Richard Reid, the would-be terrorist shoe bomber who couldn’t get his fuse lit fast enough, said his plot to take out 197 passengers on an American Airline flight was thwarted by God.
“I admit many people would dispute that and disagree with me on that point,” he said in a letter from prison to a researcher, NBC News reported.
He also said that God didn’t stop the bombing because he disagreed with the act, Newsmax reported.
“However, at the same time, I also believe that it wasn’t supposed to happen, not because it was displeasing to God … rather because it was not either my time to die nor that of those on the plane with me, and he had other plans for me which include my staying in prison and other matters which I may not be aware of as of yet,” he went on in the letter.
Reid, who’s serving a life sentence in a Colorado prison, was stopped from lighting his fuse by an alert flight attendant and several fellow passengers.
In the letter to the researcher — who’s writing a book that includes his story — Reid said he didn’t regret losing his freedom. He then weighed in on the Paris terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo newspaper.
“I do not see what happened at Charlie Hebdo as a tragedy,” he said, NBC News reported. “Rather the tragedy is that people think it is OK to demean the sacred and belittle that which is more beloved to we Muslims than their own souls. And as the saying goes, if you play with fire you might be burned, so I have no tears for those who insult Islam.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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