From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...

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Prosecutor Maleng Must Seek Death Penalty For Seattle Jew Killer Haq

July 30, 2006

King County Prosecutor and putative Republican Norm Maleng must seek the death penalty for the determined and successful Seattle Jew Killer Naveed Afzal Haq; anything less would be justice denied, including life in prison. Today's Seattle Times cites Maleng spokesman Dan Donohoe saying prosecutors will meet this week to decide whether capital charges - which could result in death or life imprisonment - will be sought in the murder case. Haq consciously chose to kill and maim innocents based on his foreign policy gripes with the U.S. and Israel. Heinous, and deserving of the ultimate sanction, if he's found guilty. Today's Times provides new details on what he said during the bloody attack.

"I want these Jews to get out. I'm not upset at people, I'm upset at your foreign policy," Haq said in a recorded conversation with police dispatchers that was detailed in court documents. "These are Jews and I'm tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East. I just want us to get out of Iraq," Haq reportedly said. "I'm an American too, but I want our people out of Iraq."

Thus motivated, Haq broke into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, holding a gun to the head of 13-year old to breach security, and once in the Jewish federation, began randomly spraying bullets, killing one woman and wounding five more. Norm Maleng: you're center stage. Don't flub this one. Anything less than a strenuous prosecution seeking the death penalty for Haq sends a clear message that anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hate is a valid excuse for murder and attempted murder of innocent civilians in a Seattle office.

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Comments:

There are some parallels between Moussaoui and Haq. Both men seem to have traveled the road to terrorism on a path of mental illness. But, unlike Moussaoui, who was trained and imbedded in an al-Qaeda network, Haq's jihadism seems to have no foundations, no pre-history, indeed, no expression at all until his eruption against U.S. and Israeli foreign policy at the moment of murder.

Does this make his atrocity less than terror? Probably not. But it does, unfortunately, make him a less appealing candidate for the death penalty. The effort to execute him will take years, may ultimately fail, and risks back-firing. Rather than make the government look resolute and tough-minded, it may only succeed in making it appear ineffectual and hysterical.

Posted by: Tom Rekdal at July 30, 2006 12:35 PM
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