Results tagged “shahawarmatinsiraj”

Yesterday, Shahawar Matin Siraj, who had been convicted of plotting to bomb the West 34th Street subway station at Herald Square, was sentenced to 30 years in jail. Siraj, in jail since his arrest in August 2004, had claimed he was entrapped by authorities, since a police informer had secretly taped their conversations where Siraj discussed his plans. After receiving his sentence, the 24 year old he said, "Your honor I want to apologize about whatever I said in the tapes — I wish I could take those words back but it already happened, I already said those things. I’m taking responsibility for 34th Street, but I was manipulated by this person.” He also said, "I told [the informer], 'I don't want to do it.' I told him I wanted to ask my mother's permission."

Shahawar Matin Siraj was convicted of plotting to bomb the city's subways in a federal courthouse yesterday. Siraj, a young Pakistani immigrant who was arrested before the 2004 Republican National Convention, had claimed he was entrapped by a police informant into admitting the plot, which also including bombing police precincts and bridges. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "The verdict is an important milestone in safeguarding New York against terrorist plotters, whether homegrown or foreign." The NY Times notes that Siraj's lawyer Martin Stolar, who painted a portrait of Siraj being a dim man "ripe for manipulation," was disappointed but still praised the jury: "They did not convict my client merely because he's a Muslim accused of terrorism. They believed that the evidence did not make out the defense of entrapment, and they followed the law."

Yesterday, during the trial of suspected subway bomb plotter Shahawar Matin Siraj continues, prosecutors played tapes of Siraj talking to the police's informant. Siraj explained why Bill Gates had to be killed, perhaps they should get uranium from Area 51 (though he says Area 52), and that various bridges had to be destroyed because they impact the economy. Here's a tidbit of the tapes, from the NY Times:

Speaking to his driver, he derides a passing policeman: "Hello, pig. Hi, pig. Bye, pig. Pig, you have a problem?" Then, "You, pig, will learn the lesson someday." And also sings — apparently mimicking a song. "Brooklyn Bridge is falling down. Falling down. Falling down. The black guys used to sing this song, remember?"

The Daily News emphasizes that Siraj's lawyers are trying to spin him as a "harmless, easily led dimwit." Siraj is on trial for an elaborate scheme to blow up the Herald Square subway station, among other landmarks and police precincts.