Fort Hood Terrorist's Trial Halted, Legal Team Warns "This is his soapbox"

Aimee Herd : Aug 7, 2013
Joshua Rhett Miller – FOX News

The trial is expected to take weeks and possibly months, as many of the more than 30 people wounded in the deadliest attack on a U.S. military installation could take the witness stand.

Yesterday's opening statement by Nidal Hasan—who is representing himself in his own court martial for the shooting on the Fort Hood military base that killed 13 and injured 30—may have been a surprise to some, when he openly stated that he "was the shooter."

However, prosecutors who have handled cases involving terrorists have seen it before, according to a FOX News report.

Andrew McCarthy, federal prosecutor on the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case, involving Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, warned that the current trial with Hasan is something the terrorist will use as "his soapbox."

"He's really doing a performance to the world here, to the jihadists of the world here, and, secondly, he wants to get their case out there," McCarthy said.

Meanwhile, Hasan's court-appointed legal team has refused to be a part of the proceedings, since Hasan apparently wishes to become a martyr by receiving the death penalty.

Following this revelation, Judge Col. Tara Osborn recessed the trial until Thursday.