A chilling photograph of an ISIS logo on a cell phone was taken just weeks ago in the exact spot where the Manhattan truck attacker mounted a bike path killing eight, it has emerged.
The image, posted two months ago, shows a man holding a phone on the corner of Houston Street and West Street in Manhattan with skyscrapers including 1 World Trade Center in the back ground.
On Tuesday, at the same spot, terrorist Sayfullo Saipov drove a hire truck on to West Side Highway before plowing down pedestrians and cyclists along a bike path.
This image of a cell phone with an ISIS flag on it was taken at the junction of Houston and West Street and appeared online just two months ago
It was taken in the exact spot where terrorist Sayfullo Saipov began his terror attack yesterday by mounting a bike path in a rented truck and plowing into pedestrians, killing eight
According to the respected SITE group which monitors terror activity, the image appeared two months ago.
It is not known who was holding the phone in the original photograph.
Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbek, has been named as the man behind the Tuesday attack.
While ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the attack, it is reported that propaganda from the terror group was found inside his truck.
ISIS had also issued a propaganda poster earlier in the day calling for attacks on Halloween, though it featured an image of Paris rather than New York.
Saipov’s method also has all the hallmarks of an ISIS attack, which the group has touted in its monthly magazine – including using a rented vehicle, leaving propaganda inside, and following up the vehicle attack with secondary weapons.
ISIS has not claimed responsibility for Saipov’s attack, though it is reported that propaganda from the group was found inside his truck
Saipov crashed his truck into a school bus and ran down West Street holding fake guns before being shot in the stomach and arrested
After mowing down pedestrians and cyclists, Saipov crashed his vehicle into a school bus before running down the highway holding fake guns.
It was there that he was shot in the stomach by a member of the NYPD before being arrested and taken to hospital, where he is now being questioned.
ISIS often does not claim attacks where the perpetrator was arrested, not killed.
Pro-ISIS channels have also been sharing propaganda praising the New York terror attacker after he killed eight people in Manhattan yesterday.
Posters commemorating the attack were uploaded online featuring images of the Statue of Liberty exploding and pictures of the carnage caused by 29-year-old Uzbek terrorist Sayfullo Saipov.
While some praised Saipov’s actions – calling him a ‘brother’ – others mocked the low death toll and said they ‘would have picked a bigger street’.