, where some 2,600 people were killed when suicide hijackers crashed two jetliners into the Twin Towers 16 years ago. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it has located another Uzbek man, Mukhammadzoir Kadirov, 32, who it said was wanted for questioning as a person of interest in the attack.