Amanda Knox wrote a bizarre op-ed comparing her murder trial to her relationship with President Trump

(Image credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

published 4 May 2017

In late 2007, Amanda Knox was arrested for the murder of Meredith Kercher, with whom she shared a flat in Italy. In 2009, Knox stood trial in an Italian court for the murder, issuing a not-guilty plea; she was convicted and sentenced to 26 years in prison. In 2010, she began an appeals trial, and in 2011, her conviction was overturned.

But in 2016, she did not vote for Donald Trump for president — and that's the life moment she chose to expound upon in a strange op-ed Thursday in the Los Angeles Times:

I discovered just how blinding loyalty could be when, in December 2009, an Italian court convicted me of a murder I didn’t commit. That judgment rested heavily on the court's bias in favor of the prosecution, which represented the Italian people and the Italian state, over the defense, which represented a foreigner.

This is loyalty taken too far. And it calls to mind the party-over-policy approach that currently plagues our own politics.

Yes, Trump donated to my defense. And yes, Trump defended my innocence, recognizing that coercive interrogations produce false testimony authored by the interrogators themselves, a well-studied and documented fact.

[...] What do I owe Trump? A thank you for his well-intentioned, if undiplomatic, support. So for the record: Thank you, Mr. President. But the more important question is, what do I owe my country? Civic engagement, careful consideration of issues that affect my fellow citizens, and support for policies that deserve support, even if it makes the president "very upset." [Los Angeles Times]

Several times in 2011, during Knox's appeals trial, Trump tweeted about her innocence and called for Americans to "boycott Italy." Knox wrote in her blog last October of her decision to support Hillary Clinton in the election, which you can read here.