French citizen Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested on August 17, 2001 on immigration charges when he enrolled in a Minnesota flight school and acted suspiciously. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he was moved to a New York facility and held as an applicable witness, referred to by some as the “20th hijacker” (CBC 2006).
As an Islam extremist, like the other parties involved in the attacks against America and other democratic Christian countries, it has been largely assumed Moussaoui welcomed the death penalty for his plea of guilty on the following six counts:
Conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries.
Conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy.
Conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
Conspiracy to destroy aircraft.
Conspiracy to murder U.S. employees.
Conspiracy to destroy property. (Ibid)
The verdict last Thursday (April 7, 2006) came as a shock to many, as it was contrary to what a sizable proportion of the American population was hoping for. The guilty terrorist did not receive the expected death penalty, but instead was sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance for parole. The condemned was elated, claiming, “America, you lost, I won!” (Ibid.) He made the comment after Judge Brinkema concluded the case and allowed him a final statement. Moussaoui used the time to reiterate his hatred for America and claim that, in the end, it was his cause that triumphed. According to the New York Times, Moussaoui said “Americans had forfeited an opportunity to use the trial to discover why people like himself and Mohamed Atta, the pilot of one of the hijacked planes of Sept. 11, ‘have so much hatred for you.'”
The judge also allowed members of the courtroom audience to speak up, and several individuals affected by the September 11 attacks made clear their wishes that Moussaoui live the rest of his days without the glory having his name in the newspapers. Brinkema sent the felon from the courtroom for the last time and responded to the man’s continuous remarks by citing T.S. Eliot:
“As for you, Mr. Moussaoui, you came here to be a martyr and to die in a great big bang of glory, but:instead you will die with a whimper. It’s absolutely clear who won.”
Zacarias Moussaoui is to be transferred to and held in a maximum-security prison located in Florence, Colorado.
References
CBC news staff (2006, May 4). Moussaoui trial timeline. CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/sep11/moussaoui.html
Lewis, N. A. (2006, May 5). One last appearance, and outburst, from Moussaoui. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/us/05moussaoui.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fM%2fMoussaoui%2c%20Zacarias&oref=slogin
