Padilla found guilty

The jury returned a verdict today in the case against Jose Padilla and his two co-defendants.

The charges:

Count 1 - Conspiracy to Murder, Kidnap, and Maim Persons in a Foreign Country as part of a conspiracy to advance violent jihad
Count 2 - Conspiracy to Provide Material Support for Terrorists
Count 3 - Material Support for Terrorists
Counts 4 and 5 are against Hassoun for unlawful possession of a weapon and making a false statement
Counts 6 through 10 are against Hassoun for multiple charges of perjury
Count 11 is against Hassoun for obstruction

Good to hear.

From Yahoo News:

“A verdict was reached Thursday in the trial of Jose Padilla and two co-defendants charged with supporting al-Qaida and other violent Islamic extremist groups overseas. The jury verdict was scheduled to be read at 2 p.m. EDT before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami’s downtown federal courthouse, according to an announcement from her chambers. The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about a day and a half following a three-month trial. Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi face possible life in prison if convicted of all three charges in the case.”

I'm exceedingly happy he was found guilty, but life in prison? He was tried in Miami. We still use the death penalty here in Florida, and once upon a time in the United States, we executed treasonous bastards like Padilla. Not so in the softer, fluffier America, huh?

Michelle Malkin has the timeline leading up to the scumbag's involvement with Al Qaeda and designation as an "enemy combatant" by President Bush, as well as his Al Qaeda "application form" (I never knew Al Qaeda bothered with a paper trail, but skip on over to Michelle's blog to see it for yourself):

May 1988: Padilla turns 18, released from juvenile detention in Chicago on probation until age 21.

October 1991: Padilla arrested in South Florida on gun and traffic charges. He serves 10 months in prison.

Early 1993: Padilla, while employed at Taco Bell in Davie, FL, inquires about converting to Islam.

1994: Padilla begins using the name Ibrahim.

1998: Padilla leaves U.S. to study Arabic abroad.

1999: Padilla travels to Afghanistan.

2001: Padilla meets with Abu Zubaydah. Padilla and an unnamed associate receive explosives training in Pakistan.

Early 2002: Padilla meets with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and is ordered to return to the U.S. for reasons still unclear.

May 2002: Padilla arrested on a material witness warrant related to September 11, at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

June 2002:Padilla designated “enemy combatant” by the president and moved to military custody in South Carolina.

And of course, HuffPo isn't disappointing. They're positively howling over this "outrage".

Didn't you see the movie "Judgement at Nuremburg"
Judge Ernst Janning, played by Burt Reynolds, gave Jews their day in court and convicted them of being Jews. Padilla has been convicted of being a member of a Muslim sect.

It is the saddest story, these times have ever seen.

They're hangin' men and women for the wearing of the green.

Apparently you have missed the most significant aspect of this situation: The man suffered incomprehensible torture, for years, at the hands of the American military. He was tortured to the degree of having irreversible brain damage -- which has been proved. He confessed at the hands of his TORTURERS. Perhaps the smile you see on his face is the same smile that would register on the face of a mentally retarded individual. His brain is fried.

Idiots like you, and the people who voted for Bush and his fascist fanatical party, who tortued and convicted this man shame this country.

And on HuffPo...

The Day of Rage begins.

He was convicted B/4 he even went to trial.

That "evidence" is enough to put someone away for life? A document with his fingerprints on it? Give me a break!
All I can say is the next time you're handed a document be sure you are wearing gloves.

Typical rightwing spin....Defend truth and honor and be labeled a traitor.

When due process is carried out by fascists, it's no longer due process, it's fascism.
This trial looks awfully similar to what was going on under Hitler's regime. Anyone who dared to say something against him was a "terrorist." Anyone who dared to question the courts was immediately transferred to a Lager. Time have changed, fascism has evolved, Lagers would be too expensive today, destroying the lives of dissidents by just spying on them and then charging them with phoney BS is a lot easier...

And so on and so forth. There's even a comment about how "songs will be sung" about Padilla, because he's a martyr or some crap (someone gag me).

Moonbats crack me up. They complain non-stop about Gitmo and how we are convicting terrorists without sending them to trial, and letting them be judged by a jury of their peers. We then do that, and a wanna-be terrorist asshole is convicted, and they're still upset.

Just not happy until we let Al-Qaeda do as they please, eh? Don't question their patriotism though, not even when they're standing with terrorists and Al-Qaeda wanna-bes, rather than Americans.

Anyways, if I had my way, this guy would be having his final meal tonight before he gets hanged tomorrow rather than having the pleasure of growing old in jail on my dime.

But I'm a heartless conservative bigot, so what do I know, right?