Republican presidential candidate and Texas Rep. Ron Paul spoke out against the killing of prominent prominent al-Qaida figure Anwar al-Awlaki Friday morning.
Paul said al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Islamic cleric suspected of involvement in several terror plots, should have been afforded a trial as an American citizen.
“No, I don’t think that’s a good way to deal with our problems,” Paul told MSNBC. “Al-Awlaki was born here, he is an American citizen. He was never tried or charged for any crimes. No one knows if he killed anybody. We know he might have been associated with the underwear bomber. But if the American people accept this blindly and casually that we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys, I think it’s sad.”
“I think what would people … have said about Timothy McVeigh?” Paul continued. “We didn’t assassinate him, who certainly he had done it. Went and put through the courts then executed him. To start assassinating American citizens without charges, we should think very seriously about this.”
When asked if he felt the same way about Osama bin Laden, Paul said, “Not exactly.”
“Because he was involved in 9/11 and I voted for authority to go after those individuals responsible for 9/11. Al-Awlaki — nobody ever suggested that he was participant in 9/11.”
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