Abdulmutallab Granted Constitutional Rights Legal Expense Expected to Exceed $5 Million
Thelastcrusade- Umar Faroul Abdulmutallab is not a legal resident of the United States.
He has no legal standing under the U.S. Constitution.
He is the son of a billionarire, who served as the Chairman of the First Bank of Nigeria.
And yet, the infamous “underwear bomber” is being granted three public defenders at a cost to America taxpayers that is expected to exceed $5 million and all the rights of an accused American citizen under the Bill of Rights, including protection from self incrimination (that is, the right to remain silent).
“It’s nauseating,” Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., told the Detroit Free Press.
Congressman Miller added that Abdulmutallab should be tried in a military court, not a civilian one, especially at a time when public resources are scarce for indigent criminal defendants in Michigan.
The decision to treat terrorists, such as Abdulmutallab, dates back to 2003, when the Bush Administration decided to treat Richard Reid, the shoebomber, as a common criminal rather than an enemy combatant.
The Obama Administration adopted this precedent by placing Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the alleged 9/11 mastermind, and his four co-defendants on trial in New York’s southern district.
Not everybody is unhappy with the decision to try Abdulmutallab as a common criminal with all the rights and privileges of a native-born American citizen.
Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, says: “For us not to give (Abdulmutallab) his day in court, for us just to cut him off at the knees … without a hearing, if we do that, then we become what our enemies are.”
