Tuesday, October 5, 2010

U.S. Judge Sentenced New York Times Square Bomb Terrorist To Life In Prison Without Parole

Faisal Shahzad

Terrorist betrayed his adopted country, the U.S.

By H. Nelson Goodson
October 5, 2010

Manhattan, New York - On Tuesday, federal Judge Miriam Cedarbaum sentenced Faisal Shahzad, 31, of Bridgeport, Connecticut to life in prison without parole for his June conviction of 10 counts of weapons, explosives and terroristism charges. Shahzad had recently become a U.S. citizen and is married with two children. He attended Southeastern University and the University of Bridgeport where he received his B.A. in computer science and engineering in 2002 and an M.B.A. in 2005.
During sentencing, the judge asked him that when he became a U.S. citizen in April 2009, did he had sworn allegiance to the U.S. when he took the oath of citizenship? Shahzad responded, "I did swear, but I did not mean it."
He told Judge Cedarbaum, "war with the muslims has just begun...we don't accept your democracy or your freedom...Muslims don't abide by human laws."
Shahzad was convicted for planting a vehicle bomb in Times Square in May that failed to detonate. The bomb was left in a Nissan Pathfinder and contained petrol and fertiliser as fuel inside. Sparks caused some of the material to smoke and a vendor nearby noticed the smoke coming from the abandoned vehicle and alerted police.
Authorities say, Shahzad had used faulty wiring and contained wrong materials to detonate it, preventing a major desaster with countless lost of lives of visitors, pedestrians and office workers in Times Square.
Shahzad had plans to set a second bomb, but federal agents arrested him two days after the Times Square bomd failed to ignite. He was arrested trying to board a flight to Dubai from the New York John F. Kennedy airport.
He confessed to authorities, that in December 2009, he had gone to the North Weziriztan tribal region to received training on how to built bombs. Shahzad also admitted to getting $5,000 from a co-conspirator in Pakistan to help fund his attempt to set off a bomb in the U.S. 
After Shahzad's sentencing, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement, "Faisal Shahzad is a remorseless terrorist who betrayed his adopted country and today was rightly sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a federal prison."

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