9/11, Guantanamo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Justice coming for 9/11; KSM and cohorts to be arraigned May 5 at Guantanamo

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Self-admitted 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four senior cohorts will be arraigned May 5 at Guantanamo. The five will be tried together on 8 counts, 5 of which are capital crimes. The New York Post reports:

The US military announced last week that the five would be tried jointly by military commission on charges including terrorism, hijacking aircraft and murder in violation of the law of war for their role in the 2001 terror attacks that left nearly 3,000 dead on US soil.

Defense attorneys had sought to avoid charges that carried the death penalty and wanted the five to face separate trials.

The five accused terrorists face the death penalty if convicted.

Credentialed 9/11 family members and those injured in the attacks will be able to view the proceedings at four secure sites. An unofficial transcript will be made available each day and I will report here throughout the trial. Update: In addition, 5 family members will be selected each week, via a lottery, to attend the trial at Guantanamo.

NYPD, terrorism

Muslim leaders, Congressman King, 9/11 family members and 1st responders support NYPD counter-terrorism efforts

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Muslim leaders of the American Islamic Leadership Coalition (AILC) rallied this morning at 1 Police Plaza in New York City in support of NYPD counter-terrorism efforts. They were joined by Congressman Peter King, 9/11 family members, first responders, and concerned citizens.

NY1 News reported:

The group spoke this morning at a news conference outside police headquarters organized by the American Islamic Leadership Coalition. They say the police department’s counter-terrorism efforts — including the monitoring of Muslim communities in and around the city and at area colleges — is necessary to keep New Yorkers safe.

“The NYPD is carrying out effective surveillance. If they were not doing what they are doing to me they would negligent and remiss in their duties,” King said. “They are doing surveillance at mosques which are public spaces, it’s fine. I have nothing to hide. I have no problem with a police officer monitoring my mosque praying right next to me … does not bother me. As a Muslim American I have nothing to hide,” said Samir Abdelkhalek of the Muslim Liberty Project. “It’s rather denial to not recognize we have a responsibility to root out that radicalization,” said Dr. Zuhdi Jaffer of the Islamic Forum for Democracy.

The New York Daily News added:

The rally, held outside NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan, was sponsored by the American Islamic Forum For Democracy. The group’s founder, Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, narrated “The Third Jihad,’’ a controversial documentary that Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was interviewed for, but later deemed “inflammatory.”

Jasser said he wished Kelly “had defended that,’’ but he said the bigger issue is that the department’s surveillance operations were appropriate because of the ongoing threat of attacks.

“We are not here to criticize the NYPD,’’ Jasser said. “But rather to thank them for doing the monitoring of extremists that Muslims should be doing.”

Related news and commentary:

Ray Kelly’s standing O — the news that didn’t fit with the New York Times’ ideology

Muslim Students and the Jihad Against the NYPD

NYPD “counter-terror experts need to look at all potential threats — because lives are at stake.”

Congressman Peter King and ‘Third Jihad’ narrator plan to speak at rally today 3/5 to support NYPD