Debbie Schlussel: O.J. Jury, the Sequel: Mistrial for Muslim who Shot, Assassinated Jews @ Seattle Jewish Center
What is going on in America? Why is it that juries refuse to convict terrorists and won't convict a Muslim who planned and carried out a bloody, murderous attack on people, merely because he thought they were Jews?
My G-d! The O.J. jury lives on throughout this half-asleep (or maybe Rip Van Winkle fully asleep) country. I would love the names of these idiot jurors. Is it something about the cloudy weather . . . or the cloudy, bleeding-heart liberal heads in Seattle? Did they not get their fix of Seattle-based drinkable caffeine? This guy is an Islamic terrorist, plain and simple:
A mistrial has been declared in the trial of Jewish Federation gunman Naveed Haq.
Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas declared the mistrial moments ago after jurors told her they were hopelessly deadlocked on 14 of 15 counts against Haq, 32.On the only count the jury agreed on, it found Haq not guilty of one of five attempted murder charges he faced and deadlocked on a second-degree finding for the same charge. That count had to do with the shooting of federation employee Carol Goldman, one of five women wounded by the gunman.
Haq showed no emotion when the mistrial was declared.
Prosecutors immediately announced they would seek to retry Haq. A status hearing on a new trial has been scheduled for a week from tomorrow.
"We're frustrated and disappointed that we have to put the victims through this again," said Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Don Raz.
The jury was then excused by Kallas. Most jurors refused to comment to reporters.
But one juror, who didn't give her name, called the decision "heart-rending."
"I am very upset," she said. "I have great compassion for the victims and their families and everyone else in this case."
Asked to describe the atmosphere in the jury room today, the juror said "We were all very, very sad."
Yeah, very sad. So sad, that they let a murderer go free. This should have been a no-brainer. There's no doubt he did it, and he planned it ahead of time. And he said why he did it--to get rid of the JOOOOOS.
Victims testified that Haq, of Pakistani descent, made anti-Semitic statements before and during the slayings. Victim Dayna Klein, who was held hostage by Haq after he shot her, testified that he spoke about Jews needing to get out of Lebanon and Iraq.On a 911 recording played for the jury, Haq was heard saying, "I want these Jews to get out." The 911 operator told him that Klein, who was pregnant, needed an ambulance. "I don't care," the gunman said calmly. " ... just want to make a point ... all the media's being controlled by Jews. I'm sick and tired of it ... Patch me in to CNN."
Victim Christina Rexroad testified tearfully about her near-deadly encounter with Haq that afternoon. She said heard "popping" noises and walked down the hallway and saw Haq, who had forced his way into the locked building about two minutes earlier.
"He turned and looked at me. He had a gun in his hand. He shot me," said Rexroad, her voice quivering.
Prosecution witnesses also testified that Haq conducted a computer search prior to the shootings to find his intended target.
According to the testimony of a Seattle police computer-forensic specialist, Haq sat down at his laptop the day before the shooting and began entering Internet search terms. He began by Googling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group, and soon landed on the Seattle Jewish organization, eventually creating a map and directions for the 227-mile trip from his parents' home in Pasco.
Haq pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. But it seems to me the only insane ones are the idiots on this jury who were deliberating since May 23 on what should have taken them two minutes to reach a guilty verdict.
Haq's attorneys said that he had suffered through an abusive childhood and increasingly paranoid teenage and college years, loathed his short stature and Muslim heritage and was reeling from a dangerous regimen of prescription medications when he entered a manic state and heard God telling him to go on a mission.
So sad, too bad. Um, lots of Muslims hear G-d telling them to go on that same mission. And they're not insane, just endless vessels of hate and violence. This guy is no different.
Rot In Hell.
And frankly, I don't wish much better on this idiotic jury that can't find their butts to save their lives, but can find compassion everywhere for the worst of our enemies.
We need to move these trials outside of places like Great FruitNuttia a/k/a Seattle.
Posted by Debbie on June 5, 2008 12:12 PM to Debbie Schlussel