One such was Robert Stethem, a Navy Seabee diver that was assassinated on June 15, 1985, during the hijacking of TWA Flight 847; Mugniyah was one of the hijackers.
On Thursday, during an interview with WOR radio's Steve Malzberg, Patrick Stethem made his feelings known about how the press covered the death of one of his brother's slayers (9-minute audio available here):
I wouldn't even call it politically correct. I'd call it pro-terrorist. You know, he's been convicted of these crimes against humanity. He was responsible for the Beirut Marine barracks bombing, which was the largest non-nuclear explosion at that time since World War II. I mean, there's no doubt of the blood on this guy's hands, and the fact that, you know, it was so fitting it was a car-bomb that finally got him, which was his, you know, method of choice. And, you know, I saw those [New York Times] pictures, and now his family understands the terror and the sadness that he inflicted on hundreds of families. And, it's a terrible thing. And, as happy as I was to see his reign of terror end, at the same time, it doesn't allow us to reach back in time, and pull, you know, our loved ones back to us.
Somehow, this side of Mugniyah's despicable life gets lost when media outlets like the New York Times not only grieve over his death, but also try to elicit similar emotions from their readers and viewers by publishing pictures like this:
Why is that?
Rest in Peace, Robert.
