A federal appeals court on Friday threw out the death sentence of Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, citing improper screening of jurors by the judge who oversaw the case.
Fast-forward, little more than 48 hours. Donald Trump on Sunday said, in effect, nonsense — tweeting that “the federal government must again seek the death penalty” against Tsarnaev.
As my RedState colleague Kira Davis reported after the court threw out the sentence, the overturn did not guarantee that Tsarnaev will never be executed. The appeals court upheld the bomber’s conviction, but a second trial would be necessary to reinstate the death sentence.
The three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new penalty-phase trial on whether 27-year-old Tsarnaev should be executed for the 2013 bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.
Dzhokhar and older-brother Tamerlan — who was killed in a shootout with police after a manhunt — had planted the bombs near the finish line of America’s most famous marathon.
Breaking: U.S. Appeals Court overturns Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death sentence pic.twitter.com/DHcxwrBpwW
— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) July 31, 2020
On Sunday, Trump was adamant, tweeting that the federal government must again seek the death penalty against Tsarnaev, and if anyone deserves to be executed, he said, it is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
“Rarely has anybody deserved the death penalty more than the Boston Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The court agreed that this ‘was one of the worst domestic terrorist attacks since the 9/11 atrocities.’ Yet the appellate court tossed out the death sentence. So many lives lost and ruined.
The Federal Government must again seek the Death Penalty in a do-over of that chapter of the original trial. Our Country cannot let the appellate decision stand. Also, it is ridiculous that this process is taking so long!”
Rarely has anybody deserved the death penalty more than the Boston Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The court agreed that this “was one of the worst domestic terrorist attacks since the 9/11 atrocities”. Yet the appellate court tossed out the death sentence. So many lives lost….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2020
….and ruined. The Federal Government must again seek the Death Penalty in a do-over of that chapter of the original trial. Our Country cannot let the appellate decision stand. Also, it is ridiculous that this process is taking so long!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2020
To be fair, as reported by Fox News, the Justice Department had been expected to file an appeal even before Trump’s tweets.
Legal observers predict prosecutors will turn straight to the U.S. Supreme Court without asking for a hearing before the full 1st Circuit. The U.S. government recently resumed federal executions following a 17-year pause and, under Trump, has pursued capital punishment in an increasing number of cases.
Tsarnaev’s case is uniquely complicated in that an entire city — if not the whole country — considered itself the target of the bombing, said George Kendall, an attorney who filed a brief contending it was a mistake to hold the trial in Boston. Prosecutors said Tsarnaev and his brother intended the attack to punish the U.S. for wars in Muslim countries.
Should Friday’s ruling stand, however, the outrage across America would no doubt be deafening. As Fox noted, attention would then shift to whether an impartial jury can be impaneled in Boston — which is still traumatized by the 2013 attack.
Tsarnaev’s defense team might then renew its request to transfer the case out of Boston, where they continue to contend a fair trial for Tsarnaev would be impossible.
Upon hearing Friday’s news that the appeals court threw out the death sentence, Adrianne Haslet, a dancer who lost a leg in the attack — one of 17 people left without at least one limb as a result of blasts — was justly livid. “He is a threat to all of us and he needs to die,” she angrily wrote on Instagram.
I’m so livid at today’s ruling by the federal court. First and foremost, I cannot emphasize enough, without a shadow of a doubt, that the criminal justice system needs a complete overhaul to stop racial profiling, and the death penalty is used in far too many cases of injustice. AND. The death penalty should be used in this particular case.
This terrorist admitted in court he was guilty of crimes committed against our country. He confessed, with his brother, to a man who testified in court that their plans were to drive to New York and bomb the city too. This terrorist gave the finger when asked if he felt guilty.
The warden of the jail where he would be housed for life testified that, indeed, other terrorists have committed crimes on the World Trade Center through messages on pipes of the jail. I know, this sounds crazy. But that is why I stood by the death penalty in this particular case. He is a threat to all of us and he needs to die.
Incidentally, as if we needed any more proof that Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well on the Left, multiple haters responded to Trump’s tweets, predictably, so. A few examples.
Your incompetent response to the pandemic is the worst domestic terrorism event in history. To date, we have experienced deaths that equal 57 9/11 events. Criminal. pic.twitter.com/4dVECo0adk
— DC Momma (@DCMomma1) August 2, 2020
Good morning, class! In accordance with President Trump’s National Coronavirus Plan, we will all take out our pencils now and write our names on our toe tags. pic.twitter.com/jQHj54h12X
— Steve (@ShellbackSteve) August 2, 2020
You killed almost 155000 Americans ! pic.twitter.com/uLDVJ3Z7Hu
— Cathygraphics 🌊(je huuurle😂)Wake Up America) (@Cathygraphics1) August 2, 2020
I say this as a compliment to the president:
Only Donald Trump possesses the power to cause liberals loons to, in effect, come out in favor of the Boston Bomber.
Is that a good thing? No. But it is sometimes amusing to check in on the unbridled hatred living rent-free in these people’s heads, is it not?
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