The innocent died. The guilty will live.
It was that simple for families and friends of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks after the Biden administration announced a plea deal with three top masterminds of the attacks.
The Defense Department announced Wednesday that plea agreements were reached with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, but did not reveal the terms.
Families were told that the deal took the death penalty off the table in exchange for life behind bars for the three men held at Guantanamo Bay since 2003, according to The New York Times.
Mohammad helped develop the plan to use airliners as weapons of terror, as was done on 9/11 when hijacked airliners flew into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. A third hijacked plane was brought down near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all aboard, after passengers tried to take control of the jet. Overall, nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks.
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“In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet,” the letter to the families said.
Retired NYPD officer Jim Smith, whose wife, Moira, was killed at the World Trade Center, was irate
”I feel like I was kicked in the balls,” he said, according to the New York Post.
Should these terrorists have received the death penalty?
“The prosecution and families have waited for 23 years to have our day in court to put on the record what these animals did to our loved ones,” Smith told the Post.
“They took that opportunity away from us,” he said of the Biden administration’s decision. “They committed the worst crime in the history of our country. They should receive the highest penalty.”
The word “betrayal” was voiced by members of the New York City Fire Department, which lost 343 members due to the attack on the Trade Center.
“Being a survivor, I could say on behalf of New York City firefighters — especially the survivors of the terrorist attack who are living with the long-term health effects of walking down Ground Zero — we feel betrayed and disgusted that these terrorists were offered a plea deal which will allow them to live into old age with contact with their families,” Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro said.
“Three hundred and forty-three New York City firefighters died on that day, and hundreds have died since then — we’re still losing three firefighters a month to the effects of 9/11 Ground Zero. We are betrayed. We feel betrayed and disgusted that they will not face the ultimate justice of the death penalty,” he said.
Kathy Vigiano, a retired NYPD officer whose husband, Det. Joseph Vigiano, died due to the attacks, said “I am angry and disappointed that enemy combatants who killed thousands of Americans in our homeland are now able to exploit the US judicial system to their benefit, receiving support from American taxpayers for shelter, food and healthcare for the rest of their lives.”
James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, who worked at Ground Zero after the attacks in the hunt for survivors and remains, lost his firefighter father, who died from cancer linked to working at the site.
“We’ve been asked to be patient because the American government wanted to get this right, because we were told that we were the more civilized group of people that we wanted to make sure that if justice was served, that it will be served properly,” Brosi said.
“And after 23 years, what justice has been served?” he asked. “It is very difficult to believe that justice has been served.”
