Sayfullo Saipov, who is accused of fatally hitting eight people on a New York City bike lane with a rented truck in 2017, became radicalized by watching ISIS videos online and still believes he had a religious obligation to carry out the attack, according to his court. Appointed defense attorneys said Monday in opening statements of his terrorism trial.

“And as we sit here today, he still believes that, he still believes the ISIS messages and he still believes it was God’s will that he did what he did,” Saipov’s attorney David Patton said.

Saipov has pleaded not guilty in federal court to 28 counts, including eight counts of murder, 18 counts of attempted murder and other counts of terrorism, in connection with the deadliest terrorist attack in New York since September 11.

If convicted, he faces the death penalty. The trial is the first federal death penalty case to be tried under President Joe Biden – who previously vowed to abolish the federal death penalty.

The charges stem from the 2017 Halloween attack in which Saipov allegedly drove a U-Haul truck into cyclists and pedestrians on Manhattan’s West Side bike lane. He then crashed the vehicle into a school bus and exited the truck while brandishing a pellet gun and paintball gun, authorities said at the time. He was shot by an NYPD officer and taken into custody, officials said.

According to a criminal complaint, he reportedly told investigators that he planned the attack for about a year and was inspired by ISIS videos.

On Monday, prosecutor Alexander Li told the court about the attack, describing how Saipov used a rented U-Haul truck as a weapon to create a scene of “destruction” and “horror.”

After that, Saipov was “eager” to tell federal agents about his terrorist plot, Li said.

“He told the FBI…