Naman Shrestha
Netflix’s ‘American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden’ is a three-part true crime documentary series that digs deep into the 9/11 attacks and the years-long efforts of the American authorities to capture the terrorist responsible for the devastation — Osama Bin Laden. As mentioned on the show, he had also planned yet another plane hijacking just a few months later with Richard Reid, an English-born man who had converted to Islam. He is infamously also known as the shoe bomber.
Richard Reid’s Mission Failed Due to the Quick Thinking of Crew Members and Passengers
Born on August 12, 1973, in London, England, to Lesley Hughes and Colvin Robin Reid, Richard Colvin Reid dropped out of school in 1989 to become a graffiti writer for a gang in his teenage years. In a short span of time, he was convicted multiple times and served multiple sentences at Maidstone Prison and Feltham Young Offenders Institution. Around 1992, he reportedly converted to Islam while he was in prison, serving a three-year sentence for street robberies. After his release, he embraced a new name — Abdel Rahim — in 1995. A few years later, he formed ties with Al-Qaida in Afghanistan and gained training in terrorist activities between 1998 and 1999.
On December 22, 2001, just a few months after the 9/11 attack, Richard boarded American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami with plastic explosives concealed in the sole of his shoes. He had planned to detonate the bomb inside the aircraft carrying about 200 people. However, when a flight attendant caught him lighting a match and questioned him regarding his suspicious behavior, he proceeded to try to detonate the explosives, only to be restrained by a group of passengers who tied him up and a doctor on board who sedated him using a tranquilizer from the medical kit. Once the shoe-bomber was subdued, the flight was diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was arrested as soon as the plane landed.
Richard Reid Was Brought to Justice For His Crimes in 2003
After Richard Reid’s arrest, a preliminary hearing was held, during which an FBI agent talked about how the homemade bomb was tested by bomb techs and determined to be so dangerous that it could have caused a hole in the plane’s fuselage had it been detonated by him. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to a total of eight counts of terrorism-related charges, including attempted murder, on October 4, 2002. A few months later, on January 31, 2003, the shoe-bomber was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison and an additional 110 years without the possibility of parole for three counts — two of interference with a flight crew by using a dangerous weapon and one of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against US nationals outside the country.
Moreover, he was fined a total of $2 million for his crimes. During the sentencing, Richard claimed to be the enemy of the US and an ally of Al-Qaida. When he stated that he was a soldier of God under the command of Osama bin Laden, the judge addressed him directly, saying, “You are not an enemy combatant, you are a terrorist … You are not a soldier in any army, you are a terrorist. To call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. (points to US flag) You see that flag, Mr. Reid? That is the flag of the United States of America. That flag will be here long after you are forgotten.” To which he responded, “…the flag will come down on the day of judgment,” displaying a total lack of remorse for his wrongdoings.
Richard Reid is Supposedly Incarcerated at a Supermax Prison Facility Today
While Richard Reid was held up at a supermax prison, the authorities controlled several aspects of his day-to-day life. For instance, they had control over his communications with his lawyers and other individuals outside the prison walls, disallowed him to become a part of group prayers in prison, and gave him little to no access to Muslim clerics. Richard protested against all of it by filing a lawsuit and going on a hunger strike in 2009. For the weeks that followed, the police force-fed him and kept him hydrated. Eventually, when nothing worked, his prison restrictions were lifted in the same year.
Having served more than a decade of his sentence, in 2015, Richard released a letter from his prison and wrote, “I admit many people would dispute that and disagree with me on that point. 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.” As of today, Richard Reid is seemingly serving his sentence at the supermax prison facility of the United States Penitentiary Florence Administrative Maximum Facility, also known as ADX Florence, in Florence, Colorado.
Read More: Robert O’Neill: Where is the SEAL Team 6 Sniper Who Shot Osama bin Laden Now?
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