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| White House: Boston bombing suspect not an enemy combatant, will be tried in federal court |
| 2013-04-22 |
| Is the Boston bombing suspect an unlawful enemy combatant? The White House says no, but a group of Republican senators want Dhokhar Tsarnaev, a Chechen native who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, treated as an enemy combatant, allowing the government greater flexibility in questioning the hospitalized suspect. The White House said Monday Tsarnaev's case would be handled in federal, as opposed to military, courts. "He will not be treated as an enemy combatant," White House press secretary Jay Carney said at a press briefing. "We will prosecute this terrorist through our civilian system of justice." That's not the answer a group of Republican lawmakers are pushing for. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and New York Congressman Peter King released a joint statement Sunday calling for Tsarnaev to, at least initially, be declared an enemy combatant. "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," the statement noted. "The suspect, based upon his actions, clearly is a good candidate for enemy combatant status. We do not want this suspect to remain silent." |
| Posted by:tipper |