New York City subway bomb plotter found guilty News
New York City subway bomb plotter found guilty
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[JURIST] A jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York [official website] on Tuesday convicted naturalized American citizen Adis Medunjanin for his role in a conspiracy to bomb the New York City subway system in September 2009. Medunjanin, a Bosnian immigrant, was convicted on all nine counts, including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, providing material support to al Qaeda and receiving military training from al Qaeda. Prosecutors alleged that he traveled to Pakistan seeking to join the Taliban but was recruited by al Qaeda for a suicide mission in the US. Medunjanin was originally indicted in January 2010 with an amended indictment [JURIST reports] filed that July. Sentencing is scheduled for September 7.

Medunjanin’s alleged co-conspirators, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay [JURIST reports] have both pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Both men testified against Medunjanin. All three men allegedly traveled together to Pakistan to receive al Qaeda training.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Supreme Court ruled Indians not US citizens

On November 3, 1884, the US Supreme Court ruled in Elk v. Wilkins that John Elk, an American Indian who had tried to vote in a federal election in Omaha, Nebraska, was not a US citizen entitled to the protection of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution. Native Americans became eligible for citizenship in 1887 under the Dawes Act, but only in 1924, under the Indian Citizenship Act, were all Native Americans born in the US made citizens.

Last public execution at Tyburn Gallows in London

On November 3, 1783, the last public execution took place at Tyburn Gallows in London, when John Austin was hanged for highway robbery. From the hanging of William Fitz Osburn in 1196 until Austin's execution, Tyburn served as London's primary location for public executions.

Learn more about the trial of John Austin.