Liberty City Seven Minus One: Third Trial

One of the Liberty City Seven were acquitted in the first trial. The other six weren't convicted, since there was a mistrial. That isn't the same as an acquittal.

The person who was acquitted isn't being tried again. The six who weren't acquitted are. That's because, so far, members of two juries couldn't decide to convict them.

Since one of them is free, it isn't the Liberty City Seven any more. I like "Liberty City Seven Minus One," But a Miami station is referring to them more efficiently as the "Liberty City 6: " 'Liberty City 6' To Be Tried For Third Time" (Local10.com (April 23, 2008)).

I've posted about these men before. You may find that I give more background than some of the news you read.

• "Liberty City Seven: Another Mistrial (No Surprise)"
  (April 16, 2008)
• "The "Liberty City Seven" - American Nitwits and Al Qaeda"
  (March 27, 2008)
  • This is an Outrage, and an Insult to the Muslim Community
  • Get a Grip! "The Whole Muslim Community" isn't Suspect
  • The Liberty City Seven - Victims!
  • Victims! Of World-Class Poor Judgment

(I think editors sometimes assume that readers are as intensely involved in the news as they are.)

Federal prosecutors asked for a third trial, because they say that these six men were working toward blowing up

• Chicago's Sears Tower
• Miami's FBI office
• Other federal buildings

The six men had a good reason, it turns out, for wanting to demolish those buildings, killing quite a few people in the process. " 'In referring to America, Mr. Batiste said on tape he wanted to kill all the American devils,' assistant U.S. attorney Richard Gregorie said. 'In light of this, we plan to proceed with another trial.' "

In light of that, the Liberty City 6 defense might be well-advised to make this a freedom of expression case. Or maybe freedom of religion. The seven are Muslim, sort of. Enough for a 'profiling' accusation to be tossed around.

Now, someone's declared another reason for why the Feds are down on the Liberty City 6. The Local10.com article reveals:

"The families of the defendants left the federal courthouse in downtown Miami without commenting, except for Pierre Augustine, whose two sons are among the accused.

" 'I don't know why they have to put them in jail,' Augustine told reporters. 'The reason why is because they're black, no matter what. (They have already gone through) two trials. Now they have to go to the third one. That makes no sense.' "

My guess is that, given the mix of evidence and assumptions, there's going to be another mistrial. But, I could be wrong.

And, I hope I am wrong. There are quite a few people who fervently want "to kill all the American devils" - and I think it is high time that American courts and juries start looking more at what defendants did, and less on who their ancestors were.

Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.