WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump backed down from his threat to send New York City terrorism suspect Sayfullo Saipov to the military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an enemy combatant and instead called for a quick death sentence.
In a tweet early Thursday, Trump said that he "would love to send the NYC terrorist to Guantanamo but statistically the process takes much longer than going through the Federal system."
Trump also called for the "DEATH PENALTY!," using all capital letters and an exclamation point as a signal that he was not softening his position. He was repeating the call he'd made hours earlier on Twitter, just before midnight Wednesday and also in capital letters _ a presidential intervention against the defendant that could complicate prosecutors' efforts, by allowing his defense team to argue he cannot receive a fair trial.
"There is also something appropriate about keeping him in the home of the horrible crime he committed," Trump continued on Thursday.
With that, he somewhat echoed arguments of President Barack Obama and others for using the American justice system, and thereby underscoring its principles and avoiding constitutional questions. And he contradicted much-criticized comments he'd made Wednesday describing the U.S. judicial system as "a joke" and "a laughingstock" to justify his support for using Guantanamo.
Trump had never committed to sending Saipov to Guantanamo. "I would certainly consider it. Send him to Gitmo," he said on Wednesday.
Federal authorities charged Saipov on Wednesday with providing support to a terrorist organization, Islamic State, signaling their intent to use the federal court system.
