One wonders if Duffey has ever read the Qur’an or has the first foggiest idea of what aspects of Islam might have motivated Sadequee. Somehow I doubt it. But he is not the first non-Muslim judge to lecture a jihadist, and no doubt will not be the last. Ehsanul Sadequee Update. “Roswell terrorist given 17 years in prison,” by Bill Rankin for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 14 (thanks to James):
A federal judge on Monday sentenced Ehsanul Islam Sadequee to 17 years in prison for terrorist offenses, saying the 23-year-old Roswell man viewed truth, justice and the American way as his “anti-Christ.”
“You used our country to advance your self interest and your distorted view of the world,” U.S. District Judge Bill Duffey sternly told Sadequee before imposing sentence. “If there is any contradiction to God’s will, I would say you are it.”
As he did at his trial in August, Sadequee represented himself at sentencing. He quoted often from the Quran, saying that all authority belongs to God. Sadequee was convicted of four counts, including conspiring to provide material support to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, the Pakistani-based terrorist organization.
Duffey scolded Sadequee for never expressing remorse for any of his actions. His case, the judge said, provided “not just a glimpse into the dark side” of terrorism, but “a full portrait.”
Sadequee’s beliefs, the judge said, were “chillingly displayed” on videos Sadequee and his co-defendant Syed Haris Ahmed made of Washington-area landmarks. As the two men drove by the Pentagon, Sadequee turned the camera onto the military complex and can be heard saying reverently, “This is where our brothers attacked.”
Those comments, Duffey told Sadequee, were “without any regard to those innocent fathers and mothers and children who were on the plane that crashed into that building.”…
“This is not about your faith,” Duffey told Sadequee. “This is about the rule of law in our country, which you say does not apply to you and what you pronounced today will never apply to you.”