Bring Terrorists to U.S. for Hanging, Gates Urges

Terrorists who harm U.S. citizens anywhere in the world should be brought back to the United States, “tried here and hanged here,” Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said here Tuesday.

Speaking at a conference of mayors and police chiefs, Gates said he supports the death penalty for those convicted of terrorist acts both in and out of this country.

The United States must show the world “a resolve that that’s our policy and we’re going to take them (terrorists) back here and deal with them here,” he said.

This nation is now at war with international terrorists, Gates said, and Americans need the same “mental set” they had during World War II, “when the national objective was to go after Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo and cause those nations to surrender unconditionally.”

Gates also expressed support for last week’s air raid against Libya. He said he was “pleased with what happened--and we marshaled our facts before we did it.”

The United States has been fortunate, he said, that no major terrorist incidents have taken place here. But they will, he said, and there is nothing civilian and military authorities can do to stop them.

Need for Cooperation

Hubert Williams, of the Police Foundation, told the seminar that to combat terrorism, police chiefs must know what help is available to them from federal and state law-enforcement agencies and possibly from nearby military installations.

The United States had 13 small terrorist incidents last year, Williams said, and 26 more were prevented.