He came to America on what's known as a Diversity Visa Lottery, a government program that awards 55,000 greencards a year to foreigners from countries that don't see a high rate of immigration.
In an interview on CNN Wednesday morning, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that Saipov 'radicalized domestically' after moving to America, where he has worked as a commercial truck driver and Uber driver.
It appears that his plans to wreak havoc on innocent New Yorkers was in the works for sometime.
NYPD officials said at a Wednesday morning press conference that Saipov had been planning the attack for weeks, but wouldn't go into detail about his preparations.
Since immigrating, Saipov has lived in multiple states - with addresses in Ohio, Florida and New Jersey.
There's some confusion about where Saipov lived, when and for how long.
While NBC News reports that Saipov got his commercial driver's license in New Jersey in 2010, and later had it transferred to Florida, sources in Ohio say he lived there right after immigrating.
Bekhzod Abdusamatov, 22, told NBC that Saipov stayed with his parents in Cincinnati in 2010 upon arriving in he U.S. He said his father was friends with Saipov's grandfather back in Uzbekistan.
Bekhzod described Saipov as polite and said there was nothing unusual about him. He said Saipov spent most of his time out of the house.
'I was shocked. I never would’ve imagined something like this. I never would've thought this guy would do something violent,' Bekhzod said.
One of Bekhzod's relatives, Dilnoza Abdusamatova, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he was somewhat of a loner.
'He always used to work,' Dilnoza said. 'He wouldn't go to parties or anything. He only used to come home and rest and leave and go back to work.'
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