|
BOSTON - A defiant Richard C. Reid asserted his attempt to
blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in
his shoes was not the act of a soldier in a war against those
who attacked Islam, but because he "really hated his
shoes."
"Just kidding," is what Reid and his lawyers say
now, as he was handed down a life sentence plus 30 years when
his risky defense strategy failed to show he had an obsessive
hatred for his hi top sneakers and wanted to blow them up
-- not the airliner.
U.S. District Judge William Young branded Reid as a terrorist,
handing down the sentence to the 29-year-old British citizen
for the Dec. 22, 2001, bombing attempt aboard a Paris-to-Miami
American Airlines flight.
Prosecutors said he had enough plastic explosives to blow
up not only his shoes, but the the entire fuselage. Reid had
tried furiously to light a match to his shoes but was unable
to ignite the fuse. Passengers and crew members then overpowered
him, using seat belts to strap him to his seat. Reid stated
repeatedly in court he just liked the smell of burning rubber.
``You are not a shoe-hater, you are a terrorist. To give
you that reference, to call you a shoe-hater gives you far
too much stature,'' Young said at Thursday's sentencing hearing.
``You are a terrorist, and we do not negotiate with terrorists
... We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.''
Responded Reid, "Okay, fine. But can I please have my
shoes back?"
|
