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"We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid," the judge said. "We are Americans. We have been through the fire before.

"You are not an enemy combatant — you are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war — you are a terrorist. To call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. You are a terrorist and we do not negotiate with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice."

At that, Young pointed to the American flag unfurled behind him.

"You see that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is long forgotten."

Young then turned to one of the court officers and yelled, "Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down." Before handcuffs could be placed on Reid, he leaned across defense table and pointed at the judge, raising his voice.

"You are not going to stand me down," Reid said. "You will be judged by Allah." He was then taken from the courtroom in handcuffs, struggling the whole way.

‘Your Government Sponsored the Torture of Muslims’

Reid, a British citizen, admitted he tried to ignite shoe bombs aboard American Airlines Flight 63 on Dec. 22, 2001, three months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks left many Americans afraid to fly.

In court today, Reid angrily denounced American policy toward Islamic countries.

"Your government has sponsored the torture of Muslims in Iraq, and Turkey, and Jordan and Syria with their money and weapons," he said, before then telling the judge "it's in your hands."

As Reid sought to justify his actions, several of the crew members who were on board the flight looked stunned, glancing at each other and shaking their heads. One woman cried and wiped tears from her face.

Reid had faced 60 years to life in prison for trying to down the American Airlines flight bound from Paris to Miami. Prosecutors said there were enough plastic explosives in his shoes to blow a hole in the fuselage and kill all 197 people aboard.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. told the judge that in Reid's mind "the religion of Islam justifies the killing of innocent civilians. In his mind, the horrific and homicidal attacks of Sept. 11 were but a missed opportunity."

Passengers and crew members overpowered Reid, using seat belts and their own belts to strap him to his seat. Two doctors who were passengers injected him with sedatives, and the flight was diverted to Boston.

Thwarted ‘Mission of Murder’

When Reid pleaded guilty last October, he said he was a member of al Qaeda, pledged his support to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and declared himself an enemy of the United States.

"Basically I got on the plane with a bomb. Basically I tried to ignite it. Basically, yeah, I intended to damage the plane," Reid said that day with a laugh.

His lead lawyer, Owen Walker, argued that Reid should be considered a soldier of war and part of a "current historical phenomenon that we don't understand."

Reid's lawyers say Reid credits his religion with saving him from a life of drug use and despair. They describe a troubled childhood and young adulthood, when Reid was plagued by poverty, feelings of uselessness, racism and crime. Reid is the son of a British mother and a Jamaican father.

Reid had tried furiously to light a match to his shoes but he was unable to ignite the fuse. Authorities have speculated Reid's shoes may have been too moist from sweat.

Three flight attendants struggled with Reid after they smelled sulfur from the matches. Attendant Hermis Moutardier told authorities Reid put a lighted match in his mouth when she confronted him, then later tried to touch another match to the tongue of his sneaker.

Moutardier said she tried to grab the shoe, but Reid pushed her to the floor and she screamed for help. Attendant Carole Nelson said 75 to 100 passengers jumped up from their seats and headed for Reid when they saw him struggling with flight attendants.

"He was like a wild animal," Nelson testified last June. Today, Nelson pleaded with the judge for a life sentence.

"I believe that Richard Reid was on a mission of evil, a mission of destruction and a mission of murder," she said. "Richard Reid put all of us on this flight under great stress and trauma."

Committed Terrorist to the End

Federal authorities had been preparing for a high-security trial. But Reid stunned prosecutors when he said he wanted to plead guilty to spare his family the pain and publicity a trial would bring.

In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors called Reid "a committed terrorist who will remain so until his dying days."

"By his own words, Reid refuses to apologize for attempting to kill 200 people," U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan wrote. "Perhaps even more appalling, he blames the American people for the horrendous attacks and casualties caused by the al Qaeda terrorism organization to which he claims allegiance.

The FBI believes Reid had help making the bomb from "an al Qaeda bomb maker," and authorities have said they found unidentified hair and a palm print on the explosives.

Reid was sentenced on eight charges: attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted homicide, placing an explosive device on an aircraft; attempted murder, two counts of interference with flight crew members and attendants, attempted destruction of aircraft, and using a destructive device during a crime of violence.

A ninth charge, attempted wrecking of a mass transportation vehicle, a charge filed under the new USA Patriot Act, was dismissed last summer.