Home-grown Jihadi, Mehanna, Gets More Than 17 Years In Prison For Plotting To Kill Our Troops

So we have yet another American-born jihadi who decided that the call of Mohammed was just too strong and decided to kill American troops in the name of allah and now that he's been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for the jihadi plot, he's STILL not whining about the justification for his actions and of course, there was the gathering of American Muslims outside the courthouse rallying for his support. Welcome to the new America as we put evil on trial and that evil begets more evil.

The story comes from Boston.com.

Mehanna gets more than 17 years in jail


A defiant Tarek Mehanna was sentenced Thursday to 17 1/2 years in prison for conspiring to kill American soldiers and supporting Al Qaeda, culminating a dramatic terrorism case in which the Sudbury man emphatically professed his devotion to Islam and his anger at America’s support of “unjust policies against its minorities.’’

The 29-year-old Mehanna compared his call for jihad against US soldiers who kill Muslim civilians to America’s Revolutionary War against England. He showed no remorse as he was about to be sentenced in US District Court in Boston, and at one point called a prosecutor a liar.

“It is because of America that I am who I am,’’ he declared.

US District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. said he found Mehanna’s speech to the court Thursday to be evidence of his “strong and magnetic’’ personality, but said he also saw a darker “Jekyll and Hyde’’ side to Mehanna.

“We all do acts, both good and evil, in the course of our life,’’ the judge said. “But just as two wrongs don’t make a right, two rights don’t excuse a wrong, and the wrong still must be punished.’’

The judge said he was disappointed with the show of defiance and “frankly concerned by the defendant’s apparent absence of remorse.’’

At a press conference later, US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said that Mehanna “faced the consequences of his actions, for conspiring to support terrorists, for conspiring to kill Americans overseas, and for lying to the FBI.’’

The case had nothing to do with Mehanna’s religion or his free speech, she said.

“Our goal is to do justice and do whatever we can to keep the people of this Commonwealth and our country safe,’’ she said. “We are not prosecuting individuals because they are Muslim. We prosecute people because they engage in criminal conduct, [people] who are violent, who are committing crimes.’’

Mehanna had faced life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines; prosecutors asked that he serve at least 25 years.

O’Toole said he considered Mehanna’s depth of family and community support, while balancing the severity and nature of the terrorism charges.

But the slightly lighter sentence did little to dissuade the protests of Mehanna’s supporters, who had turned out in droves during his nine-week trial and who packed the courtroom and an overflow room Thursday.

They gave Mehanna a standing ovation as he was escorted from the courtroom following the sentencing, shouting, “I love you.’’ Outside the court they rallied, wearing yellow ribbons and Free Tarek T-shirts, while shouting, “Free Tarek Now.’’