President seeks death penalty for terror attacker

DONALD TRUMP yesterday demanded that the man accused of killing eight people in a terror attack in New York should be put to death, despite warnings that he risked prejudicing a trial.

“There is also something appropriate about keeping him in the home of the horrible crime he committed,” he wrote on Twitter. “Should move fast. DEATH PENALTY!”

Sayfullo Saipov appeared in court on Wednesday to face charges of supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and of violence and destruction of a motor vehicle causing death. He did not enter a plea. The federal charges mean prosecutors can seek the death penalty even though capital punishment is outlawed in New York. Legal experts warned Mr Trump’s intervention risked tainting the jury pool.

“Mr President, we all know he should get the death penalty,” said Andrew Mccarthy, a former federal prosecutor in New York.

“But when you say it, it makes it harder for [the Department of Justice] to make that happen.”