EVEN AFTER BEING MIRANDIZED…. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), among others, spoke out yesterday against making Faisal Shahzad aware of his rights. The argument, apparently, was that the apparent terrorist may not cooperate if the authorities play by the rules.
As is usually the case, following the rules hasn’t undermined our interests.
Mr. Shahzad, a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan who lived in Bridgeport, Conn., was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and other federal charges, several related to explosives. He was interrogated without initially being read his Miranda rights under a public safety exception, and he provided what the Federal Bureau of Investigation called “valuable intelligence and evidence.”
He continued talking after being read his rights, the F.B.I. said. [emphasis added]
This is precisely what happened with Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was read his rights, and who continued to cooperate and provide valuable intelligence after being Mirandized.
I don’t doubt the baseless demagoguery will continue on this in the future, but it’s getting easier and easier to dismiss as pure nonsense.
