New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg wants the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, which will cost hundreds of millions to secure, moved from a Lower Manhattan courthouse:
“It would be great if the federal government could find a site that didn’t cost a billion dollars, which using downtown will,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
“It’s going to cost an awful lot of money and disturb an awful lot of people,” he said. “Can we provide security? Yes. Could you provide security elsewhere? Yeah, and I mean — the suggestion of a military base is probably a reasonably good one. Relatively easy to supply — to provide security. They tend to be outside of cities so that they don’t disrupt other people.”
It was a marked change from Mr. Bloomberg’s initial reaction to the news, just two months ago, that the trial would be held in Manhattan. ”It is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered,” he said at the time.
The Community Board of Lower Manhattan has also voted 42-to-0 to ask Attorney General Eric Holder to consider sites other than the federal courthouse, including West Point, an airport in Newburgh, New York, and the federal prison in Otisville.






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