Radical preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri might be upgrading his hooks to hands thanks to the American taxpayer.
For a few days after his extradition, Masri whined like a baby over the Feds confiscating of his hooks (though, for obvious reasons, the American justice system won't let its prisoners mount potentially dangerous weapons to their arms).
Now, Josh Margolin and Bruce Golding of The New York Post report that, rather than slam some harmless cork onto his stubs, the federal government plans to foot the bill for prosthetic hands. The prosthesis pieces come to around $8,000 each, putting U.S. taxpayers on the hook for $16,000, so the one-time SoHo peep show bouncer in London turned radical cleric doesn't have trouble getting in to his prison uniform.
"Because depriving al-Masri of a 'reasonable standard' of medical care in jail would violate his civil rights — and provide grounds for an appeal — he’s expected to be outfitted with a pair of no-frills, cable-operated rubber hands," The Post reports.
Quoting an anonymous source, the Post reported that corrections officer hadn't been helping the cleric eat since his extradition to the U.S. — he’s probably eating his meals through a straw inside his cell and otherwise being left to his own devices, according to the source.
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