Trump Calls for Death Penalty for Suspect in New York City Attack

President Trump has called for a crackdown on immigration, telling Congress to cancel the so-called diversity visa program, in the wake of an attack in New York City that left eight people dead and 11 more injured.

“I am going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program—diversary and diversity lottery. Diversity lottery sounds nice. It’s not nice. It’s not good. It’s not good. It hasn’t been good," President Donald Trump said.

President Trump’s demand came after suspect Sayfullo Saipov reportedly drove a rented Home Depot truck down a bike path along Manhattan’s Hudson River, killing multiple people before crashing into a school bus. He then reportedly jumped out of the car, waving a pellet gun and a paintball gun before being shot and wounded by police. Authorities say Saipov has been planning the attack for about a year. Saipov, an Uzbek native who has lived in Florida, Ohio and Paterson, New Jersey, has now been charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization, as well as violence and destruction of a motor vehicle. On Wednesday, President Trump called for Saipov’s execution and called him an animal. Many have noted that President Trump did not use words like “animal” to describe 64-year-old white man Stephen Paddock, who killed 59 people, including himself, in Las Vegas. After that massacre, Trump said it was not time to talk about policy changes on gun control, although Trump is now calling for immigration policy changes after the New York City attack. Trump did not call for the death penalty after white supremacist James Alex Fields killed one woman, Heather Heyer, by also driving his car into a crowd of people, who were protesting a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump did not call James Alex Fields an animal, instead saying there was violence on both sides. President Trump suggested Wednesday he would consider sending Saipov to Guantánamo Bay.

“Mr. President, do you want the assailant from New York sent to Gitmo?” a reporter asked.

“I would certainly consider that, yes. I would certainly consider that. Send him to Gitmo. I would certainly consider that, yes," President Donald Trump said.

This would mean sending Saipov to a military prison even though he’s already been charged with crimes in a U.S. federal court. Saipov has a green card, which means he is a permanent U.S. resident. On Wednesday, Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham also called for Saipov to be held as an “enemy combatant under the laws of war,” denied his Miranda rights and taken to Guantánamo Bay.