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Faisal Shahzad Pleads Guilty "And 100 Times More"
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 22, 2010
Modified Jun 23, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 22, 2010
Modified Jun 23, 2010
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Yesterday afternoon, Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant (and naturalized U.S. citizen) accused of training with the Pakistan Taliban and attempting to bomb Times Square pleaded guilty to charges, saying, "It's a war... I'm going to plead guilty a hundred times over because until the hour the U.S. pulls its forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and stops the drone strikes ... we will be attacking the U.S. And I plead guilty to that."
The Post details Shahzad's exchange with federal judge Miriam Cedarbaum: When she asked, "You wanted to injure a lot of people?", Shahzad replied, "Yes. Damage the building, and injure or kill them. One has to consider where I'm coming from -- that is, I consider myself a 'Mujahid,' a Muslim soldier... The US and NATO forces, along with 40 to 50 countries, attacked Muslim lands." But when Cedarbaum asked, "But the people who were walking in Times Square that night -- did you look around to see who they were?", Shahzad said, "The people select the government. We consider them all the same."
"Including the children?" Cedarbaum asked incredulously.
"Well, the [US military] drone hits in Afghanistan and Iraq, they don't see children, they don't see anybody," Shahzad coolly replied. "They kill women, children -- they kill everybody. It's a war, and in war, they kill people. They're killing all Muslims.
"I didn't consider it a crime," he flippantly said of his fiendish plot. "I don't care for the laws of the United States."
A former U.S. Attorney told WCBS 2 that Shahzad's courthouse claims, coupled with the fact that he is cooperating with the authorities, are "Consistent with someone who craves attention and will get it by whatever means is handy at any particular time." And in while he may be cooperating, the U.S. Attorney's office is not granting him any sentencing leniency.
Judge Cedarbaum asked Shahzad to explain what he did, so the 30-year-old described going to Pakistan last summer (after becoming a citizen in the spring) and training with the Pakistan Taliban. He built the explosives in his Bridgeport, CT apartment then put them in a Nissan Pathfinder, which he later drove into Times Square. According to the NY Times, "He said the main component of the device was a fertilizer-based bomb held in a gun cabinet in the Pathfinder’s trunk. If that bomb did not work, his plans were to detonate propane gas cylinders and to start a fire in the car with gasoline. He set the device to explode in about five minutes, he said, and then walked away. The bombs did not go off. 'And I don’t know the reason why,' Mr. Shahzad said. 'I was waiting to hear a sound, but I couldn’t hear any sound, so I thought it probably didn’t go off. So I just walked to the Grand Central and went home.'"
Tagged
bombing
faisal shahzad
guilty plea
PAkistan Taliban
terror
terrorism
Times Square
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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