Editing El Sayyid Nosair (section)

==Assassination of Meir Kahane==
{{Full article|Assassination of Meir Kahane}}
In 1990, Nosair assassinated Rabbi [[Meir Kahane]], formerly a member of the Israeli [[Knesset]], and founder of the [[Jewish Defense League]] and [[Kach and Kahane Chai|Kach]]. Nosair shot Kahane on November 5, 1990, shortly after 9:00{{nbsp}}p.m., following a speech to a Jewish group at in midtown [[Manhattan]]'s [[Marriott Hotel|Marriott]] East Side Hotel.<ref name="specter">{{cite news |title=Jewish Leader Kahane Slain in New York |author=Specter, Michael |date=1990-11-06 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Nosair ran up and shot Kahane as he was answering questions following his speech. Nosair attempted to flee the scene and commandeer a taxi, but he was shot by Carlos Acosta, a police officer for the [[United States Postal Inspection Service]]. The two continued to exchange gunfire before Nosair was apprehended.<ref name="specter"/> Nosair and his victims were evacuated to [[Bellevue Hospital]] for treatment of their wounds, and Kahane was pronounced dead at the hospital.<ref name="specter"/>

===Trial===
During legal proceedings, Nosair largely ignored the court and focused on multiple sketches he made of [[Princess Diana]].<ref name="sacredcows"/>

In a verdict described by law professor Jeffrey B. Abramson as "bizarre",<ref name="abramson">{{cite book|title=We, the Jury: The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy|last=Abramson|first=Jeffrey B.|year=2000|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn= 978-0-674-00430-6|page=144|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RaZ_AKgMIqUC&q=bizarre+verdict&pg=PA144|access-date=2010-04-07}}</ref> a jury in December 1991 [[acquittal|acquitted]] Nosair of Kahane's murder but convicted him of assaulting Acosta and possessing an illegal firearm. He was defended by [[William Kunstler]] (along with two co-counsels), who at first advised him to plead insanity.<ref name="nyt">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DA1330F930A15751C1A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Jury Selection Seen As Crucial to Verdict], ''The New York Times'', 23 December 1991</ref> When Nosair refused, the defense argued that there had been a conspiracy against Nosair, and Kahane might have been killed by one of his followers.<ref name="nyt"/>  Kunstler saw the composition of the jury (which he described as being made up of "third-world people" and "people who were not yuppies or establishment types") as crucial to the verdict.<ref name="nyt"/>

The judge in the trial, Justice Alvin Schlesinger, said that the jury's acquittal of Nosair on the murder charge was "against the overwhelming weight of evidence and was devoid of common sense and logic". The judge added that he believed Nosair "conducted a rape of this country, of our [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] and of our laws, and of people seeking to exist peacefully together." On January 29, 1992, he sentenced Nosair to 7{{fraction|1|3}} to 22 years in prison, the maximum allowed.<ref name="query.nytimes.com">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE4D71639F933A05752C0A964958260 Judge Gives Maximum Term in Kahane Case], ''The New York Times'', 30 January 1992</ref>

Kunstler also saw the verdict as irrational, promising to appeal Nosair's convictions.<ref name="nyt" /> However, Nosair was unsuccessful in several efforts to overturn the verdict.

===Conspiracy to free Nosair from prison===
Nosair was originally to serve his sentence at the [[Attica State Prison]] in New York. It was reported that prior to his arrest, [[Omar Abdel-Rahman]] (the "Blind Sheikh") and his followers had conducted detailed surveillance of the facility, and they had also discussed plans to rescue Nosair from prison by launching a truck bomb attack combined with an armed assault.<ref>[http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/terrorism_weekly_june_18 The Destruction of Sarposa] by Fred Burton and Scott Stewart, Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor) June 18, 2008 (retrieved on October 1, 2008).</ref>