Fox News host Andrea Tantaros suggested on Thursday that President Barack Obama's administration might hand over the terrorist who bombed the Boston Marathon to ISIS if a jury does not sentence him to the death penalty.
On Wednesday a jury returned a verdict of guilty on all 30 counts against accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 17 of which were eligible for the death penalty. But experts have speculated that execution would be a tough sell in the state of Massachusetts, where residents traditionally oppose capital punishment.
"I hope he fries," Tantaros admitted on Thursday's edition of Outnumbered. "When you look at the pictures of the victims and especially that little boy that was murdered, and you see how many counts he was convicted on, I mean, it's not a grey case, it's a pretty black or white matter."
"And I know people are saying, 'Well, if he [gets] the death penalty, he'll be a martyr, he'll be considered a martyr and then ISIS and other terrorist groups will use it as propaganda,'" she opined. "I think that's the last thing we need."
But it was what might happen if Tsarnaev was spared death that really worried Tantaros.
"Could we be looking at a situation where he's traded if he is not put to death?" the Fox News host wondered. "ISIS and terrorist groups saying, 'Free Tsarnaev.' And then, we're in a situation again where there's pressure to trade him or free him."
Co-host Kennedy Montgomery quickly assured her colleague that Tsarnaev would not be freed if he were sentenced to life without parole.
"Maybe he wants to die so he can be a martyr and get the 72 virgins that he was promised," Tantaros concluded.
Watch the video below from Fox News, broadcast April 9, 2015.
