Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See: Mr. Misunderstood’s a ‘Peacemaker’, not a Terrorist

May 16th, 2014. By LucyC

Ever wonder what a prosecuting attorney must be thinking when his opponent’s defense against alleged involvement in terrorist behavior boils down to…but I’m a ‘peacemaker’? Only thing that would’ve been better is if he said it Michael Jackson-style: ‘I’m a lover, not a fighter’. Can we get some eye-rolls please? #SRSLY

So, a jury in Manhattan currently hearing a case involving Abu Hamza al-Masri, a Muslim cleric on trial for inciting terrorist crimes in the US, has been warned by the prosecutor not to be “fooled” by the man (feel free to break out into “Won’t get Fooled Again!” at any time…)

If convicted, 56-year old Abu Hamza al-Masri is facing life imprisonment. But he claims he was just a “peacemaker” or “mouthpiece” for followers of his and that he was unaware of plans they had to commit terror crimes.

Not so, according to Assistant US Attorney Ian McGinley, who was not taking prisoners (pardon the pun) when he ripped into the imam for trying to distance himself from the charges. While McGinely had him on the witness stand, al-Masri claimed he did not conspire with top lieutenants whose crimes include traveling to Bly, Oregon to establish a terrorist training camp, undertaking a 1998 kidnapping of tourists in Yemen that left four people dead, and other terror crimes.

“Oregon, Afghanistan, Yemen—these were the defendant’s choices,” McGinley said. “Yet when he testified in this courtroom, he ran from all those choices and decisions that were at the core of his devotion to jihad. He ran, saying he was just misunderstood.”

“These people are his followers,” he added. “He’s the one common denominator in this criminal conduct spanning the globe.

Defense lawyer Jeremy Schneider, wasn’t having it, claiming that the prosecutors have, during the five-week trial, been taking al-Masri’s words of hate against the West out of context in an attempt to sway jurors. (Question—how do you take words of hate out of context? Do you need context?) During closing arguments Schneider told jurors  “A lot, if not the majority, of their evidence was his words, not his deeds.” Ah, so there is no power in the pulpit—so to speak—where do you start with that one?

Jurors began their deliberating Thursday.

Tags: Abu Hamza al-Masri, alleged terrorism, Assistant US Attorney Ian McGinley, Crazy sh*t lawyers see

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