Uber Passenger: Sayfullo Saipov 'a Perfectly Normal Guy'

An Uber passenger described Sayfullo Saipov as "totally, totally normal" when he picked him and his girlfriend up at Newark International Airport on Oct. 26, just days before their driver would allegedly kill eight people in what is being called an act of terror, CBS News reported.

London resident Damian Erskine, 34, told CBS News that Saipov picked them up after they arrived in the United States for a wedding in New York City and called for an Uber driver. Saipov was registered as an Uber and Lyft driver, CBS said.

"You get a vibe from someone ... there was certainly nothing that would give you any sense of obviously what was to come," Erskine told CBS News, describing Saipov as "very friendly" and "a perfectly normal guy."

Saipov, 29, a native of Uzbekistan, has been charged in federal court with providing material support to ISIS, violence and destruction of motor vehicles, Joon H. Kim, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York told CNN.

Authorities said in a federal complaint that Saipov had about 90 videos and 3,800 images connected with Islamic State propaganda on a cell phone, including beheading, CNN said.

Erskine, who returned to London on Tuesday with his girlfriend, told CBS News he was shaken by the close encounter.

"When people talk about radicalization and that kind of thing ... it's that ability to live a normal life, when how much is an act," Erskine told CBS News. "But what is it that makes that transition from being the friendly polite person to being the murderer? That transition should be the focus."

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