NEW YORK—After Richard Rojas was kicked out of the Navy, he began sharing disturbing thoughts that were coursing through his head—that cars were following him, that aircraft were dusting him with chemicals, that his meals were poisoned.
An uncle, Ramon Reyes, said Rojas offered a self-diagnosis: “You know that I’m crazy. And they’re not giving me the help that I need.”
Whether Rojas was correct about his mental condition is at the crux of a trial in New York, where he mounted a sidewalk in his car in 2017 and mowed down pedestrians in Times Square.
A teen tourist from Michigan died in front of her mother in the attack. More than 20 other people were injured….