In
the aftermath of last week’s terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon, proponents
of treating suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant are rightfully
distraught over today’s White House announcement. Citing Tsarnaev’s United
States citizenship, Press Secretary Jay Carney released the decision to
prosecute him through the civilian system of justice after noting several
successful terrorist cases that have brought US citizens to justice since the
9/11 attacks.
Representative
Peter King was the first to call for labeling Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant citing
the potential intelligence the suspect might possess about future attacks. In
being tried as a US Citizen, Tsarnaev was read his Miranda Rights, which
includes the right to remain silent, leaving authorities with many unanswered
questions about his potential connections to terrorist groups. Proponents of
treating the suspect as an enemy combatant called on authorities to institute
the public safety exemption which would prevent the suspect from being read his
Miranda Rights.
Republican
Senator Lindsey Graham strongly criticized the Obama Administration for coming
to a decision prematurely in treating Tsarnaev as a civilian despite the potential
vital intelligence information he may possess. Graham also noted that while the
suspect would ultimately be tried in a court of law, “the last thing we should
do is limit our ability to gather intelligence.”
Senators
Graham, John McCain and Kelly Ayotte rationalized the designation by arguing
that Tsarnaev is not a “common criminal”. In a press release over the weekend,
the trio declared:
It is clear the
events we have seen over the past few days in Boston were an attempt to kill
American citizens and terrorize a major American city… The accused perpetrators
of these acts were not common criminals attempting to profit from a criminal
enterprise, but terrorists trying to injure, maim and kill innocent Americans.
Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction that resulted in 3
civilian deaths and over 200 injuries in front of a federal magistrate judge.
His older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police shortly
after he shot a Campus Safety Officer on the MIT campus in Boston.
The
White House is holding firm in their decision to try Tsarnaev as a civilian and
announced that the entire national security team was in agreement with this
assessment. Let’s hope they are not mistaken.
