Montreal man sentenced to life in prison for 2017 Michigan airport attack

Amor Ftouhi, a Montreal man, was sentenced Thursday to life in a U.S. prison on for stabbing a police officer in a Flint, Mich. airport in 2017.

His lawyers were seeking a 25-year sentence.

"He was crystal clear today. If he had the opportunity to kill more people, he would," said U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman.

In court, Ftouhi had said he regretted not having a machine gun during the knife attack.

"Do I regret what I did? Never," Ftouhi told the judge in a federal courtroom in Flint. "I regret I didn't get that machine gun. I regret I didn't kill that cop."

Witnesses said he yelled 'Allahu akbar' while attacking Lt. Jeff Neville. The officer survived being stabbed in the neck.

"I'm glad he didn't have a machete on him," Neville said outside the courthouse after the sentencing. "A knife was enough to deal with."

Neville lost feeling on the right side of his face. He has retired from the airport police department because of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Thursday, Ftouhi testified he would do it again if given the chance.

Radio-Canada's Rose St-Pierre reports that Ftouhi told the judge he wished he had caused greater carnage.

In court, Ftouhi said he had a good education and many skills, but felt discrimination in Canada because he wasn't a white Christian. He pledged allegiance to his Muslim faith and said Western countries and Arabic countries should be cursed if they "don't rule according to Allah."

Ftouhi's attorney, Joan Morgan, wanted a 25-year prison sentence in solitary confinement, arguing it would be equivalent to a life sentence because Ftouhi is 51.

Morgan also said Ftouhi's mental health had deteriorated at the time of the attack and has slipped even further during the 22 months in custody awaiting trial and sentencing.

"People change ... He is more than what his actions were," said Morgan.

Ftouhi was convicted in November of committing an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries.