Alexandria, Va. – The fate of Zacarias Moussaoui was turned over to a federal court jury Monday, and nine men and three women began debating whether he should be executed for his role in the Sept. 11 attacks or spend the rest of his life in prison.
In closing arguments, prosecutors declared that the French-Moroccan member of al-Qaeda, arrested while in flight training in Minnesota weeks before the attacks on New York and Washington, should pay with his life for the 2,972 people killed that day.
“This is the United States of America,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Novak. “We are not going to put up with a bunch of thugs who invoke God’s name and kill thousands of innocent people.”
But defense attorney Gerald Zerkin urged the jury to sentence Moussaoui, 37, to life without parole, arguing that a life sentence for the admitted terrorist would be a fate worse than death.
Jurors deliberated about three hours Monday and will return to the courthouse today to continue their discussions.
When the judge stepped down and the jury cleared the room, Moussaoui hurled epithets and boasted that the U.S. justice system can’t touch him.
“Never get me, America!” Moussaoui shouted after prosecutors asked for a death sentence. “Never, never!”
Moussaoui warned that a new generation of al-Qaeda terrorists will follow him, whether he is dispatched to federal death row in Indiana or a solitary prison cell in in the maximum-security prison in Florence, Colo.
“Our children will carry on the fight!” he screamed.
Moussaoui pleaded guilty last year to being a Sept. 11 conspirator. His sentencing trial began March 6, and the jury found him eligible for the death penalty.
