Emotions were high Thursday in death penalty proceedings for a man convicted of killing eight people on a New York City bike path, as the man's father apologized to victims and professed love for his son before a spectator, the defendant's uncle, cried out “Dirty ISIS bastards!” and punched a door as he left the room.
Habibulloh Saipov’s testimony in Manhattan federal court and the subsequent outburst came in front of a jury that must decide whether Sayfullo Saipov gets death or life in prison for the Halloween day attack in 2017, when he drove a truck along the busy path near the World Trade Center memorial, mowing down pedestrians and cyclists.
