‘Happy’ New York truck terrorist deserves death penalty, tweets Trump
DONALD Trump has demanded the New York truck terror suspect be given the death penalty.
His call, in a tweet, came after reports claimed that the Uzbek immigrant had boasted that he was proud of the attack and had asked to hang the Isis flag in his hospital room.
Mr Trump reacted with fury to the attack on his home city, in which eight people died, as the FBI revealed new evidence of Sayfullo Saipov’s apparent murderous intent.
Critics complained that Mr Trump’s outbursts may hamper any prosecution case by allowing the defence to claim the 29-yearold suspect has no chance of getting a fair trial.
Hours after Mr Trump told a press conference he would consider sending Saipov, who has yet to offer a plea, to the Guantanamo Detention Centre, the president switched to the subject of putting him to death in a series of tweets.
‘NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room…SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!’ he said.
He later said he would ‘love’ to send Saipov to ‘Gitmo’, but ‘statistically that takes much longer than going through the federal system’.
Although New York doesn’t have the death penalty, Saipov faces federal terrorism charges which are punishable by death.
‘There is something appropriate about keeping him in the home of the horrible crime he committed,’ said Mr Trump. ‘Should move fast. DEATH PENALTY!’
Mr Trump’s remarks followed the emergence of chilling new details of
Fascination with Isis propaganda
Saipov’s fascination with Islamic State’s propaganda, and his determination to kill as many innocent people as possible in its name.
According to a charge sheet filed by the FBI, the taxi driver had been planning some sort of an attack for a year. Two months ago, he decided to use a truck and followed instructions published in an Isis magazine that can still be found online.
He chose Halloween, say investigators, as he believed it would bring more people onto the streets. Last week he rented a truck to practise making turns in it, said the FBI.
Agents f ound bomb- making instructions, as well as 3,800 images and 90 videos showing Isis killing prisoners, on Saipov’s mobile phone. Investigators believe Saipov – who spoke to them freely after recovering from surgery from a police gunshot wound – was particularly inspired by a video in which Isis supreme leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi ‘questioned’ what Muslims in the US would do to ‘respond to the killing of Muslims in Iraq’.
Prosecutors say he planned to drive onto the Brooklyn Bridge and run over more people following the bike path attack in lower Manhattan. However, his rental truck broke down after crashing into a school bus and he was forced to leave it.
According to the FBI, Saipov said he wanted to display Isis flags on the truck during the attack but didn’t ‘because he did not want to draw attention to himself’.
Saipov was taken into a courtroom on Wednesday night. He made no plea to charges of providing material support to terrorists, and violence and destruction of a motor vehicle causing death.
The FBI was yesterday still looking into whether Saipov, a married father of three who won a green card visa in 2010, had direct contact with Isis members.
Agents are interviewing another Uzbek man, Mukhammadzoir Kadirov, 32, whose wedding Saipov attended. They are also questioning Saipov’s wife, Nozima Odilova, 24, who was cooperating. She reportedly told a friend she had no idea he was planning an attack.
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