Politics

Graham: Treat Boston suspect as ‘enemy combatant,’ do not Mirandize him

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted Friday that if the authorities capture Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, that at-large suspect of the Boston Marathon bombings, alive, they should treat him as an enemy combatant and not read him his Miranda rights.

“If captured, I hope Administration will at least consider holding the Boston suspect as enemy combatant for intelligence gathering purposes,” Graham tweeted Friday afternoon.

Enemy combatant is the status given to members of the military of a country with which the United States is at war. The designation has been applied to suspected terrorists since the September 11, 2001 attacks, and means the person can be tried in a military court and does not need to be afforded the same rights as a someone who is merely arrested. For example, the person does not have to be read his or her Miranda Rights

“If the #Boston suspect has ties to overseas terror organizations he could be treasure trove of information,” Graham said in a subsequent tweet.

“The last thing we may want to do is read Boston suspect Miranda Rights telling him to ‘remain silent,'” he went on.

“The Obama Administration needs to be contemplating these issues and should not rush into a bad decision,” he said in the last of the string of tweets.

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