"Fort Dix Five" Found Guilty
Slublog @ Ace of Spades gets the tip of the hat for this breaking news. MSNBC reports they were found guilty of conspiracy, but not of attempted murder, which makes little sense given the premeditation involved in planning the attack itself:
Five Muslim immigrants were convicted Monday of plotting to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in a case the government said demonstrated its post-Sept. 11 determination to stop terrorist attacks in the planning stages.
The defendants were acquitted of attempted murder charges but face life in prison for conspiring to kill military personnel. The federal jury spent about 38 hours deliberating over the past six days.
The men lived in and around Philadelphia for years. The government said after their 2007 arrest that an attack had been imminent and that the case underscored the dangers of terrorist plots hatched on U.S. soil. ...
Defense lawyers argued that the alleged plot was all talk — that the men weren't seriously planning anything and that they were goaded by two paid FBI informants.
During the eight-week trial, the government relied heavily on information gathered by the informants, who infiltrated the group and secretly recorded hundreds of conversations.
Prosecutors said the men bought several assault rifles supplied by the FBI and that they trekked to Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains to practice their shooting. The government also presented dozens of jihadist speeches and videos that the men supposedly used as inspiration.
Recall, if you will, that Fort Dix had been chosen because the father of one of the defendants had a business selling pizza to soldiers on base. That gave them intimate knowledge of the base. Their goal was to kill as many soldiers as possible before they, themselves, would be killed by those responding to the attack.
I fail to see how they could be found not guilty of attempted murder when they were found guilty of conspiring to kill American soldiers. That makes little sense. Murder implies there is premeditation; that is, that one planned the killing out prior to carrying it out.
Needless to say these five will spend the rest of their lives behind bars. Their sixth conspirator plead guilty earlier, and will likely have a lesser sentence because chances are he rolled over on his colleagues.
Marcie
Five Muslim immigrants were convicted Monday of plotting to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in a case the government said demonstrated its post-Sept. 11 determination to stop terrorist attacks in the planning stages.
The defendants were acquitted of attempted murder charges but face life in prison for conspiring to kill military personnel. The federal jury spent about 38 hours deliberating over the past six days.
The men lived in and around Philadelphia for years. The government said after their 2007 arrest that an attack had been imminent and that the case underscored the dangers of terrorist plots hatched on U.S. soil. ...
Defense lawyers argued that the alleged plot was all talk — that the men weren't seriously planning anything and that they were goaded by two paid FBI informants.
During the eight-week trial, the government relied heavily on information gathered by the informants, who infiltrated the group and secretly recorded hundreds of conversations.
Prosecutors said the men bought several assault rifles supplied by the FBI and that they trekked to Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains to practice their shooting. The government also presented dozens of jihadist speeches and videos that the men supposedly used as inspiration.
Recall, if you will, that Fort Dix had been chosen because the father of one of the defendants had a business selling pizza to soldiers on base. That gave them intimate knowledge of the base. Their goal was to kill as many soldiers as possible before they, themselves, would be killed by those responding to the attack.
I fail to see how they could be found not guilty of attempted murder when they were found guilty of conspiring to kill American soldiers. That makes little sense. Murder implies there is premeditation; that is, that one planned the killing out prior to carrying it out.
Needless to say these five will spend the rest of their lives behind bars. Their sixth conspirator plead guilty earlier, and will likely have a lesser sentence because chances are he rolled over on his colleagues.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:43 PM
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