At his sentencing on 15 December, Crawford faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years to life in prison and a $2m fine for the radiological dispersal device charge, up to life in prison for the weapon of mass destruction charge and up to 20 years in prison for the distribution of information charge.
Advertisement
“You didn’t know if he was serious guy or a wacky guy?” defense attorney Kevin Luibrand asked.
Under cross-examination, West said the Federal Bureau of Investigation made only basic inquiries about Crawford for several weeks, acknowledging they didn’t see an immediate threat.
West said that’s what they were trying to determine.
That said, I find it hard to believe that someone as seemingly dumb and delusional as Crawford was capable of bringing such a deranged plan to fruition.
Crawford’s attorney maintains that his client was targeted in an elaborate plot by the feds and no crime was committed.
Glendon Crawford of Providence, New York, allegedly approached two Jewish congregations in 2012 and offered to provide them with “off-the-shelf technology” that could be used to zap Muslims and “help Jews get rid of their enemies”. He was not “cartoonish” or “a goofy simpleton”, as the defense suggested, the prosecutor said.
The prosecution then showed a video taken inside a warehouse where the industrial strength x-ray machine was kept. “This verdict is a victory for us all, but we must continue to remain observant; it is only with the assistance of our community members and law enforcement partners that we can be successful in thwarting these violent plots”. “And the vast majority of Americans would, too”.
I simply don’t believe that the death ray – which Crawford was allegedly constructing, with parts and funding provided by undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agents – would have worked as intended.
“You want to build a device?”
Radiation scientists have said as much, with Dr. Frederic Mis, a radiation safety officer at the University of Rochester Medical Center, telling the Associated Press in 2013 that Crawford’s truck-mounted, remote control X-ray weapon was “the stuff of comic books”.
West testified that he understood that to mean, “Killing Muslims”.
Advertisement
A Navy veteran and married father of three, Crawford had no previous criminal history.
