Families of 9/11 victims enraged over possible plea deal for suspects: 'Betrayal'
Chair of 9/11 Families United Terry Strada joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss her take on the suspects potentially avoiding the death penalty and how she believes the Biden administration needs to take action.
The family of one 9/11 victim is speaking out against the "betrayal" by the Biden administration over a letter it sent notifying families that the masterminds of the heinous attacks could avoid the death penalty.
Chair of 9/11 Families United Terry Strada lost her husband on 9/11, and she joined "Fox & Friends First" on Friday to demand action from the White House as she continues to seek justice.
"It feels like a betrayal. It feels like the government is choosing to protect the mastermind, the perpetrators, the financiers, everyone that's ever been involved with Sept. 11th and the murder of nearly 3,000 people on American soil," she told Carley Shimkus on Friday.
"This administration and past administrations have chosen to protect them over us."
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"I feel like the Biden administration should order them not to accept this plea deal and not to have it on the table at all," she continued.
"The 9/11 family, the community, we deserve accountability. And that's what this really boils down to, is the accountability for the murder of our loved ones."
The Pentagon and the FBI sent a letter, dated Aug. 1, to several families of the thousands of people killed during the 9/11 attacks. It notified them that because of plea deal negotiations, the masterminds may evade the death penalty.
Terry Strada, who lost her husband Tom Strada, stands with others who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and listens during a press conference about the September 11th Transparency Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 5, 2021. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
"The Office of the Chief Prosecutor has been negotiating and is considering entering into pre-trial agreements," states the letter.
It continues to say that a plea agreement hasn't been finalized "…and may never be finalized, it is possible that a PTA, in this case, would remove the possibility of the death penalty."
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But Strada urged the Biden administration to take action against plea deal talks, demanding full "accountability" for the devastating attacks.
"They deserve no mercy," Strada said. "When you go to Guantánamo Bay, and I've been there, you are shown their confession. They happily said they did it. They have no remorse. They would do it again, and they think Americans are stupid and that we deserve what we get when they come over and they terrorize us the way they did."
"So why do they deserve any type of mercy now?" she continued. "I say take it off the table and let's have a trial and let's get the full accountability that we all deserve."
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as well as four other people are being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The case has been hindered and delayed, particularly over the legal issues of the interrogation under torture that the men went through while in CIA custody.
Strada called out the Biden administration for the "weak signal" it sends to other countries around the world if the masterminds behind the attacks successfully escape execution.
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"It's showing a very weak signal that we are not doing what we should be doing, and that is the full force of everything we have going after these terrorist organizations and holding them accountable," Strada said. "Whether it's the financiers, the ones that gave the logistical support, and it all goes back to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
"We know now because of U.S. intelligence reports how deeply involved they were. And these are Al-Qaeda operatives, and the kingdom was financially supporting Al-Qaeda," she continued. "And that all goes back to the kingdom, Wahhabism, their hate-filled ideology that they spread around the world and that infiltrated the minds of people like KSM (Khalid Sheikh Mohammed) and all of them."
Shimkus noted that the federal government will consider the thoughts of the families of the 9/11 victims as part of its decision on the deal.
The letter sent to the families asked them to respond by Monday with their feelings on the case. Strada said she will be responding to the FBI's victim services and urged all other families to do the same.
Fox News' Adam Sabes and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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