The guilty plea of the so-called “underwear bomber” Wednesday demonstrates that the court system can be an effective means for fighting terrorism, Attorney General Eric Holder said following the plea.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit with a bomb concealed in his underwear. He agreed to plead guilty on the second day of his trial in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Following the guilty plea, Holder said, in a statement, “Contrary to what some have claimed, today’s plea removes any doubt that our courts are one of the most effective tools we have to fight terrorism and keep the American people safe. Our priority in this case was to ensure that we arrested a man who tried to do us harm, that we collected actionable intelligence from him and that we prosecuted him in a way that was consistent with the rule of law. We will continue to be aggressive in our fight against terrorism and those who target us, and we will let results, not rhetoric, guide our actions.”
Many Republicans have questioned the use of civilian courts in trying terrorism suspects, with some going so far as to call for Holder’s resignation following his decision to use the civilian court system. He came under fire from members of Congress when he announced his plan to try self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators in a Manhattan federal court as part of the Obama administration’s efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Administration officials later reversed that decision.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has said that using the civilian courts is “contrary to all law, logic, and the will of the people.”
