Richard C. Reid

You may remember Richard C. Reid, the shoe bomber who tried to take down an American Airlines flight with a bomb in his shoe. Reid pled guilty in 2002, but in his statement, said that:

After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his "allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah," defiantly stating, "I think I will not apologize for my actions," and told the court "I am at war with your country

He's been sentenced. In 2003. If this is old news to everyone but me, I apologize. I had never seen the transcript of sentencing. The presiding Judge, William Young, sentenced him to three life sentences plus 110 years, then gave him a verbal smackdown in the sentencing statement.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier. You are not----- you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

You can read the whole thing at the Snopes page dedicated to Urban Legends.