Planning is under way for the New York trials of suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-conspirators, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday.
Though Republicans and some families of the victims of the attacks have protested the Obama administration’s decision to criminally prosecute the suspects in a lower Manhattan federal court, Holder said a visit to New York made him confident the trials can be held successfully in the “hardened facility.” No date has been set.
“I left there assured that they’ve already begun planning for these trials,” Holder said. “Those trials would not have been placed there if I had any doubt about the ability of the federal government, the state government and the local government to ensure the safety of a city that I care a great deal about,” he added. Holder was born in the New York borough of Queens.
Holder’s comments came the same day as a lawyer for one of the suspects said his client “will not be easy for the government to prosecute.” Navy Lt. Commander James Hatcher, who represents Walid Bin Attash, said he is no longer sure the men will plead guilty, as was planned if they had been prosecuted at a military tribunal.
The five alleged conspirators refer to themselves as the “brothers” and continue to meet every two weeks while in custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Holder also addressed criticism of the administration’s decision to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo. Obama announced this month that he is following through on a campaign promise to close the facility and will move detainess held there to a converted prison in Illinois.
“Our hope is that Guantanamo will be closed over the next several months, but I think the key is that – although we will not meet the deadline that the president originally set – the key is that Guantanamo will be closed. It will no longer be a recruiting tool for those who seek to do this nation harm, and will no longer serve as a wedge between us and out traditional allies,” Holder said.