The government’s plan to put Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four others accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks on trial in Manhattan is a bad idea, Gov. Paterson said today.
“This is not a decision that I would have made,” Paterson said when asked about the upcoming federal trial. “Our country was attacked on its own soil on Sept. 11, 2001, and New York was very much the epicenter of that attack.”
Paterson made the comments following an appearance in East Harlem — contradicting what he said Friday, which was that he favored the trial being held in the city.
“It’s very painful. We’re still having trouble getting over it,” he added. “We still haven’t been able to rebuild that site and having those terrorists tried so close to the attack is going to be an encumbrance on all of New Yorkers.”
In contrast, Paterson told WPIX/Channel 11 News the the Obama Administration’s decision to try the detainees in New York is a decision he supports.
“I do not understand why they decommissioned [the detainees] from serving or being tried on Guantanamo Bay but that’s a decision that the federal government made and our job is to help them,” Paterson told PIX News. “We will cooperate to the full extent that we can.”
Gov. Paterson revealed that he first learned about the plan to bring the detainees to New York for trial about six months ago when the attorney general briefed him on the proposal. He said the state has enlisted the proper security for the trial and said New York is as prepared as it possibly could be.
The White House, at the same time, has pushed Paterson not to run for governor next year.
The feds announced last Friday that Mohammed and four others would be let go from Guantanamo Bay and brought to Manhattan to stand trial.
Although the move drew kudos from Mayor Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani, who was mayor on 9/11, opposed it.
Also today, Bloomberg said he has nom control over how much security will cost during the trial.
“We have no say. It’s up to the federal government,” he said. “They have federal courthouses and federal lock up facilities and that’s their decision. We will certainly provide whatever security they need. We have the downtown security system, whch you know is probably the heaviest of any place I know of.”