Eight innocent lives were claimed on October 31st, as an ISIS driven terrorist drove their car down a bike path for at least twenty blocks in Lower Manhattan.

The suspect, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, was a twenty nine year old Uber driver who has resided in America under the Diversity Visa Program since 2010. When he got out of the car after the rampage, he wielded a paintball gun and a pellet gun, however, neither was used before the police shot him in the abdomen.

Among the victims were five friends from Argentina, who were celebrating their 30th anniversary of graduating high school. The one woman who lost her life, Ann- Laure Decadt (31) was a mother of two who hailed from Belgium. She was on a visit to New York with her mother and sister.

Of the eight, only two were from America, and only one was from New York.

In a response to the disgusting, unjust acts, New Yorkers have taken up the battle cry ‘NYC Strong,’ which attests to the true resilience of the city.

“We have been tested before as a city…New Yorkers do not give in in the face of these kinds of actions. We will respond as we always do. We will be undeterred.” Said the Mayor or New York City Bill De Blasio at a news conference.

After the attacks, concrete barriers were placed along the sides of bike paths to try to ensure the safety of pedestrians and bikers in the future.

However, the barriers are causing controversy from the bikers in the city, as they fear it will create less space for the cyclists. But many see it as what it is- a small price for safety.

In 2016 alone, 25,621 people were killed in acts of terrorism (Statista). This was just one more tragic statistic. We must do more to make sure that no more innocent lives are taken prematurely at the hands of terrorism.