Man behind deadly New York bike path attack sought martyrdom, defense saysNEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A man charged with using a truck to kill eight people on a Manhattan bike path in 2017 believes his attack was justified and sought to die a martyr for Islam, his defense counsel told the jury at his terrorism trial on Monday.At the first federal death-penalty trial since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, defendant Sayfullo Saipov, 34, acknowledged through his lawyers that he intended to murder and maim his victims and still believes he had a religious duty to do so."That is not why he did this," David Patton, a public defender representing Saipov, said in an opening statement at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, saying Saipov was only inspired by Islamic State, and not planning to survive his attack and join as a member.He told the jury that Saipov had become isolated from his extended Muslim family in Uzbekistan, and became convinced by sophisticated Islamic State propaganda he had consumed online for years that there was a Western conspiracy to eradicate Islam.The U.S. Department of Justice told Judge Vernon Broderick in September that it intends to seek the death penalty for Saipov, although there has been a moratorium on federal executions since July 2021 while the department reviews its use of the punishment."