Freshman Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) led a bipartisan letter to President Joe Biden urging him not to go through with a plea deal for the architect of the 9/11 terrorist attack and his co-conspirators that would see them avoid the death penalty.
It was revealed last week that the Biden administration sent a letter to the families of 9/11 victims to say they were considering a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-conspirators which would see them avoid the death penalty.
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So, in response, Lawler led a letter to the Biden administration, which included a bipartisan delegation of 34 of his House colleagues, including House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY).
“As a nation, we have said that we will never forget September 11th, and we must never cease fighting on behalf of those we’ve lost,” the letter reads. “We owe it to the victims and their families to deliver justice – and that should mean the death penalty for these murderers.”
The members urged the administration not to go through with the plea deal and to give the families real justice. They ask Biden not to “enter into any pre-trial agreements which would remove the possibility of the death penalty” and to shut the process down.
“I will never forget when I learned as a freshman in high school that terrorists had attacked our country and taken 2,977 lives from us,” Lawler said in a statement. “22 years later, the death toll continues to climb as we lose more of those brave souls who toiled on the pile, searching for survivors and giving families closure. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 perpetrators should never be given a plea deal and should face the full measure of justice for their actions – the death penalty.”
When the plea deal was revealed, family members of the 9/11 victims sent a letter to Biden expressing disappointment and sadness and urging him not to go through with the deal.
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They said that “the pain is all worse” when they learned “practically on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary” from the administration about the proposed deal.
“You are our President, and we ask that you prioritize the interests of the victims of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks over those of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or other terrorists; that you not bow to the demands of any embarrassed government officials willing to sacrifice transparency in favor of reputation; and that you continue to support us in our search for truth and justice,” the families said in their letter.
