Sunday, May 22, 2011

American Jury Pool for Trials of (Alleged) Jihadis Drying Up

The Toronto Sun's editorial directs our attention to a trial just getting underway in Chicago. The trial has received scant attention in Canada despite the fact that defendent Tahawwur Hussain Rana (who's accused of scouting the Mumbai location for the '08 jihadi terrorist attack) "purportedly ran an immigration consulting business in Toronto, New York and Chicago, and...had a family home in our nation's capital." Too bad for Rana he's being tried in the U.S., where the multiculti Kool Aid hasn't seeped into the bloodstream and people are less inclined to fall for the syrupy "diversity" hype:
...potential jurors this week were given a questionnaire by the court consisting of 60 questions, mostly about their views on Islam.
When the Toronto 18 terrorism trial happened here, no such weeding was needed. But not so in Chicago.
The reason? Because "80% of Americans distrust Islam," said Charlie Swift, one of Rana's lawyers. To which his other lawyer, Patrick Blegen added, "People hailing from India, Denmark and Pakistan would most likely be disqualified." So there goes a great swath of the jury pool.
Indeed. But surely it's just as important to weed out those who trust Islam completely and unconditionally, although that would leave--what?--maybe five percent of the population from which to draw upon.

No comments: